Overall, I like the new version a lot. I don't like only the winning team keeping their money, but the game's still the same and it's not my budget, yada yada. Now, onto the EXTREMEly mild criticisms:
The bigger set has a noticeable downside when it comes to the obstacle course. Now, they have the space to lay out all eight obstacles in a basically linear fashion. In the old version, with the obstacles packed into the smaller space however they could fit them, the end product from my viewing perspective had more of a madcap, manic feel to it, where the action was coming from all directions and constantly turning around. If this gets a second season and we start seeing bigger, more intricate obstacles like in days of old, that linear feeling could be reduced.
Liza's a good host and a good fit for this generation, but her role as more of a generic cheerleader during the stunts really brings home how much Marc's play-by-play added to the proceedings.
