One continent and an undisclosed distance

What does it say about this season of the Amazing Race that the best part of the entire season was the teaser for the next season? 5 continents, 60,000 miles, 11 teams of 2! Hot girls! Nerds! Red Rocks! Fighting elephants! Moscow! Brazil! Mt Fuji! Monkeys!
From what I understand, the idea for the Family Edition of the Race came from CBS, not from the producers of the show, World Race Productions. Maybe the reason that this season was such a weak version of the Race to make it suck, so that the producers could develop future versions with as little network interference as possible.
Considering the rest of the season, this episode actually wasn’t too bad. The tasks were all relatively interesting. Killer fatigue finally hit some teams. This was the second double leg in the race, instead of the usual two-leg final episode with a pit stop in the middle. The roadbock geography challenge was one of the best final tasks of recent seasons– much better than eating pizza or finding a cigar store. Plus, the final task led directly to a foot race to the finish line.
Apply for TAR 10. Or don’t, so that I have a slightly less unrealistic chance.
Previously: What happened to the “Amazing”?