Warm Glowing Warming Glow

The Cheftacular

Tonight is the Top Chef finale (10:00 PM EST), and I don't know how I feel about that.  Yes, I'm excited.  I really don't know who's going to win, and I really don't know who I want to win.  I think it's possible that Ilan is slightly more deserving: he's been very, very successful, by Top Chef standards, throughout the competition.  He's clearly a very good cook, funnel cakes aside.  His constant harping on Marcel makes it really hard to root for him, though.  Marcel, on the other hand, is -- well, likable may be too strong a word -- comparatively sympathetic, but hit-or-miss, as a chef.  He's apparently made some great dishes, but the reliance on foams is a little alarming. 

On the other hand, I feel a little bit robbed, because Sam and Elia are out of the race.  Sam has been the frontrunner since week one; I'm still a little shocked that he was eliminated last week.  Sam's long-term dominance makes a finale that doesn't include him feel almost illegitimate.  Elia, although less of a force in challenges, is clearly just as talented as Sam.  Up until last week, with her disgraceful and lame attempt to accuse Marcel of cheating, Elia also presented as the single most sympathetic contestant.  She was the only member of her team not to renounce Otto during that absurd Lychee-Gate event in the second episode and she was Marcel's chief supporter for most of the season.   

Finally, Elia and Sam's absence from the final episode (maybe they'll be back as sous-chefs?) leaves one of the most compelling storylines of this season unresolved.  I'm talking about the way in which the smothered sexual tension between Sam and Ilan has translated into bullying of Marcel [Like Leopold and Loeb? -- Jenny] [Yes. -- Peter] and eventually drew Cliff, Frank and Elia into its orbit.  I wish we were getting a reunion episode, so that we could get at least the semblance of closure.  (Why aren't we?  It seems really odd that we're not.  Is it being slid over to "Watch What Happens," the MTV-ish online-only show hosted by Bravo V.P. of Production and Programming Andy Cohen?)

Tonight is also the premiere of Top Design (11:00 PM EST), the latest Project Runway knock-off, this one hosted by Todd Oldham.  I know how I feel about that: can.not.freaking.wait. -- Peter

"Some Dentist from Pikesville"

Here's the second part of that conversation between David Mills and David Simon.

If you like this interview, and would like to read further bizarre -- albeit unsourced -- anecdotes starring William Friedkin, click here.  -- Peter 

January Junk Food Roundup

Dear Pete,

I'm on your coast, where, I'm told, it's supposed to be something like -11 degrees tomorrow. As a result I'm trying to gain as much of a fat coat overnight as I can. Here's what I've been eating:

1. I invented a new food: the peanut butter doughnut sandwich. It's inspired by Luther Vandross's Doughnut Burger, but better, because there's no cooking or meat. Slice a Dunkin Donuts Glazed Stick lengthwise, slather with peanut butter, and enjoy. Variant for the kids: use a Jelly Stick. Variant for the teens: serve with Smirnoff Ice.

2. Dark Chocolate M&Ms

Oh my word, these are good. I can't eat regular M&Ms anymore because the chocolate is too waxy. This remedies the problem and wraps it in a crunchy candy shell. Best new candy! Best!

3. Hershey's Kissables

I thought these were going to be bigger, chocolatier M&Ms, but they combine the worst of both: awful chocolate armored in a heavy, flavorless candy shell. Unbelievably bad. I tried to pawn them off on children, but they saw right through them, and went straight for the Marie-Lus. Kissable? It's like kissing packing material.

I better go. It's starting to get dark, and these snack cakes aren't going to eat themselves.

--Jenny

Club Club

Not much going on today.  New Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars last night, both pretty good. 

On the former, it turns out that now the only storyline I care about is Luke's fight to get custody of April, a sure instance of the Willa Holland Phenomenon.  I really don't care about Lorelai's continued unwillingness to grow the fuck up.  The Lane pregnancy is only so-so -- most of that subplot was annoying last night, but the scene with Zack and the grocery bags was actually very affecting.  Keiko Agena's fat suit looks really weird and fake, which is distracting.  Please stop me from saying something harsh about the actress who plays (actresses who play?) G.G.  Trying to stop on my own . . . the "cookies made from scratching" bit was actually funny.

Veronica Mars was a Mac episode, which is great.  I think, based on interviews Rob Thomas gave about the first two seasons, the problem is money: Thomas is only budgeted for a certain number of episodes for most of the so-called regulars -- hence not much of Mac or Weevil, no Wallace last night .  . .  Anyway, last night was light-weight but enjoyable.  Glad that Mac got the cute PHAT guy -- I actually pegged the lab boy as Mac's love interest.  By the way, Tina Majorino is really good on Big Love, opposite Amanda Seyfried (aka Lilly Kane) -- weird that Majorino and Seyfried never shared scenes on Veronica Mars.

New Friday Night Lights tonight . . .   

Tussin!

Hi Special Special Cousin Oscar Day Cousin!

Simon says it's because she's pizza and he's salad! Hi cousin! I'm on a lot of cough syrup today. That, in fact, makes me think of you and the Oscars, too, on account of that one Oscar night I combined several French 75s and an overgenerous dose of Wal-Tussin, fell asleep on the living room floor in a puddle of my own drool before Best Picture, then woke up, locked myself in the bathroom, and gave a half-hour Oscar acceptance speech to the mirror.

I think that was the same year Titanic won and you shotgunned beers on the back porch in disgust.

Anyway. I hope the awards go your way this year. I'm just glad Borat got something, and hope it wins.

-- Jenny

It's Oscar Day

Good Morning Special Oscar Nomination Day Cousin,

Every year on this special day, I feel very close to you, because of that one time when we tried to wake up at 5:00 AM in order to watch the announcement live.  That was a great -- well, I don't actually remember much about it because I slept through it, but it was a time.  Anyway, they're here again and I feel like we should say something about them.  Since I'm horrible at predicting anything, I'm going to note instead who I think should win.  And I haven't seen many of the nominated movies, so this is really about my prejudices, rather than any objective evaluations of the art involved.  So, not that different from your average Academy member:

Picture.  The Departed.  This is easy, because Little Miss Sunshine was overrated, The Queen was actually bad, Clint Eastwood needs to atone some more for Mystic River and I didn't like Babel the first time I saw it, when it was called Amores Perros.  Children of Men should have been nominated, though, and should have won.   

Actor.  Ryan Gosling.  Come on!  He was on Breaker High and he dated Sandra Bullock.  Except.  What if he wins and then disappears, a la Adrien Brody?   So I'm conflicted.  Actually, the only thing I know is I don't want Will Smith to win, because it's H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S.

Actress.  Give it to any of them -- I like them all.  Um, everyone's already decided that Mirren's going to win, right?

Supporting Actor.  Duh.  Jackie Earle Haley.

Supporting Actress.  I'd like either Jennifer Hudson (because she is lovely) or Rinko Kikuchi (because of the crazy/avant-garde fashion) to win.

Director.  Scorsese.  Or Paul Greengrass. 

Foreign Language.  Volver's not nominated, which sucks.  Pan's Labyrinth was really good.

Adapted Screenplay.  Children of Men.  No, Borat.  I didn't realize that Todd Phillips was one of the writers.  That's kind of cool.

Original Screenplay.  This one's easy: Guillermo del Toro.  However, I did like this screenplay better the first time, when it was called El Espinado del Diablo. 

What do you think?

Love,

-- Pete

   

The Girl Who Didn't Go to Paris

Is it just me or did MTV sneak The Hills back on the schedule?  I feel like it deserved a lot more fanfare.  It is possibly -- I'm being completely serious -- the one show I look forward to the most, right now.  It's barely a half-hour, but it packs a lot in.  The first two episodes have already yielded some classic lines: "She'll always be known as the Girl Who Didn't Go to Paris."  "I'm on Team Heidi." "Don Antonio's is life-changing Mexican food."  "People tell me I have a creepy smile."  Plus the drama!  The first episode ended with a pregnancy scare, scored by an emo cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."  It was just like The O.C., only, you know, real.  Allegedly.  -- Peter

P.S. Virginia Heffernan likes it, too. 

"The Thing Is a Greek Tragedy"

Here's a pretty interesting interview with David Simon -- no hints about the fifth season of The Wire, but some thoughtful discussion of the first four. 

Pack Your Knives, Keep Your Mouth Shut

Dear Jenny,

Did you watch last night's Top Chef?  I had somehow missed the preview for this week's episode and therefore was entirely caught off guard by the Cliff-Marcel-head-shaving fiasco.  A bit of a disappointment -- I don't feel strongly one way or another about Cliff, but I would have rather it had come down to the Judges' Table. 

Because of Cliff's ouster, we had a weird, long fake-out of a Judge's Table, with everyone who had previously praised the meal then contradicting themselves, assumedly in order to manufacture drama around the foregone conclusion that all four of the remaining chefs were going to the finale.  This was lame: "Pack your knives and go . . . to Hawaii!"  The Hell? 

This is, I think, really funny: 

http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/26577/index.html

I like Padma, but still . . .

What did you think? 

Love,

-- Pete

PS Isn't Elia beautiful with a shaved head?  Ilan, not so much. 

More Scheduling . . .

Thursday, January 18th.  I neglected to mention that the new Scrubs episode is titled "My Musical."  Yeah, that one.   Here are a few of the clips, leaked to YouTube by Bill Lawrence:

Friday, January 19th.  Monk and Psych both return, if you like that sort of thing.  I actually find Psych kind of funny, I don't know why.

Wednesday, February 7th.  Lost returns for 16 more episodes.  Alan Sepinwall has some pretty big news about the show here.