The Amazing Race 17 premiere

I can't be the only nerd I know who watches The Amazing Race, right?  It has been appointment television for my family for years, and I am pretty excited about this new season.  Last night's premiere had a few highlights, including the now-viral scene of a girl getting smashed in the face by a watermelon, and one team not knowing the definition of "battlement," which reminded me of last year's, "Do you know what a candle-uh-brah is?"  Here are this year's contestants, in the reverse order in which they made it to the checkpoint:

• Ron & Tony, "best friends" who met 20 years ago on the set of The Wiz, were the first team to go home after driving all the way around England without being able to find Stonehenge.
• Nick & Vicki, heavily-tattooed motorcyclists, just barely made it to the checkpoint after having pretty much no idea what was going on the whole time.
• Andie & Jenna are the most uncomfortable team to watch, as they are a biological mother & daughter (known to the other contestants as "The Gilmore Girls") who have only recently reunited.  I got the impression that the situation arose as a call put out by the producers for an adoptive team, rather than that their reunion happened organically.  Tricky.
• Chad & Stephanie, known as Pan & Tinkerbell, are that couple that they have every year who haven't been dating for very long and are pretty bitchy to each other, and are a general pain in the ass to watch.  Stephanie was Miss South Carolina 2009.
• Michael & Kevin are my favorites so far, as I'm always endeared by the sweet parent/child teams.  Kevin is apparently a YouTube comedy sensation, and his "fob" dad frequently features in his videos.  It was so cute how supportive and encouraging they were of each other.
• Gary & Mallory are the other cute parent/child team, with Mallory being Miss Kentucky 2009 and her dad being some rich dude.  They had a hiccup when they got a flat tire, but managed to pull through and do well for the rest of the race.  They checked in at about the same time as Michael & Kevin, and it was cute how Mallory and Kevin cheered for the "dad teams" both doing well.  They should probably date, right?
• Katie & Rachel are beach volleyball partners, and are kind of boring in terms of being an attractive athletic team that works pretty well together.  Probably have a good chance at winning.
• Brook & Claire, home shopping television hosts, who tied with Mallory for Most Annoying Screechers.  Man I am not into the high-pitched wailing these three harpies did all episode.  Brook is also Miss Oregon 2004.  Claire's the one who got Gallagher'd.
• Connor & Jonathan, the nerds.  These nerds are Ivy League a capella nerds, and they're such nerds.  I'm just teasing.  They were really nice guys who seemed to work well together, but they also put themselves in too many situations where they could get waylaid trying to help out other teams in distress.  I am automatically not a fan because they threatened to use their singing gifts to lift everyone's spirits and thank taxi drivers.  No thanks.
• Nat & Kat are hot surgeons, and are my 2nd favorite team.  They were really sweet to each other, know how to deal with high-stress situations, and are in good shape, even with one of them being on an insulin pump.  I didn't like how Kat called Nat "Natty," because it made me think of natto.
• Jill & Thomas are a dating couple who came in first, and who I honestly can't remember a single thing about.  The $1M prize is probably between them and the volleyball girls.

The Amazing Race, Sundays at 8pm on CBS