The Amazing Race, which premiered 6 days before 9/11, is celebrating its 20th anniversary

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Season 1 of The Amazing Race made its debut on CBS Sept. 5, 2001. Its second episode didn't air for another two weeks because it was pre-empted for 9/11 coverage. “I was surprised that we stayed on the air of what happened on September 11," said host Phil Keoghan in Reality Blurred's oral history of the first season, the only one shot pre-9/11. "I thought that was the end of it. I really did. Who the hell cares about a show where people are racing around the world after we’ve just been attacked and all these people died?” Casting director Lynne Spillman added: “9/11 was just so sad, scary, and crazy. Our show, I thought, celebrated traveling the world and celebrated just how far we’ve come: entering different countries, moving through the world. I just thought it was so sad and just definitely going to change everything.” But then-CBS reality boss Ghen Maynard was certain The Amazing Race would endure in the aftermath of 9/11. “When people said, ‘Does this mean reality shows are over?’ I just kept going, ‘Why?'" he says. "Not to be insensitive, but our show had nothing to do with this tragedy. If anything, it’s kind of cool that we’re still showing all the world and the good stuff in it.”