Cutthroat Kitchen, Food Network Star, Master Chef and more

Cutthroat Kitchen is now in its second season, and it's going like gangbusters. For those who might not know

what this is, this is Food Network's own Alton Brown as an evil host who starts out with four chefs who are trying to best one another, through various nefarious means, and emerge victorious. Each contestant is given $25k at the beginning of the show, and this is what they use for the auctions in each round. First Alton announces what dish he expects them to cook, then he gives them 60 seconds to shop for ingredients from his pantry. If, at the end of that time, someone is caught in the pantry, there is a penalty to be exacted. I've only seen that happen once.

Then the fun begins, as the cheftestants bid on the sabotages that Alton introduces, in order to burden their fellow chefs with them. One of the most infamous sabotages is the tiny kitchen. Another is to have two chefs chained together. Or use strange items as tools. Or strange heat sources. When it comes time for judging, a guest judge arrives, having no knowledge of the sabotages used and not caring, and tastes the food. One chef is eliminated in each round. The regular judges are Simon Majundar (whom I refer to as Simon Majumjum lol), Jet Tila, and Antonia Lofaso. Once, Geoffrey Zakarian was a guest judge, and you can imagine how thrilled I was that night!

This is a really enjoyable show (and no, Alton isn't that mean, it's an act. Seriously?) One of my favorite memories involves a chef that was on Food Network Star and lost (and I didn't like her on that). She was a contestant on CK, and had a slight altercation with a blender. You can see it in the opening credits lol

Food Network Star is entering its last couple of weeks, and we are down to the last four - Lenny, Luca,

Nicole and Sarah. At the beginning of the season, I had two favorites - Luca and Lenny. But Luca was eliminated in the second week, for not looking at the camera, so I set my sights on Lenny. After winning in the last chance kitchen, Luca came back, but I'm still going with Lenny. Sarah was rooting for Loreal, the Butcher Babe, but she was eliminated, so now she's rooting for Luca. Should be interesting, although I think Lenny has pretty well outshown everyone else most of the time. When he's good, he's very good. He has charisma in spades, and I think he'll do well with his own show. I'd certainly watch it.

Master Chef is almost down to ten contestants now, and I honestly can't say I have a favorite. This is not really their best season yet. There is one person I'd love to see eliminated, and I'm sure she will be, after they take advantage of the bitch-factor she projects. Her name is Courtney, and she is just obnoxious. I like Leslie, the guy who's about my age from Malibu, but I'm not sure he has what it takes to win. I like Jamie, who is quiet and shy, but she needs to step forward and shine more. She has time, though. At this point last season, Luca hadn't begun to really shine,  but the last half of the season saw him do just that. I like Big Willie too. It's just not a very exciting season. Side note; Graham looks like he's lost a bit of weight, good for him!

Hell's Kitchen ended its season recently, but we didn't even bother to watch the finale, so disgusted with their choices of who was to compete - Scott and Jason. What a crock. Rochelle was better than either of them and should never have been eliminated. A disappointing season.

On the other hand, Hotel Hell is back, and Gordon Ramsey is visiting some very disgusting hotels that he has to work miracles with. Similar to what Robert Irvine does with restaurants. The difference is Gordon isn't hampered by a $10k budget, obviously. He has some very generous sponsors, which makes sprucing up his hotels much easier. $10k wouldn't go very far, but Robert does amazing things on a small budget. I look forward to an interesting season of Hotel Hell. Apparently, there will be no more Kitchen Nightmares. Can't blame the man, he has a lot going on.





Hell on Wheels starts again tonight, can't wait! We started watching Face Off this season. I'd been told by a

few people that I should watch it, I'd like it, and they were right! Make-up artists compete for a major cash prize, creating make-up and effects to specifications. We've seen two episodes and are impressed. One of the contestants is from St. Louis, so go Drew! Next episode has to do with aliens, should be fun!



Well, all for now, gotta get in some writing before it's Svengoolie and ice cream time! Tonight he's showing Son of Dracula! I'm sure it's a real stinker lol

Next time I hope to talk about Ray Donovan, Masters of Sex, Halt and Catch Fire, The Kitchen and more!

Later!

Why Dr. Smith is a better father to Will Robinson and other Sundries

There's a station called ME TV where you can watch lots of vintage shows. Some are classics, some are

gems, and some are not so good,  but there are a lot of memories there. On Saturday nights, they show Lost in Space, right before Star Trek TOS. I've seen Lost in Space, of course, grew up on it, loved it. My favorite character was Dr. Zachary Smith (maybe that says a lot about me, since he's supposed to be the villain of the story, or maybe it says something for the others that he's the most interesting person there lol). When the film was made, and that role went to Gary Oldman, I was ecstatic. Not so much when the film came out, which is not Gary's fault, and it didn't stop me from seeing it a few times at the theatre.

And actually, what I'm about to say holds true for the movie as well as the series, but it's the series I'm talking about right now, because it's fresher in my mind.

Dr. Smith, for all his faults, was a better father to Will than John Robinson.

He spent more time with Will, there's no denying that. John Robinson spent little time with his family, the quintessential working father so common at that time. And yet, he certainly wasn't working a 9-5 40 hour job. He could make his own hours. He chose to do what he did.



Dr. Smith was a mentor to Will, a role-model, if you will. Will obviously cared for him, and looked out for

him, stood up for him and pleaded leniency when maybe he didn't always deserve it. Obviously, he learned a lot from the Doctor, including compassion. Great job, Zachary! And fie on you, John Robinson, for failing as a parent. And no, Maureen wasn't much better, but she was a little more attentive.

I'm a little behind on what I've been watching, but here goes. Hell's Kitchen ended last night, and quite happily, with Ja'nel winning a spot as Gordon Ramsay's chef, beating out Mary. I knew Mary couldn't win, she didn't have it in her. I had made an early prediction that the last two standing would be Ja'nel and Jon. I came close. Jon was cut at the last moment. Great job, Ja'nel!










Master Chef is down to 7 chefs now. In a surprise move, the top 6 chefs didn't cook in tonight's episode.

Instead, each of the judges brought back a contestant they felt had gone too soon - Bime, Brie and Linn. They competed against one another to see who would come back to Master Chef. The challenge involved cooking as many perfect fried eggs as they could. In that challenge, Linn was eliminated, leaving Bime and Brie to duke it out. They had to cool a huge Alaskan salmon, with potatoes and asparagus, and the six contestants were to judge, along with Joe, in a blind taste test. In the end, the vote went to Brie, and she's back. My favorite is still Luca. He's emerging as a strong contender these days, so don't go counting him out!

For all intents and purposes, Food Network Star is done. The final three made their pilots, and America voted. Now we wait the result, in next Sunday's episode. I was sad when Chad was eliminated. I still think he has what it takes. But I'm rooting for Russell now, and I hope he and his culinary sins make it!







A new season of Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell just started. The show is okay, if somewhat predictable.

There's also a new season of Top Chef Masters. I've got two favorites there, Chef Neal Fraser and Chef Sang. There is a twist to this season. Each chef brought a sous chef, and the sous chefs compete first, and their actions often come back to haunt their chefs. Sometimes immunity, sometimes a penalty. Tonight's episode was very interesting,****Spoilers**** with the masters feeding the cast of Days of our Lives. They were divided into three teams to represent Sex, Murder, and Greed, and their food had to reflect those themes. Three chefs, thanks to their sous chefs, had penalties. One sat in jail for 30 minutes, one was in a coma for 30 minutes, and one was in a crime scene for 30 minutes, at various stages of their cooking. In the end, Chef Odette was sent packing.

Well, that's it for right now, but next time I want to talk about Crossing Lines, The Glades and The Bridge. And Hannibal too, even though the season is done.

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie