Miscellaneous

Top Chef

By jeremyblachman

I love Top Chef.  Just watched the season premiere of Top Chef: Chicago.  I don't think I've missed an episode of Top Chef in all four seasons, and this one's got me hooked again.  They have a formula, it doesn't change, but it totally works.  And somehow, even though you'd think that a competition show about food would be a disaster when there are so many contestants that you can't really get to know any of them all that well, you get only the tiniest of back stories, and, of course, you can't taste the dishes.  And they totally foreshadow everything -- you know as soon as someone is shown saying anything with any confidence at all, they're going to lose, and the person who's worried, nervous, scared is going to win.  But even with all of that, it's such good television, season after season.

I'm going to go out on a completely uninformed limb and say that Dale is going to win.  He wasn't featured much tonight, wasn't in the top four, but he was in a bunch of the clips at the end -- "coming up on this season of Top Chef..." -- and he seemed to be getting the kind of edit that made him seem competent and confident without trying to stir up trouble.  So that's my pick.  Not sure why.

Also, while I'm picking reality show winners, my pick to win American Idol is David Cook, and I swear I would have said that even before his last two stand-out weeks.  He seems smarter than the other contestants, and even though that doesn't have anything to do with how well or poorly he sings, I think it helps make smart song choices.  So he's my pick for American Idol.

And just to prove that I do more than watch TV... I finished reading a terrific novel this afternoon -- "Who Stole The Funny," by actor/singer/director Robby Benson.  It's about a TV director dealing with crazy showrunners, actors, and a liar of an agent.  Maybe you have to be doing this kind of stuff to appreciate it, but I thought it was really funny and a super-quick and enjoyable read.  It will likely end up on my year's 10 best list.

Full post as published by Jeremy Blachman's Brand New Weblog on March 12, 2008 (boomark / email).