Premiering Tuesday, July 7 at 8 p.m. EST, The Great American Road Trip is an eight-week reality series that NBC is billing as “the ultimate road trip across America.” Throughout the show, seven families of four, all from diverse backgrounds, will travel across Route 66 in RVs.
Along the way, they’ll compete in a variety of humorous challenges set in some of the most iconic American destinations from the Grand Canyon to the Mississippi River, and visit some of the most bizarre American landmarks, such as the world’s largest chair and the world’s largest ketchup bottle. The starting line is the illustrious Wrigley Field, the baseball stadium that has served as home to the Chicago Cubs since 1916.
The Great American Road Trip is not all fun and games, however. One family will be eliminated per episode based on their performance in an elimination challenge. In the end, only one family will win the as-of-yet unannounced grand prize - but producers promise it will be "life-changing."
The show’s concept might sound familiar to long-time fans of CBS’ The Amazing Race. In 2005, a special “family edition” of the Race took teams of four across North and Central America. The family format was not well-received by fans, critics, or even some of the racers themselves, and it was the least critically-acclaimed of all 14 Race seasons.
The show’s producers have stated that they will most likely never attempt another “family edition” again. Only time will tell if NBC’s Road Trip will suffer the same fate, but hearing parents yell at their whining kids week after week could prove to be more annoying than entertaining.
The Great American Road Trip is hosted by stand-up comedian Reno Collier.
The families competing include:
- The Coote Family from Lockport, Illinois: High-school sweethearts Keith (the dad, and a former U.S. Marine) and Jennifer (the mom) are joined by their 12 year-old daughter Cassidy and their 9 year-old son Jake.
- The Faverey Family from Long Island, New York: Lenny (the dad, and a hotel doorman) and Dee (the mom, and a special education teacher’s aide) are joined by their 15 year-old son Dylan (a musician) and their 10 year-old daughter Ashley.
- The Katzenberg Family from Westport, Connecticut: Having just formed a real life “Brady Bunch” family, couple Marc and Hyleri are joined by Hyleri’s 15 year-old daughter Sami (a natural entertainer) Marc’s 14 year-old son Andrew (a self-professed ladies’ man).
- The Montgomery Family from Montclair, California: Darius (the dad, and another former Marine) and Alecia (the mom, and a pre-school teacher) are joined by their two sons Darius Jr. (15) and Tylier (11).
- The Pollard Family from Newton, Alabama: Ron (the dad, and a homebuilder) and Amie (the mom, and a radio show host) are joined by their 17 year-old son Aaron (an athlete) and their 12 year-old daughter Anslie, who has won several beauty pageant crowns.
- The Rico Family from Katy, Texas: This sports-loving family includes Ricardo (the dad), Erica (the mom and the “dictator” of the family), their 13 year-old daughter Danielle, and their 8 year-old son Ricky.
- The DiSalvatore Family from Yonkers, New York: Silvio (a stay-at-home dad) and Amy (a classic Italian mother and wife) are joined by their teenage sons Mason (16) and Blake (13).
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