A “Top Chef” clip show? WTF?!
I got a text last night from a friend that said “i liked nothing about tonights top chef… yuck.” Wow, I thought. Those a bold words from someone as obsessed with the show as I am (actually, he got me hooked). This seemed especially confusing as every episode of Top Chef is basically the same: we see the chefs hanging out; we see a Quickfire Challenge; we hear about the elimination challenge; shopping; cooking; bitching; judging. That’s every show. You know what you’re going to get, and it is frequently fantastic television (and generally makes you really hungry for upscale dining).
So what could be the problem? Did someone awesome, like Tre, get kicked off? Was the preposterously hot Padme nowhere to be seen? Unfortunately, this morning when I fired up my DVR it turned out to be worse than I had feared: a clip show and panel discussion to answer the audience’s questions. Honestly, by the time the show ended, I had more or less enjoyed myself, but in this case enjoyment isn’t the issue. The issue is why in the name of all that is sautéed with garlic and butter would you run a clip show six weeks into a 16 weeks reality competition? Wouldn’t a better use of this time be spent actually watching the program we had taken time out of our busy days (cough, cough) to see? Wouldn’t it make more sense to run the clip show and panel discussion, say, between seasons when we have a hankerin’ for some, nay, ANY Top Chef content.
And yes, Sam was there and everyone loves Sam (especially the ladies), and Mike was there and everyone loves Mike (especially fans of oral surgery), and yes, Tom Colicchio was there and everyone loves Tom (especially, as it turns out, the bear community), but… but… C’MON!
I’m sorry, Top Chef producers, but pack your knives and go.
