So, one trap we fell into this summer was filling the DVR with a bunch of competition reality shows during that period of time where our more favorite shows are on hiatus. We went a bit overboard this year, I do believe. Two of these are nearly over (in fact, one finale is waiting for us on the DVR now), which is good timing given that the fall premieres are upon us. I’m bunching all four into one post.
The Great Food Truck Race (2).
This one is my least favorite of the four, although I’m not loving most of these this time around. I allowed myself to get hooked on it based on the hilariously over the top hosting by Tyler Florence, although as the show continued this became less funny and more annoying. One thing this show has going for it is that it is pretty short, this is the one that has the finale waiting for us on the DVR. I think the concept, which has competing food trucks drive to new cities and sell their various cuisine to folks is cool, and I like the simplistic rules: the truck that generates the least amount of money is the truck that is eliminated. But the show gets a little too cute with the various obstacles they toss at the teams (one of the more annoying ones was allowing the teams to spend ~$500 and then telling them they could only serve vegetarian. Really?) and ultimately the show gets a bit boring. I don’t think I’ll come back for a new season if one is made.
Top Chef: Just Desserts.
The spin-off of Top Chef is back for season 2. I love Top Chef, which is odd since you don’t get to taste any of the food. This version of the show does sort of pale in comparison with the original though. Part of it is the focus on pastry/dessert chefs, just a personal preference of mine, and part of it is the judging (the head judge, who apparently was a fan of the Honky Tonk Man, is no Tom Colicchio). This season’s group of contestants is kind of thin too, most of them seem to think they are a lot better than they appear to be, and there does not seem to be any of them for me to root for.
Project Runway
Speaking of having no contestants to root for, this season of PR has been particularly disappointing. They may be down to 7 designers left at this point, and I think I dislike something about each of them, or can at least think of a reason I won’t miss any of them if they leave. I don’t have much more to say about this year’s group. Perhaps I’m still angry at who won last time (spoiler).
Chopped (Champions)
Now this is an addictive show. What a great format, bring in 4 contestants, give them a mystery basket of ingredients and a time limit to make an appetizer, judge them and eliminate (Chop!) the least successful one and move on to a new basket. Next is a main course and then a dessert, but the winner is judged on all three rounds. A perfect set-up for short attention spans, and lord knows mine is shorter these days. The ones they are showing right now are a little different, as all four contestants are previous winners, so the skill level starts out higher (so you don’t have a first round elimination where a contestant in over their head puts some particularly hilarious stuff on the plate), but it is still pretty good. They had four rounds of these, and then this week those four winners will face off for the big prize. My biggest criticism of the show is that often there is no point in listening to the judges comments, as they are edited to keep some suspense into who gets “chopped”; despite this they often telegraph who is going to win by weaving in some sort of sob story (recovering from illness or substance abuse; need the cash to see a sick relative; not a ‘trained’ chef so this is proof of competence) but this can be ignored more often than not. I’m not sure when new episodes will return of this show, but I’ll miss this one.
SPEED BUMP!