Forgive CBS's "The Amazing Race," for it has sinned. It deviated from formula in its last outing, a U.S.-based family edition that didn't get much love from fans.

"Race" host Phil Keoghan knew penitence is what reporters and fans wanted to hear, so he came to a teleconference Wednesday with a willingness to acknowledge the show's past missteps and a mantra for the future.

"There's no denying the race is most successful when it has less faces, more places, and teams of two racing around the world," Keoghan said. And, hearing it, no doubt "Race" fans breathed a collective sigh of relief.

The ninth "Race" (9 to 11 p.m. Tuesday, KDKA) begins in the foothills overlooking Denver and will take the winning team 60,000 miles in 29 days.

"It's the most number of miles we've done in that short an amount of time," Keoghan said. "People clearly wanted the international element. They missed it. The places are as much the stars of the show as the people themselves. That was illustrated when you look at season eight. People were missing that exotic element, the fish-out-of-water element. That is a huge hook."

The 11 teams racing for the $1 million prize immediately head for foreign soil, flying out of Denver to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and along the way, nicknames for contestants quickly emerge: "Ken and Barbie," "the Frat boys," "the Hos," "Scott Peterson," "the hippies," and "the Frosties" for a team of prone-to-screaming sisters with frosted hair (they're hilarious).

Exceedingly well cast as always, some early favorites (including the Frosties) emerge in this "Race," most notably two twentysomething hippie guys from San Francisco and a sweet nerdy couple from Kansas.

"With any good story, you need the adversary, the heroes and villains," Keoghan said. "You need a good mixture to make it work."

One "Race" villain of the past, Rob Mariano, continues in the employ of CBS, hosting "Rob to the Rescue" segments for "The Early Show." Wednesday he's joined by wife Amber, formerly of Brighton, Beaver County, and the pair will "rescue" Lisa and Jason Zezza of Plum, who are in need of a baby sitter. Rob and Amber will baby-sit the kids while Lisa and Jason get a night out.

Given the antipathy so many "Race" fans felt toward Rob and Amber, it's doubtful there will be much clamoring for this next act. But those who tune in for the new "Race" next week will be gratified by the show's return to its familiar, best format.

Unnecessary images

A rush to get breaking news on the air resulted in viewers seeing something Wednesday night that they didn't need to see. In covering the tragic story of an 11-year-old in Monongahela who died when he hit a tractor trailer, both KDKA and WTAE aired helicopter shots that zoomed in to show a mangled bike. On the pavement nearby was an obvious red splotch. Whether or not that was actually the child's blood, viewers could easily have that impression. Firefighters were later shown hosing down the area.

WTAE showed the too-close shot at 5:15 p.m. KDKA held back, but showed it at 5:58 p.m., although the station aired a still at 11 p.m. that showed only the bike. I never saw WPXI push in close enough to make the red substance obvious.

"We were way wide," said Channel 11 news director Corrie Harding. "Anytime there is the potential of showing something offensive that could get on live TV, we pull way out. We do that even if we're taping it off the air because if there's video of everything, somebody six hours from then could make a mistake, and we don't want that to happen."

KDKA news director John Verrilli said it's his station's policy to not show dead bodies or blood.

"It was a mistake," he said of Wednesday's incident. "It was not supposed to be there."

Verrilli said even in breaking news situations, chopper shots are previewed before going on the air. And in the early going, KDKA's shots remained wide enough to be discrete, as was the shot at 11 p.m. The close-up "slipped through the crack," Verrilli said.

WTAE news director Bob Longo did not return a call seeking comment.

WPXI's 'Health of It'

For this year's Black History Month special, WPXI opted to do both a traditional look back and a reflection on contemporary African-American life in "For the Health of It."

The special, airing at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow on Channel 11 and 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday on PCNC, is hosted by reporter Kimberly Easton from the Healthy Black Family Program in East Liberty.

The half-hour's best report, filed by Vince Sims, is about the Freedom House project in the Hill District, which began city ambulance service in the 1960s that included medical care for patients en route to the hospital. It's a story worth telling and not one I'd previously heard.

The rest of the show is less compelling, as a lengthy excerpt from a 10-month-old Bill Cosby lecture about leading a healthy lifestyle goes on for what seems like an inordinate amount of time in TV terms.

"You're building a diabetic," Cosby admonished parents who allow their children to drink soda for breakfast.

WQED debuted its own Black History Month special, "Torchbearers," about leaders in Pittsburgh's civil rights movement, last night. It was not made available for review in advance of its television premiere.

More HD on DirecTV

Pittsburgh is one of 24 U.S. markets in which DirecTV customers will be able to receive high definition channels of local ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates beginning sometime this spring. But to do so, customers will have to purchase a new H20 HD receiver and satellite dish that can receive programming "from five different orbital locations." DirecTV will offer a $200 mail-in rebate on that equipment through Tuesday.

Clark reports for 'On Q'

WTAE news anchor Mike Clark will contribute occasional reports to WQED's "On Q" (7:30 p.m. weeknights), with his first story slotted for March 27.

Former WTAE reporter Beth Dolinar, local columnist Mike Seate and producer Iris Samson are also new contributors to the nightly news magazine show.

TV Q&A

This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about "Alias" and "Lost" and "JAG" on Hallmark Channel. You can read it online only at www.post-gazette.com/tv.