The Couch Potato: The Amazing Race

Mel and Mike White are no strangers to the glare of the public eye.

Mike has had success in Hollywood as the writer of films like “The Good Girl,” “School of Rock” and his directorial debut, “Year of the Dog.”

(You fellow couch potatoes out there might also recognize him from a brief appearance on ABC’s “Pushing Daisies” last season.)

His father, the Rev. Mel White, is a Lynchburg resident and gay rights activist, who ghost-wrote books for Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell before coming out and eventually founding Soulforce with his partner, Gary Nixon. He’s also written his own best-selling books and has produced a slew of films and documentaries.

I’ve been lucky enough to interview both men before — Mike a couple years ago when he was the guest of honor at Riverviews’ CINEviews Film Festival, and Mel just this week to talk about the pair’s latest adventure.

Mel, 68, and Mike, 38, have teamed up to compete on CBS’s “The Amazing Race,” which kicks off at 8 p.m. Sunday.

“To describe ‘The Amazing Race’ is to not find adequate adjectives, and I’m very sincere about that,” Mel says. “It was thrilling every day. It was awe-evoking every day.”

The reality series, now in its 14th season, follows teams of two as they race around the world and, along the way, compete in various challenges that lead them to a predetermined “pit stop.” The last team to check in each week is eliminated, and the final team wins $1 million.

Mel had heard of the show before, but hadn’t really watched it until Mike sent him a few seasons on DVD.

Then he asked his father the question of a lifetime: “Now, Dad, how would you like to be on it?”

“It was really Michael’s clever persuasion,” says Mel, who couldn’t pass up the chance to spend some quality time with his son.

The season was filmed in November, and that’s about all we know. If Mel told us any more, like what countries they raced through or how far he and Mike made it, he’d have to kill us.

We were allowed to talk about what he did to prepare for the rigors of the race, which involved training at the downtown YMCA for two months.

Mentally, though, he says he was “never quite fit.”

“I had qualms every day before and every day during,” Mel says. “It is rigorous. It is stressful.

“I just prayed (to) God, ‘Please don’t make me make a fool of myself or my son.’”

So how did they keep their cool?

With their very own mantra: “Don’t be aggro.”

“Michael said, ‘Don’t be aggro, Dad. Don’t be aggravated,’” Mel says.

“Things can really frustrate you. We had to remind ourselves this is a race, but we also have to be human beings.”

They are the show’s first gay father/gay son team, but Mel says he didn’t set out to represent the gay community or the gay Christian community.

“I don’t represent anybody but me,” he says. “I did the best I could to simply be myself.”

He did, however, feel a responsibility to show that gay parents — a segment of the population that he says is often maligned and under attack — are good parents.

Just watch a few promos for the show, which include clips of Mel watching in awe as Mike bungee-jumps and interviews where the two banter back and forth, and it’s obvious how well they get along.

“We have an amazing relationship,” Mel says. “The divorce was difficult. But my wife and I, even while we were divorcing, continued to parent.”

“As a Christian,” he adds, “I wanted to simply show myself as a good human being who was having fun with his son.”

Wait a minute. Are we sure these nice guys are cut out for the world of reality TV?

“I didn’t know what would happen if I had to cheat or if I had to lie,” Mel says. “But those opportunities didn’t come up.”

For the most part, the teams treated each other well, and even the producers were in awe of how friendly everyone was, he says.

“I love these guys. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to the reunion.”

But don’t mistake his congeniality for a lack of competitive spirit.

“Michael and I went on ‘The Amazing Race,’” Mel says, “to win it.”

I already know who I’m rooting for.