Reality Roundup
Hey, it’s been awhile, no? So, here’s the skinny – a few cooking shows still going on, with Hell’s Kitchen and Top Chef. For the former, it continues to be a disappointment, in that wholly unqualified people comprise the cast…with the possible exception of Clay, every contestant on Top Chef would whoop every contestant on Hell’s Kitchen. And that’s just unfortunate, because it begs the question of what, exactly Gordon Ramsey is trying to prove with his show. It’s not very interesting, overall – and yet, I watch.
The final has come down to Rock – a hotheaded but talented chef who clearly had the most cooking chops of any contestant from Day One – and Bonnie, a very cute, perky nanny and personal chef – who admitted during this last episode that she’s not sure she even wants to win. (Hey, good times!) It seems a no-brainer that Rock will win, but I guess I’ve been surprised before.
On Top Chef, however, things are just really getting started. (And not just because Padma Lakshmi is so hot.)
If you wonder whether it’s a true competition or not, understand that the last two chefs to get booted are Executive Chefs at, respectively, Jean-Georges and Café Des Artistes, two serious New York city restaurants. The contest was for two-chef teams to create a frozen dinner (in a none too subtle nod to guest judge Rocco DiSpirito, who looked and acted just as ridiculous as he did in his own reality show, The Restaurant, and has similar product for sale.) Only CJ (the giant) and Tre figured out that each item needed to be frozen separately. Otherwise, the product (they were all told to make a dinner honoring the Mediterranean) basically blended in together and created some pretty unpleasant tastes. Dale (mohawk guy) and Casey (who looks too much like Jennifer Aniston, if that’s possible) came in second, which is nice to see as Casey had won the Quickfire and still obviously worked really hard at this challenge. The losing teams were Howie (bald, angry) and Sarah (who…has shown nothing besides an odd accent, which says something about her presence) and Hung (spastic Vietnamese kid) and Joey (New York Italian guy). Hung had actually figured out the separate freezing thing, but failed to hammer this home with Joey – and it’s clear that it’s a failure on both of them for this. Hung had to stop what Joey was doing (pouring full meals into separate containers), and Joey had to listen. Apparently, the judges decided that even if they had done the correct freezing procedure. I mean, that HAS to be the case, because otherwise Sarah had to go home. She’s done nothing, though it’s also worth noting that Howie was way out of line with his insistence that she belittled him and had tons of attitude. Howie has what we would call an anger management issue.
Anyhow, Joey is gone – and he sobbed and sobbed like a little child…which was actually somehow endearing. The guy wore his emotions on his sleeve and God bless him for him, yes? Sure. (But…I also think he’s probably not thrilled with the fact that he did that on national TV.) I will say this - long before the judging came down, he called Rocco DiSpirito an asshole on national TV. And for that, especially considering they've probably crossed paths before in NYC, is pretty awesome.
And then we’re at Big Brother 8. Oh, BB8, you rock the bells. Last week, Dustin won Head of Household, and nominated Jen and Kail. (I should point out right now that I have been getting a lot of search engine traffic for “big brother jen nude” and a lot of variations on that. Trust me, I’d love to see those photos but they don’t seem to exist.)
Dustin – who has admitted that he wasn’t much of a fan of this show before being recruited (as the enemy of Joe, since booted from the house) – made a classic blunder in the Veto competition. It was a basic Jeopardy style quiz, with the twist that contestants could spend their points (and therefore have less of a chance of winning) for temptations. Such as a trip for two to Barbados, or $5000 in cash.
Dustin took both.
Suffice it to say, the house was furious with him – because it allowed Jen to get taken off the block once Jameka won. (I’d go into Jameka’s assertion that she did this because it was God’s will to have her compete so she was just following his orders…but I just don’t have the patience.) Dustin didn’t care about this because he felt just fine about putting either Zach or Nick up as a replacement. The thing he didn’t really think out is how everyone else in the house would see it. Anyhow, they’re pissed at him, and now Nick is on the block.
Oh, and along the way, Amber cried a few dozen times.
It says here that Nick goes home. First of all, he’s totally ruining Danielle’s game, and as a very physical guy who is smarter than he wants to let on, he’s also a pretty big threat. It should also be said that everyone is suspicious of him for things he didn’t do. Mostly, they think he voted for Zach to stay (when instead it was Eric, America’s Player). They think he’s much more under-handed than he actually is. Mainly he should be gone because he’s being a douche-nozzle to Danielle. (I’ve talked about this earlier, so I won’t go back into this.)
What’s interesting about this season is that, unlike most others, people I really like aren’t being targeted just yet. Partially, that’s because I really don’t like anyone…but also because the supposed alliance of Nick, Zach, Kail and Mike, as well as Jen, are in everyone else’s sights.
Finally, I couldn’t resist mentioning this new show called L.A. Ink,, a spinoff from Miami Ink which I’ve never seen. But TLC is promoting the hell out of this new show, and I can understand why. Kat Von D (which I’m pretty sure is not her real name) is crazy sexy. Not really my type – I generally prefer a majority of a woman’s body to be ink-free – but daaaaaamn. (The wife tells me my reaction to these commercials means we probably won’t be setting a Season Pass for this. I really need to be able to keep quiet a bit better.)
Edited to add this -- this is what Rocco DiSpirito looks like now. Nice frosted hair, girly man. What a nozzle.