Tele-bits: Top Chef

Warning: Spoiler Alert if you haven't watched tonight's episode!

I'm so glad about the final four, well, 3 of them at least.

The judges choices were right on and the three that have been winners since the first couple shows are on their way to the finals in Puerto Rico: Richard, Stephanie and Antonia (wait, Antonia? omg...I'm blanking on her name...must need more rum). Those three have been professional, calm and in the top of many TC competitions. Richard and Stephanie for sure. Which is why I remember THEIR names...

Not so thrilled about Lisa but I do think she is better than Spike in a few ways. One, she doesn't have a stupid name like Spike. Two, she is a woman (heheh, personal bias...want to see a woman named Top Chef). No, I won't be disappointed if Richard wins since I think he is the BEST but Stephanie equally deserves the honor.

Another great Bravo show! Anyone going to watch Shear Genius this year? I am :)

House

The writer's strike really put a crimp in my Tele-bits reporting this Spring, just like it did everyone else's blogging about TV! But I have been so happy to have House back that I've been watching all the reruns and the new ones, just to get a good fix before Summer.

This last week BLEW ME AWAY! Did anyone see that coming with Cutthroat Bitch?? It was GENIUS. Ok, that's enough CAPS for one post...

House is a great character and a very good show. I wish they would get rid of the new suck-ups, though, and go back to the original bunch. I cared a lot more about their story progressions than I do about 13 and the two guys. And the fact that I can't remember their House-monikers should tell you something considering how much I love this show.

Suzzy (rhymes with buzzy)

Tele-bits: Top Chef - The Finale is Set

The five chefs have never looked more nervous...

...as they did in Le Cirque, standing in front of the venerable Sirio Maccione. Everyone from Maine to Minnesota to Montana knows about Le Cirque, even if they aren't foodies.

The dish that they served to the chefs was a sea bass wrapped in potato on a bed of melted leeks. Doesn't sound at all good to me on paper. I hate fish. But when I SAW the dish and saw the faces of the chefs as they tasted it even I would have tried a forkful.

The quickfire was my favorite so far - replicate the dish they had just tasted. A superior chef will know the ingredients from tasting a dish. From Mr. Maccione's face when he tasted them I could tell that all of them seemed to get the right flavors. But last night proved without a doubt that presentation, knife skills and classical training make a good chef into a Top Chef. The worst thing about this challenge was the abject terror in the eyes of the chefs as they had to work around the professional chefs who work at Le Cirque. They didn't exactly get a warm welcome!

Hung has gotten less obnoxious, quieter and almost human throughout the contest. He's no team player but he has gained some sort of calm confidence since the beginning of the season. It did not surprise me that he won the quickfire challenge. It also didn't surprise me that Casey came in 2nd. She is really amazing and I'm not-so-secretly-hoping she takes the whole thing!

Sara misjudged her timing on cooking the fish and served it raw (ewwwwwwwwwwww!) so hers was chosen by Mr. Maccione as the worst. Unfortunately for her this show, it became her theme.

Elimination Challenge - The chefs brightened up for their next challenge: using chicken, russet potato and onion as a base to create a meal for a panel of top instructors from a French cooking school. They seemed back to their normal slightly egotistical selves as they rushed through the market. Hung had an extra 30 minutes since he won the quickfire so he had 2.5 hours while the others had 2. They watched him and the clock as they waited on the starting line. Soon they were all cooking and it was very interesting how they all made something SO different from each other. EXTRA different was the way Brian's dish looked...green cow pie anyone? It looked so nasty.

Hung used his exceptional skills to create another exceptional dish. Casey took some lessons from cooking with her grandmother (ahhhhh) to make a kind of "faux" coq au vin. The judges thought it was "faux", as far as recipes I've found for it, it seemed pretty right on? Brian's was, as I mentioned, a green cow pie. Ok it was really shepherd's pie. I was surprised that he put sausage into the dish and the judges were also. They thought that it overpowered the chicken. But they did really like his dish, so that was great. Dale tried something that seemed too sophisticated and complicated for a two hour prep. Again he forgot something (that poor guy on the airplane is still wondering where his food went) and that really hurt his ratings. Sara's "Jamaican" dish looked very nice but the chicken was rubbery for some and raw for others (again, eewwwwwwwwwwww). They also wondered where the Jamaican spices were since it didn't seem to have any.

In the end it came down to Hung, Casey and Brian as the top three and Hung as the winner. Between Dale and Sara I'm glad that it was Sara who went home. Poor Sara. She doesn't have the skills or the palate that the others do. I'm sure she's great at cheeses (which seem to be her real love anyway) but high skill cooking isn't her forte. I bet she kicks ass in the dairy dept though.

Four go to Aspen: Hung, Casey, Dale and Brian - good luck guys!

Tele-bits: Psych!

USA reups Psych
USA has picked up a 16-episode third season of its drama Psych, which revolves around a psychic cop, played by James Roday. The show debuted last year as the top-rated new show in cable and has been averaging 4.6 million viewers this summer, winning its Friday timeslot against cable competition. (Variety)

From EW - http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20057305,00.html

Note: the only problem with the above statement is that James Roday plays a "psychic cop". He is neither a cop nor a psychic. Otherwise, woohoo! More Psych!

Tele-bits: Top Chef - Down to Five

As we start the show I notice that no one is weeping over Howie being gone. Just something I noticed. No, everyone is pulled out of bed by Padma as she giggles and jumps up and down and makes all the chefs get out of bed. Ohh how fun! ohh how silly! echhh

Actually I do like Padma. I think she's sweet and funny. I saw her on The View last season and both Rosie and I wanted to make her our best friend. She would have been a GREAT addition to that show. I loved her story about the scar on her arm that she doesn't bother to hide. She is proud of it! It happened in a car accident with her Mother. She put her arm out to protect her Mom and was injured.

Anyway, back to Top Chef. The only one who seemed happy to see Ms. Lakshi was CJ. He looked way too happy for early morning. CJ is adorable and so obviously has it bad for her.

I won't go into the details too heavily because I'm betting if you're reading this you watched it already. Quickfire Challenge: Make Padma breakfast. Hung (and obviously all the other chefs!) talk about how much Padma likes her booze. But only Hung used it in his smoothy and won the challenge. Steak and Eggs for a tiny woman like Padma seemed pretty dumb to me but she actually liked it. Just not as much as she liked the Grand Marnier in the smoothy! He was the winner.

The chefs were very impressive this week. To end up in a totally unfamiliar kitchen and be forced to make GOOD airline food is a crazy-hard challenge. I actually thought they all did a good job but CJ was probably the weakest link. He was unorganized and wouldn't have made it if Casey and others hadn't helped him out and he couldn't quite get the packages to hold together so they'd fit nicely in the airplane ovens. But at least he had 18 entrees, DALE.

The judges are still mean-spirited and petty. What I think is happening is that they have all good chefs this year (at least the top 8 or so) and they had to figure out things to criticize. Can't you see conferring, figuring out who to throw under the bus this week? "How can I be mean but not so mean that the audience hates me?"

Well Casey's broccolini (wtf is that?) lost it for him. He was the obvious choice given all the troubles he had this week. But he is my favorite and I'll miss him. You are the weakest link, goodbye!

Did anyone else think that Padma was going to cry when she had to tell him to pack his knives and go??

Tele-bits: Pet Peeves

Did anyone else know it was going to be CJ as soon as they had that shot of him talking about how much he needed to get to New York? I need to spout off about the poor direction these reality shows are getting. WHY do the people who produce reality shows do these things:

1) stringing the participants and the audience along again and again with the "... ... ... ... after the break" (insert audience groan here).

The worst show: American Idol. Listen Seacrest, the viewers CARE about those young contestants. When the director makes you do this EVERY SINGLE SHOW you are just pissing off the people watching at home.

The best show: On the Lot. After the first painful and ridiculous time they tried the tired Idol strategy they realized how cruel it was and NEVER did it again. Making it short and filmed at the other location made it bearable to watch. Those directors chose to act like human beings and treat their contestants the same way.

2) showing us half of the next segment in the "coming up" cut to commercial or the opening. The worst show: Every reality show on cable and most on regular tv that I watch. From "Welcome to the Parker" to "Top Chef" to "Flipping Out" they all show ridiculous amounts of the show in their "coming up next" section. I don't want to know that Hung is about to go ape-shit or that Jeff Lewis is going to fire Chris "Trash Guy" Elwood again before I get to see it in it's entirety. When I watch "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" I DON'T want to see the startled looks on the family's faces or when Mommy falls down to the ground in freaked out ecstasy, right before the commercial. I want to see it all together, as it happened on film.

The worst of the worst: Ok this isn't really in the same category as it's a talk show and not even close to reality, but the absolute worst direction happens on "Maury" during those paternity shows. I'm NOT going to admit that I watch them...someone told me about them...um, yeah. You always know who's the babydaddy before the next segment! Woman falls to the floor or rushes off the stage with her hands on her head? Not the babydaddy. Man jumps up and points to the audience and grabs himself? Not the babydaddy. Anything else? Babydaddy.

So until the tv peeps figure this out I'll be sitting with the remote in hand, ready to fast forward as soon as I see the "Coming Up Next" message. And I won't be watching anything live. Or watching the commercials that pay for those shows.

Tele-bits: The Fall 2007 Television Premieres II

Here's another version sorted by Date and Time. Enjoy!

Tele-bits: The Fall 2007 Television Premieres!

I hate that there isn't a a good grid out there (that I've found at least) that organizes when the new Fall Premieres take place. I've created a small one of the shows that I think are worthy of at least checking out. If your favorite isn't on here you can email me with the info and I'll try to add it!

Tele-bits: The View and Oprah Debut

Hey daytime junkies...what? you don't record the talk shows?? Well I WOULD watch them live but I have better things to do with my time than watch commercials or stupid segments. :-)

The View

Sherri Shepherd...Really? Really. The woman who doesn't believe in evolution. Really. Well I guess they won't only have Elizabeth to kick around now on the religious stuff. Since she's with child I guess I'll cut her some slack. But only a little.

Moving Joy next to Whoopi is a GREAT idea. They two really click. Joy is looking beautiful and she is more in touch with the show than she ever was in it's first 9 years. Rosie brought her out of her shell and Whoopi is going to set her free!

Oprah

Debut in NY today. Very good show and Oprah had on this BEAUTIFUL black dress that I would love to have. It was so classy. The Letterman segments were inspirational. Watching him talk about his son Harry just makes my heart sing. Such a proud Papa. One question though...are Dave and Al Franken morphing into the same person? I was shocked by the resemblance today. Maybe it's just the dry humor that I love so much.

Lisa Marie Presley sounded great on that video with her father. She admits she doesn't sing as well as he did (few can) but I thought her voice sounded divine. I always think she was meant for a career in music but she screwed it up early on with the Michael Jackson debacle and Scientology crap. Her daughter Riley was beautiful and composed. Given her mother's weird tics (she cannot sit still!) I was glad to see Riley seemed normal.

Review on Dr. Phil's debut tomorrow if I can find time to watch it!

Tele-bits: Top Chef

Was it because he volunteered?

Nawww. He had to go. Howie failed numerous times in his efforts to 1) actually cook something and serve it on time, 2) cook things that wowed the judges or the tv audience, and 3) be a team player.

Top Chef has been a snoozefest this season, hasn't it? Once Howie's nemesis-turned-best-bud Joey got the axe there wasn't much entertaining gusto left in Season 3. And let's face it, now that we don't have Tre to look at, listen to, fantasi.... um, well, it hasn't been the same.

I was miffed at the judges last night. The food got good reviews from the guests, the group as a whole worked really well together, and Brian did a great job wrangling all those egos...the egos themselves actually thought he did a great job. It wasn't NEARLY the disaster they made it out to be. Ok, Howie's poo on a cracker didn't look too appetizing but I thought everything else looked pretty good! Actually, I want the recipe for the asparagus/prosciutto cigar - that looked yummy.

I'm glad Howie figured out the team player part of the equation, even if it was a little too late. But until he channels that anger and energy into some fastidious cooking he isn't going to be a great chef.

Tele-bits: Flipping Out

JEFF HAS A HEART!

Who knew? After all the nastiness and OCD-i-ness (yeah, I said it, what? what?) Jeff showed his heart at the end. Granted it might have been because of the martinis but it actually looked real! And as we all know, liquor is an amazing truth serum.

The part that made me laugh when Jeff found the, um, outhouse under the house. He was so grossed out and SO didn't want to ask Elwood to clean it up. But then he did it anyway AND then bitched about Chris saying no! Jeff must be the king of justification.

But back to the doody under the house. WTF was that all about???? I'm still gagging a little thinking about it. The workers actually thinking that was an ok thing to do? Holy crap, pun intended. I would have made the contractors who hired those effin' heathens come out and clean it up.

Next week we get to see the Flipping Out Open House episode. I'm really looking forward to it - I think that Jeff and his friends/slaves are a lot funnier when they aren't working so hard to make a tv show. I read on Rosie O'Donnell's blog that some people say Flipping Out is fake and scripted. That makes me sad and I hope it isn't true but I must admit I wondered sometimes. Especially when Jeff was at his OCD-i-est. Rosie keeps talking about wanting to do lunch with him to see if he's real - oh how fun it would be to attend that tete-a-tete!

I hope that we see more Flipping Out in the future!

Tele-bits: Welcome to the Parker

Season finale

In what I think was the Season Finale we saw Michael Twomey get his due. Now, don't get me wrong. He seems nice and probably is a LOT of fun after a few cosmos. I'd love to have drinks with the guy. I just don't want him organizing...well...anything for me. Michael admitted that he is not detail oriented so I think we all realize now that this was NOT the job for him.

I loved this show. I mean, it's no Project Runway, but the stories that come out of the hotel industry are by far the wildest. You just can't believe the things that people do behind key-carded doors. If anyone has any they'd like to share, send them to me and I'll make a special post just for them.

It seems to me that the show is NOT coming back. We got the little "what they're doing now" bits at the end. On one hand I really want to see more. On the other hand, if all of the interesting characters are gone and we're left with the "A" list bimbos, uh, buh bye.

Tele-bits: Grey's Anatomy

I am one of those people who haven't been watching Grey's Anatomy. I know, I know...but there haven't been enough television watching hours in the day lately. The good news is that I joined Netflix and I've been catching up with McDreamy, Merideth and the entire good-looking cast.

Now I understand what the hype is all about! I just finished disc 5 of 6 in Season 2 and I'm going going to be watching the mailbox verrry hopefully the rest of this week. Thank goodness that Netflix tells me when I have a new dvd on the way.

Unfortunately Season 4 isn't out on dvd yet so I'll have to avoid the show when Season 5 starts up here soon. Can't be seeing ahead, that would make me crazy. It's bad enough that I know Addison has her own show coming out!

Tele-bits

The 4400 - This is a great show!

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

Please don't blame me if you read below this sentence and you didn't want to know what happened this past week. 'nuff said.

The 4400 has really found its footing this season. Now that we know how "The Marked" take over their hosts it's downright scary to see that fake smile on Tom's face. Seriously, this guy is a good actor. It's as if I'm watching a brand new character.

I was really disappointed that Isabelle's mother Lily wasn't back for good. The relationship between her and Richard was very sweet to watch. I hope Richard isn't gone for good since fake Tom has imprisoned him to hold it over Isabelle. I have to say that Sean and Kyle are really the only ones turning out to be true "good guys" on this show. I love that Kyle didn't kill Kevin but instead brought him back to Promise City. Kidnapped him, yeah, but at least he's alive.

It's hard to determine the good vs. evil on The 4400 and that makes it good tv!

Tele-bits

DVR JOY! There are a few summer shows that make me smile and two of them were waiting for me on my DVR last night: Burn Notice and Welcome to the Parker!!!!

Welcome to the Parker is such a fabulous show and it lived up to my expectations again this week. Those "A" list girls working their "magic" (yup, kind of sarcastic quotes there) on the poor Spa girl. If they're not careful they will end up like that BIATCH Peggy from the Desert Cancer group. Whoa. That's nasty on a whole new level. Ok, Ok, I have to give her this though...Michael Twomey is a major schmuck-up. He overslept until NOON on one of the most important days of his career? No way. I think he is either ON drugs or needs to be!

Burn Notice - This is James Bond, Matt Helm (Dean Martin's wonderful spy character), The Saint (original tv version, of course, with Roger Moore) and Get Smart all rolled up into one great spy - Michael Westen (Weston?)! It's cute, dangerous, funny, sexy...watch it people.
More on Burn Notice here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn_Notice_%28TV_series%29

I think that Fiona is going to win Michael over eventually but of course he can only concentrate on who burned him and, now, who wants him dead. Great show.

The other shows that heat up my TV this summer are Psych (love this quirky detective stuff and the chemistry between Gus, Shawn and Henry is incredible. More on Psych here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psych

Flipping Out - WOW this real estate flipper is NUTS! He must pay those people incredibly well because I don't know anyone who would stay with him for one day. That's what makes the show for me - who will snap first and *SMACK* that self-satisfied look off Jeff's face? I'm thinking Trash Guy. The Ex/business partner is next in line.

The most amazing part is when Jeff thought that his contractor should just hire people to cover those things in his life that were getting the way of JEFF being satisfied. Like being with his kids. I kid you not.

More on Flipping Out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipping_Out