Top Chef - Season 1 vs Season 2

OMG! What a shocker! I tuned in to see season 3 and was met with a All 4 Star challenge pitting the final four from Season 1 against the final 4 from season 2! This is like going out to dinner with your ex girlfriend and your current girlfriend!

Nice to see all the contestants made it back, although LeAnne was replaced by Stephen as she is now a producer on Top Chef! Dave is a bigger douche than Stephen or Marcel in my opinion, I can't stand him.

The fact that both Stephen and Marcel, the two antagonists in their respective series seems a little bit of coincidence. Also, isn't it a bit of a disappointment that both previous winners failed to win the challenge?

Harold looks way too intense! He actually looked like he was planning on how to dump Padma's body when she was announcing the ingredients for the elimination challenge!

It's so weird seeing Stephen and Ilan on the same show! It's freaking me out! It's like they have no right to be sharing the same space at the same time!

I'm not feeling Elia's new look.

I'm rooting for Season 2, I like them all. From Season 1 I only like Harold.

Woah! Season 3 judging the challenge!

I reckon Season 1 have taken it with ease, the judges didn't seem to dig Season 2's offerings.

Damn, the two previous Top Chef's got slated! They were probably the worst dishes of the whole challenge!

Season 1 laid the smackdown on Season 2 big style.

Top Chef Season 2 final thoughts

Some final thoughts on another excellent season of Top Chef which I can now say is way better than Hell's Kitchen!

Firstly, Padma Lakshmi is far superior to Katie Lee Joel (some viewers on the Bravo boards have nicknamed her Katie Bot!) Although I have some issues with the way she speaks, I believe that is partly down to her speaking with an American accent. She seems to know a fair bit about food and she's often sharing her thoughts with the judges.

Ilan deserved to win the show as he was a consistent performer throughout the entire process and I thought Marcel was lucky to be in the final. I had Sam nailed on for the final but his last dish let him down and he was let loose.

The Marcel bullying was uncomfortable to watch at times but the guy really didn't help himself. He was always looking to annoy and aggravate his fellow contestants. However in a way I began to respect him a little because despite being a loner he carried on and every time he won a challenge it wound the others up big time!

Cliff went over the line when he assaulted Marcel, but Sam needs to share some some of the blame, he should have said he wasn't going to get involved from the get go thus stopping Cliff going in for the kill. Cliff was going to get eliminated anyway so it was no big deal for the judges.

I think the final challenge there was one segment I believe was fake. When the chefs were picking who they wished to cook for both Sam and Michael voted for Marcel which I find incredibly unlikely after all the animosity between Sam and Marcel.

Overall a solid season and very enjoyable!

Community

My favourite new show of the season comes in the form of Community. Five episodes in and I'm already hooked. It's got such a great cast of characters and the location is something a little different.

The Jeff and Britta love story arc is the main focus of the show but they are the least interesting of the cast in my opinion. Abed and Pierce are great characters but for me Senor Chang is the man! I absolutely love his crazy turn as the groups Spanish teacher. So far so good, lets hope it can keep up the momentum....

Torchwood

Torchwood - The Children of Earth aired in the UK a couple of months ago and the adverts looked pretty good so I thought I would check this show out even though I wasn't a huge Doctor Who fan. I decided to watch the pilot episode rather than watching Children of Earth just in case the whole series was awesome!

I must say, I wasn't too taken with the episode. It still comes across as a bit amateurish when you compare it to other shows, especially those from the US. However it might be worth another view, as John Barrowman is very good as the charismatic Captain Jack Harkness and the welsh bird is bearable.

Top Chef - Season 2

No sooner had I finished viewing season 1, I started on season 2!

Looks like the producers took action and got rid of Katie Lee Joel pretty sharpish. A good move in my opinion, although the jury is still out on new host Padma Lakshmi, sure more than matches Katie on looks. I can't believe Salman Rushdie was tapping that!

Suyai was the first to get chopped this season which was a shame as I was hoping she would stick around, just for the fact that she pronounces 'herbs' in the correct manner!

Looks like Marcel is going to be the resident douchebag for the season, just his hair alone is enough reason to hate him already! Micheal looks like he's going to be amusing for a while but will no doubt end up being eliminated fairly early on.

So far there aren't many people that are coming across as favourites but I'm sure that will sort itself out over the next couple of episodes.

Harold should stick to being in the kitchen! Although it was nice to see last seasons winner again, the guy looked so awkward in front of the camera and crowd!

From the previews for next weeks show things look like they are going to be heating up!

Top Chef Finale

Thoughts from the season 1 finale as I viewed it:

It was very noble of Stephen to say he wanted to work for Tiff because he knew (and we knew) that Dave was going to pick Harold as his chef.

Dave is rather annoying and very ungracious. I'm not sure when Tiff actually abused him so much for him to feel so strongly against her. I felt sorry for Tiff because it was obvious her team was not backing her 100%.

Dr Melfi from the Sopranos is one of the judges!

Oh no! Dave did all the desserts and the judges loved that the best about Tiffani's menu!

Why do Americans

Damn! Tiff did some serious lying about the desserts! She said she had some input in the desserts but we all know that Dave did them all! Booooo! As if she ever had a chance of winning anyway!

As the program reaches it conclusion, I am disliking Tiffani more, she is actually quite ungracious!

Harold wins! No surprise there! Funnily enough I picked both Tiffani and Harold as potenital stars and they made it to the final. LeeAnne deserved to be in the final three though.

The catchphrase "Please pack your knives and go" is really lame!

Top Chef Season 1 - Thoughts

I have to say I was pretty impressed with this show from the get go, I have to say it's probably better than Hell's Kitchen! Unlike HK, most of the chefs on TC appear to know a fair bit about food and are not coached at any point. Plus HK is more about Gordon Ramsey and the contestants are just a side show.

Here are some random thoughts from the show:

I can't believe LeAnne (sp?) was eliminated in favour of Dave! LeAnne was solid throughout the entire season whilst Dave spent most of it crying!

I actually liked Tiffani but I'm shocked at how badly thought of she is! I think her determination has backfired a little as she can come across as rude but watching her get ganged up on at the reunion show was a little uncomfortable to watch.

Fair play to Andrea for having such a great attitude, even after being sold out by Miguel she didn't bitch or moan, she accepted it and showed no ill feeling toward him.

Ken is a jack ass! The guy was totally pissed in the reunion show (as were most of the others) and he didn't do himself any favours. That said, Stephen stepping up to him was quite amusing.

The reunion show came across as fake and kind of took some of the reality away from the show if you catch my drift! Up till then, the essence of the show was the cooking and the tasks but the reunion show just reminded us that it's just another reality show and cheap laughs and insults are good for ratings.

Something bothers me about the host Katie, she just seems to lack any charisma and it's difficult to find her likable! Tom on the other hand has some personality and comes across well on the screen. Not a big fan of Gail Simmons especially after the wedding episode where she flicked her hair and struck a pose when she was introduced!

Bones Season 4 Finale

Hmmmmmmmm.......

I just watched the finale of Bones season 4 and I have to say I was less than impressed. The whole dream sequence was confusing and the plot was very limited. I liked how they worked all the characters of the show in to the storyline but it was a pretty lame episode. Zach was brought back but did nothing but stand around in the background!

The episode started with Booth and Brennan shagging and then revealed that the pair were husband and wife and the Jeffersonian was in fact a nightclub. I'm hoping that the producers were testing the waters with the possibility of getting Booth and Brennan together, because on the evidence of this episode alone it just wouldn't work! Why can't they just be friends!

Here's hoping Booth makes a quick recovery!

Top Chef season 1

My interest in TV food shows continues with the discovery of Top Chef, the cookery version of the Apprentice! Twelve chefs compete to win $10,000, a state of the art kitchen and a spread in a top culinary magazine. I'm 5 episodes in to the season and I'm already hooked! There are some really interesting characters in there and there's already plenty of heat outside of the kitchen!

My favourites so far include Harold, quiet but capable. he does his work with minimal fuss, a dark horse contender. Tiffany is a feisty red head who seems to know her stuff too and is always looking to do something a little special. Meanwhile Stephen is the arrogant, cocky prat of the group thinking he's above everyone else, which is fantastic as these shows are great when there's a pantomime villain to boo at!

Lets hope the rest of the season is as good as the first 5 episodes!

What I'm watching now....

How I Met Your Mother - Series 4
Community - Series 1
Top Chef - Series 1
Heroes - Season 3

Hell's Kitchen UK - Finale

I was surprised Linda won the contest as she appeared to be the weaker chef of the two finalists. I was firmly rooting for Ade but it wasn't to be. I watched this series with zero expectations but was surprised at how entertaining it turned out to be. Claudia's inclusion over Angus was a disappointment but other than that it was still a solid series. Hopefully for the next series they can get a few more faces in so we can eliminate celebs quicker!

The Proposal

Sandra Bullock is hot and Ryan Reynolds was hilarious in Van Wilder so I had medicore expectations for this rom-com. How wrong I was! It was shit!

Bullock is one of those hard ass exec types who treats her staff like crap, her assistant/secretary Ryan Reynolds gets the worst of it. But it transpires that Margret (Bullock) is Canadian and her visa has expired which means she has to return to Canada and apply for a new visa or be deported. The snag is that her bosses will replace her if she has to return to Canada (bit stupid of the bosses as I'm guessing it can't be that hard for a high powered publisher to get a visa!). Margret has an idea, she pretends to be engaged to Andrew her assistant in order to solve her visa problems. Andrew wanting to further his career agrees to play along with the charade. Margaret and Andrew fly off back to Andrew's home in Sitwa, Alaska where the couple face up to his parents, grand mother and ex girlfriend.

Reasons why I didn't like the film:

1. Sandra couldn't pull off the 'bitch boss' role at all. Glen Close in The Devil Wears Prada was the perfect 'Bitch Boss' where as Sandra just came across as a bit lame.

2. I just noticed how abnormal Ryan Reynolds' forehead is!

3. The ex girlfriend was on the scene but did nothing! There was no conflict, no cat fighting, not even any bitching!

4. I just didn't buy the whole thing where they fell in love. It all seemed a little forced.

Poor film. Sandra must do better, I fear Ryan Reynolds can't do better.

1/5