Best TV Show of
the Week
Great American Road Trip
on NBC
By Christie Osborn
The family road trip is an iconic American vacation that has
been experienced by almost everyone. The classic road trip generally entails
plenty of family bonding, usually through car bingo, frequent bathroom stops and
the occasional detour to see a bizarre roadside attraction like the world’s
largest chair. NBC has created a summer series that showcases this great
American past time by selecting seven families from across the country to
compete in the ultimate family road trip for a chance to win $100,000.
On July 20th at 8 p.m. EST, Great American Road Trip
followed the six remaining families as they continued on their journeys across
the country. This show creates a unique opportunity for viewers to see diverse
family dynamics as the groups work through challenges and strive to win. While
each family encounters difficult moments and some bickering ensues, each family
continues to bond and encourage each other making this show Best of the Week.
The six remaining families in the competition start off the next leg of their
journey and head towards Independence, Kansas. The families visit the famous
Little House on the Prairie, home to Laura Ingalls, and experience what life in
the 1800s was like before they head to their next challenge. This week’s King of
the Road Challenge involved the six fathers barbecuing burgers and then having
the rest of the families do a blind taste test and rating all of the burgers.
Most of the fathers were confident in their own burger recipes and quickly set
to barbecuing. The mothers and children then tasted each burger and scored the
concoctions. Once the scores were tallied, it was revealed that the Coote’s
burger was the highest rated while the DiSalvatore’s, the Rico’s, and the
Faverey’s burgers fell short and condemned them to the bottom three.
The six families got back in their RVs and headed to Oklahoma
where they drove through the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve and observed thousands
of buffalo roaming free. While the families were in their RVs, it was
eye-opening to see the different ways that each family communicated with each
other. The DiSalvatore’s were constantly arguing and snapping at each other,
while the Rico’s were encouraging each other and discussing how much they loved
spending time together. The final stop was Amarillo, Texas, where the bottom
three families competed in the End of the Road Challenge. Each family had to
move large pieces that symbolized Texas from one area to another and fit all of
the pieces plus themselves onto a cutout of Texas. The family that took the
longest time to do so was eliminated from the show. Unfortunately, Mr. Rico
twisted his ankle early in the challenge, which slowed them down and ultimately
led to them losing the challenge. Mr. Rico made a very touching farewell speech
and claimed that their journey may have ended but they had not lost because
their family was together and that’s what really mattered. This show brings a
lot of family entertainment to prime time as well as a focus on the United
States and what lies along its historic Route 66, making it an obvious choice
for Best of the Week.
Best TV Show
of the Week
The Parents
Television Council -
www.parentstv.org
