Great American Road Trip

The Great American Road Trip is a summer reality TV show on NBC. The competition resembles the family edition of The Amazing Race, except that contestants are eliminated through challenges rather in an actual race against each other.

Traveling is becoming a common reality TV theme.

Seven families participate in this competition-style reality TV program. Each family is given a recreational vehicle to travel in with each of the RV's equipped with items from the families' homes. The teams then make their way along the famous Route 66, stopping along the way for challenges.

Some of these challenges are held near notable American landmarks such as the Grand Canyon or the Washington Monument. Others are located near unusual tourist traps, like the world's biggest chair.

The journey begins at Wrigley Field in Chicago. After eight episodes, the last family left wins the competition and the grand prize of $100,000.

The first challenge of each episode is called King of the Road. Families compete together, and the family team that completes the task first, or wins the challenge, gets a reward.

Rewards can include:

• Trips
• Shopping sprees
• Family dinners or other outings

These rewards are items or activities that the families can enjoy together.

The King of the Road challenges are generally humorous in nature, with the families competing in things like pie-eating contests, cook-offs, and talent shows.

The three families who end up at the bottom after the King of the Road challenge must then face off in the End of the Road challenge. This is the elimination challenge, and the family who finishes last must leave the competition.

The End of the Road challenges vary a great deal, but the families once again must work together to stay in the game.

The host of this show is comedian Reno Collier. Collier began his career as a bartender in a comedy club while working as a teacher during the day. He developed his own act and eventually gained recognition as the opening comedy act for Larry the Cable Guy. He has toured with Larry -as well as Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall- several times over the past five years.

Collier has been on a handful of stand-up comedy shows on television, and headlined the Comedy on Duty tour, which visited troops in Iraq in 2005 and 2006. He is currently part of the Blue Collar Radio show on Sirius satellite radio. He is happily married with one child.

The seven families competing are:

• The Coote Family – Keith, Jennifer, Cassidy (12), and Jake (9), from Lockport, Illinois. Keith Coote is a self-employed carpenter while Jennifer works during the day, goes to school in the evenings, and on the weekends she coaches volleyball.

• The Disalvatore Family – Silvio, Amy, Mason (16), and Blake (13), from Yonkers, New York. Silvio is a stay-at-home dad while Amy works as a medical insurance administrator.

• The Favery Family – Lenny, Dee, Dylan (15), and Ashley (10), from Long Island, New York. Lenny has been a doorman in Manhattan at the same location for over 20 years. Dee is a teacher's aide specializing in special education.

• The Katzenberg Family – Marc, Hyleri, Sami (15), and Andrew (14), from Westport, Connecticut. The Katzenbergs are a blended family. Andrew is Marc's son, while Sami is Hyleri's daughter.

• The Montgomery Family – Darius, Alecia, Darius Ross (15), and Tyiler (11), from Montclair, California. Darius is an ex-marine and Alecia is a preschool teacher.

• The Pollard Family – Ron, Amie, Aaron (17), and Anslie (12), from Newton, Alabama. Ron is a homebuilder while Amie is a radio show host.

• The Rico Family – Ricardo, Erica, Danielle (13), and Ricky (8), from Katy, Texas. Erica runs her own advertising business while Ricardo also works in advertising.

To learn more about the show, the host, the contestants, and to see video clips and full episodes, visit the official Great American Road Trip site at NBC.com..

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