by David McAlpine



Ever thought about renting an RV and taking an old-fashioned road trip down one the nation's most historic roads? Well, NBC gave seven families, including that of RealityWanted member Ami Pollard, the chance to have the vacation of a lifetime as they competed for a "dream prize" on its new show Great American Road Trip. The host, who followed the families from Chicago to Los Angeles, comedian Reno Collier, spoke with the media today about the show.

Q. What did the families have to do to get cast for the show?
A. Reno: Basically, families made a video explaining who they were and what they liked to do, what their interests were. They really had to define themselves, some of them said competitive, some of them said athletic, all I know is that what I saw was hilarious. We have families from every region of the U.S. Some of them are more excited, while some are more laid back. It really is a great group.

Q. Do you think you could have cut it on this show?
A. Reno: I've been a touring comedian for 13 years and I did most of that traveling by myself. Now I have a wife and kids and we recently drove 9 hours to go visit family...man, I don't know, maybe if they were older. But that was the interesting thing about this show: when I thought the families would explode, they actually got closer together. That was probably the best part about the show.

Q. What is the "Dream Prize"?
A. Reno: The winners won money, but as the show went on, it was clear that people just wanted to continue the vacation. I don't know if it's the economy or what, but clearly a lot of people can't afford to rent an RV and travel Route 66. After a couple days, all the parents were telling us that they wanted to finish the vacation with their kids, nothing about the money.

Q. Is the show anything like The Amazing Race?
A. Reno: We actually went really slow, it wasn't a race at all. We traveled all the way down Route 66 and stop at the more iconic points, where everyone would compete in challenges to stay in the game. It actually took us forever. Some of these people haven't driven a van before, let alone an RV, which were huge. We let them take their time and take in everything that they wanted to see.

Q. Where did you stop on Route 66?
A. Reno: We'd stop at a lot of iconic landmarks, like the Great Archway in St. Louis and the Grand Canyon. We also stopped at this really cool place called the Midpoint Cafe. It was what the movie "Cars" was apparently modeled after. We met a couple people that had characters modeled after them in the movie, too, and they were really interesting. I think stopping at these places and meeting the people was just as great as seeing the landmarks themselves.

"Great American Road Trip" premieres Tuesday, July 7 at 8/7c on NBC.

(Image courtesy of NBC)