Yes, just my opinion but at some point Top Chef needs to eliminate two people in one episode. This series is becoming tedious, almost painfully so; beginning with 14 contestants instead of 12, as in Season 1, has not done a thing to increase my enjoyment. To the contrary.
There are so many contestants there are some we still see almost nothing of. If we can’t even remember their names, how does Bravo expect us to be invested enough to follow this or to care who’s eliminated? With two extra contestants, that’s two more weeks we need to watch but I’m already looking at certain contestants — or “cast members” as they’re properly called — as mere filler.
Perhaps the casting itself could be improved, but if this show, as it stands now, were a manuscript, an editor would go at it ruthlessly to cut the fat and tighten the narrative.
What do you think?
Related post: Food “Reality” Shows
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I admit I watched my first episodes on this past Wednesday. Too many players was my thought. I don’t know about cutting two players out at one time–perhaps. But I find the excesses of this show fascinating to watch, nevertheless. Perhaps my biggest “beef” with the show is that I saw no vegan/vegetarian challenges. Too much meat for my taste, and there are so many creative and wonderful ways to make rich and sumptuous vegetarian food. This is just my impression, but some of the ideas are fascinating to watch.
I agree. I’m hoping they will do a team challenge and a team will be eliminated not just one chef. Haven’t they done that before?
They might have had a team elimination, sumi. I hope they do it! I’ll be honest, I didn’t watch all of last season. The contestants struck me as rejects from Season 1 and I never got into it.
@bb – I agree re: vegetarian creations. In Season 1, a quickfire was to create a sandwich that Colicchio would put on the menu at one of his places. Miguel Morales (Chunk le Funk) created a falafel that Colicchio said was delicious and that he’s always looking for a good veggie sandwich, but it was too hard to eat. Too deconstructed. So Miguel didn’t win.
Bravo doesn’t have the recipe, but Morales has a website and sure enough, it’s there. I found it at:
http://www.chefmiguel.com/recipes/tomsandwichdish.htm
Thanks for the link! Looks delicious, and very easy to modify or augment.
I just watched Top Chef for the very first time this weekend. I thought there were too many contestants too. They would show what some made for the challenges and I swear they would show a contestant later on that I had not seen before.
Welcome to the club! I’m sorry you didn’t see Season 1 — I think they should just run it once a year. Or more.
Someday when you have spare time, you should check out the moment-by-moment recaps at Television Without Pity. They’re long but very well written and you’ll feel as if you watched the first season. Then you, too, can hate Tiffani! LOL
BTW, Season 4 will be from Chicago. Filming will finish before the harsh winter sets in.
Oh, the argh of it all. Tonight will be the second Wednesday in three weeks without a new episode. Instead, it’s a “reunion” of cast members from all three seasons. Will not watch.
How often do these people need to reunite, for gosh sakes? Can’t we just get ON with it?