teeeeeeeveeeeeeee

I've been reluctant to post on this blog, because I lack a consistent format. I've been trying to think of a good way to do it, but really, if I am posting about seasons of shows that are already over, it's kind of tricky. I don't think anyone wants to read posts about individual episodes (speculating on winners) when the shows are already over. It is not very likely that anyone is watching these things at the same time as me. However, I would still like to share my enjoyment of shows with people. And at the very least, collect my thoughts for myself. And now that new shows are actually airing weekly!!! maybe I can write about those!

Now, if I may tell you about my new favorite show: Top Chef!!!

I saw some of Season 3 when they were playing marathons last year, at my father's house. But my enjoyment of those few episodes was sort of disrupted by my father's and brother's vehement dislike of the show. I also didn't know any of the contestants, as I was entering it midseason, so I had no background.

But! I started watching Season 4 recently, and so enjoyed it that I began watching Season 2 when I had no new episodes of 4 to watch(which kind of confused things), and now I feel like I am a well-seasoned (no pun intended) viewer. I know what the judges are looking for, what molecular gastronomy is all about, the sins contestants must never commit... I feel like I could just jump right into the kitchen with them! But I will settle for my own kitchen and my own, pitifully basic, though very delicious, creations.

I think I am just excited for a different type of elimination reality show; after 9 cycles of ANTM, I am beginning to tire of the formulaic episodes and lack of surprising curve balls. Plus, I do love food, but these chefs and judges have so much knowledge of, and appreciation for, foods and cooking methods that I would never have known existed. Sadly, it seems that I could never be a Top Chef and a vegetarian, because there is so much meat involved in the chef world. Oh well.

Meanwhile, as I write this, I am also at Bravo's Top Chef website, and I accidentally saw who won Seasons 1 and 3!!! I just wanted to give some examples of my favorite recipes and some photos, but noooo. Way to ruin it for me, Bravo. Thanks.

I'm down to one of four of my original ANTM favorites for this cycle: Katarzyna. Claire and Allison both got sent home. Allison very early on, for her unjustified ego, and Claire, just recently, for her lack of ability to be anything less than high fashion. Whatever. Fatima, one of my four favorites, became one of my least favorites as soon as she started talking. She is beautiful, but farrrrrr to arrogant (and too skinny), and believes herself to be above the other girls in every way possible. When she is, in my opinion, an inferior model to other contestants who just began their career.
I really don't care for any other girls left on the show, besides Katarzyna, and Whitney, the plus-sized model. And while she may get to the top three, I really doubt that she they would choose her as the next top model.
My realistic guesses for top three: Anya, Katarzyna, and maybe Lauren? As the awkward underdog. Or Whitney in her place, because no contest, she has a better walk. I really disliked Anya at first, because she just sounds obnoxious and says stupid things, and her alien-like makeover didn't improve the matter. But when she stood up to delusional (devoted to speaking in the 3rd person) Dominique, siding with (apparently CRAZY) Lauren, it made me her seem so much more bearable.
This show is full of crazies! Dominique lives in a delusional world where no one but Dominique exists in. Lauren goes from being a meek, awkward girl, to a manic lunatic who yells at her roommates. And Fatima lives in a world where her scowl is pretty, and she is the only educated girl in the house. (Which reminds me: I expected the editors to focus on clips of Katarzyna talking about her Ivy League educated and being all snobby like they did with Yaya in Cycle 3, but so far, no mention! Perhaps they're saving that for a time when they want the audience to hate her so we're okay with her getting voted off.)

"You took me by the hand, made me a man, that one night, you made everything alright..."

At last! The first of 6 remaining new episodes of The Office aired last Thursday! I am a bit delayed in writing anything about it, I know, but better late than never, right?

"Dinner Party" focused on the office relationships, including Jim/Pam, Andy/Angela/Dwight, Michael/Dwight, and, most excruciatingly, Jan/Michael. Oh, and Pam/Michael. Hahaha, how amazing was it that Michael not only told Jan that he and Pam had any kind of relationship, and that Jan believed him? It was so ridiculous, and added so much more tension to the party. Many episodes of The Office have been extremely awkward, but they often provided some sort of relief in the form of a parallel storyline. "Dinner Party" held us captive in Michael's condo.

I loved all of the little details, like Pam's reaction when Dwight showed up ("Awesome!"), Jan's attempt to dance with Jim (was it maybe to make Pam jealous since Jan "knew" about Michael and Pam?), Jim's apartment being flooded, the St. Paul's girl beer light, the liberal use of "babe"... yeesh.

Some people I talked to felt that this was not the episode they had been waiting for after all this time, with the strike and all. That the episode should have been filled with outright hilarious moments, with alllll of The Office gang, rather than a select few. But it was the episode they had been planning to film right before the strike began, so why should they have changed the course of the show? I think it showed the genius of the whole cast and crew, to be able to pull off the awkwardness and still make it funny.

I wonder where Jan and Michael will go from here. We knew Michael was miserable, and Jan had gone crazy, but not quite this far. I hope something happens soon, because I can't imagine living in a condo filled with the smell of Serenity by Jan. Remember how excited Michael was, in "Office Olympics," to be a homeowner? How sad is it that he is now relegated to a bench at the foot of the bed, surrounded by eggshell colored walls and photos of Jan with other men?

PS: I read online that there may be a spin-off, also created by Greg Daniels, coming in 2009. This worries me, because spin-offs are generally... not so good. I wonder who and what the spin-off would be about, and where it would take place. I don't want to think about anyone leaving the show for a spin-off, because then the show would not be the same. What would make it a good new show? I don't know.
PPS: According to the writers of this episode, the song by Hunter, Jan's former assistant, is about Jan. Ew? (Office Tally q&a)