Top Chef, Comedies, and Cod?

Nope, no cod. But hey, feel free to share this site with your friends. The more, the merrier (and maybe I can Google Ad this bizznatch, ya know?) For now though, let's watch some TV.


Ahh, that was fun. Now let's write about some TV.


Top Chef: Poor Eli...I figured he was doomed, but he definitely didn't seem like the worst chef of the evening. This definitely seemed like a "let's make good television" decision, rather than a "let's advance the best four performers of the night" decision. Very sneaky editing tonight, as they made it look like anyone could have gone home tonight (well, except Kevin...let's not kid ourselves). I wish they hadn't waited until Eli's final episode to mention the Blais connection. Also, how great would it have been to see Blais, Hung, maybe one or two other former contestants, in this elimination challenge? For every "make a dish with this microwave rice" challenge that drives me crazy, they surprise us with such a pure food challenge like this and just make me love them even harder. I really thought we could see a Voltaggio go tonight, but they deigned to pull the trigger, and so Eli's good run comes to an end. Napa Valley final four next week, and after tonight it doesn't look likely that ANYONE will overtake Kevin.

Community: Another strong episode tonight, as Ken Leong moves to the forefront and knocks one out of the park. The mandatory NBC Green Week stuff wasn't too invasive, and the show settled into what it does best; pair them off and go to town. This week's couples: Jeff and Senor Chang, Shirley and Pierce, and the always strong Troy and Abed. Sorry Britta and Annie, you get a week mostly off. The Shirley/Pierce story was fairly lightweight, as was Abed and Troy (although Troy screaming on the table like a little girl was worth the price of admission alone), so Jeff and Senor Chang got the most to do, and they made the most of it. The bit at the end with the Celtic band, Senor Chang's dance of love with his wife, and Abed and Troy's duet on "Somewhere Out There" (and of course they name their rat Fievel) all coming together was very well done.

The Office: The Dunder Mifflin Bankruptcy storyline continues as Michael Scott takes a group up to the stockholders meeting in NYC and Jim stays back in Scranton to try and get some work done. This is actually a great strategy for The Office at this point; splitting the cast up lets some people have screen time that would normally get shafted. In this case, it's Michael putting his foot in his mouth while trying to placate a room full of angry stockholders (and Dwight), while Jim asserts his co-authority (and puts Ryan in his place) back home. I really liked the scene where Michael drags Oscar in with all the D-M honchos and Oscar wilts under the pressure. Otherwise, this wasn't much of an episode, just getting the pieces into place for wherever this story is going.

30 Rock: Oh the delicious irony; a "Studio 60" cast member guest stars on 30 Rock. I'd like to see more of him though, he was entertaining. Liz's storyline was a little inside for those of us who don't live in New York City, but her following advice from Jenna definitely made for some funny. Jack and Tracy is also a pairing that doesn't happen as much, and it led to A) An appearance by Dr. Spaceman and B) A great Cosby Show hallucination. Kenneth's Mandatory Green Week storyline was pretty much a waste, save for the parts about how Frank's disgusting lifestyle is actually the most carbon neutral thing on the show. Decent Al Gore cameo at the end as well. Overall, enjoyable, but could have been better without the Green Week stuff shoehorned in.