Although I am a huge fan of the show, I have to say that the last installment of "The Amazing Race" was — there's no other way to put it — boring. Yes, it was still fun and exciting to see different countries and cultures around the world, but the contestants were completely flat and uninspiring. Just a few months removed, I can't name even one of them, in sharp contrast to previous seasons that featured Kevin and Drew, Charla and Myrna, Oswald, and Danny, and Harlem Globetrotters’ Big Easy and Flight Time.

Maybe the producers of the show got a universal memo about last season, because for the new season of "The Amazing Race," which premieres at 8 p.m., Sunday, on CBS, they're kicking things up a notch.

This season, which marks the 21st race around the world for the series, will introduce a new twist to the game that will raise the stakes for the entire season. If the team that wins the first leg of the season can outrace the other 10 teams and win the final leg of the race, they will double their money and win a $2 million grand prize instead of $1 million.

According to the network, teams will travel through three continents, nine countries and cover more than 25,000 miles, where they'll be faced with a 10-story rappel in Los Angeles, frying an egg on their heads in Indonesia, working as "rat collectors" in Bangladesh and revisiting one of the race's most infamous roadblocks in the Netherlands in this season's "Switchback."    Historically, siblings have done well in the competition, so watch for 26-year-old identical twins Natalie and Nadiya Anderson of Edgewater, N.J. Natalie is a physical therapy student, and Nadiya is a project coordinator at Bridge2Peace.

Hosted by Phil Keoghan, "The Amazing Race" recently won its ninth Emmy Award for "Outstanding Reality — Competition Program."    

Contact Entertainment Reporter Kimberly C. Roberts at (215) 893-5753 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .