JW Knows Squat

This ep proved that Jackie Warner may know how to do squats, but she doesn't give one about others.

First she shows up 1-1/2 hours late for a meeting. Notice her fresh beverage w/ice? That means she was -already- an hour late before she decided to stop off for a cool one. So not cool. Then its obvious that JW hasn't prepared a thing for her DVD yet, even tho that's what this meeting was about.

Later on she proves once more just how inconsiderate she is when she sorts her staff on-camera (for their DVD potential) and she then proceeds to show up unprepared -again-, this time for the actual DVD shoot itself. Turning it into an endless sweaty trainwreck. (Those four trainers get hazard $$ ?)

The exit scene is Jackie reading her girlfriend's private phone message, and then complaining that her gf doesn't respect their relationship! What a classy way to set up next week's finale... where I'm hoping her staff and her gf wise up and flee.

* Regardless of how I feel, ratings appear to be up: 'Work Out', a reality series, 927,000 viewers Tues night, up 19% from the prior week' (link)
Still way less than 'Top Chef's 3 mill.

Top Chef = 'Top Ratings'

The Top Chef ratings climb.

Reported after May 28th ep:

'Top Chef: Chicago' - leading the way as the second-most viewed cable program among adults 18 to 49.' (link, #1 was a crime drama)

'... up 20% this season, surging from 2.24 million to 2.69 million viewers.'

* This means Bravo's only food show beats the pants off of every show on 'Food Network'... 'Burn!'

Workout Wearout?

Yes its true, JW's original clothing partner was Paiva until they closed their doors: 'Seems upscale women’s clothing retailer Paiva, a subsidiary of FinshLine, is game over.' (Opens in new window: Link )

...So, is JW funding her fashion wear all alone now?

For the 'L' of it

Putting an 'L' back in the weekend...

Nothing to do until TLW's S6 spoilers arrive?
Find 'L' tidbits in these blogs to keep busy.

*no guarantees... but they are unique.


KissingG

BonsoirC

DiDieLekker

JoeC (music 'off', lower right)

DrB

Spike takes a hike

Innocent until proven incompetent.* Maybe he's trying to thaw a frozen scallop?..

'Spike' - I never realized how apt his nickname was until I looked it up in the unabridged dictionary:

1. thicker than a common nail
2. sharp, pointy tool
3. pointed piece - as a weapon
4. abrupt increase of unusual activity
5. the heel...
6. spiked, having projections
7. antler (a--hat?) of a young buck
8. a stalk
9. a pointed portion
10. a hard smash, hit close.
11. Slang. a hypodermic needle.
12. to injure another player
13. hit in air with a powerful motion
14. slam to the ground in the endzone
15. to render (a gun) useless
16. thwart: to spike someone's chances
17. to add alcoholic liquor
18. to add a chemical poison
19. journalism: kill a story, spindle it
20. A thorn or spine.
21. hair twisted in a stiff points
22. young mackerel, 6 inches or less
23. to add flavor or spice
24. to add excitement or vitality
25. to put an end to; 'spike a rumor'
26. to run hot

* Better than your average horoscope, eh?

This may be the -last- Mad(Ass)Hat we'll see this season since Spike got the axe with his 'tomahawk chop'...

So, 'Sayonara', Señor Sharpie! -----------
eta:
Did Stephanie just win a $20,000+ prize?
'GE Monogram' range, ovens, microwave, frig, & dw = ??

Workout Fallout

Falling out of 'like' with 'Work Out'

Its not 'Work(ing) Out' for me - seems I'm not a good fit for Bravo's 'fit' show anymore. I'm sure others are abandoning the good ship 'J-Abs' too... But of course nothing would keep our drama queen from a 90 sec TV gig:

Interesting that Fox managed to put that logo right over her shoulder. I'm sure she'd love that 'label'.

JW at FoxNews
*it was her usual:

"Fat does not make you fat...”
“Sugar & calories make you fat. Period."
"No food w/ 8 grams of sugar or more."

No bananas: try apples, berries, citris
No commercial yogurt: use low sugar dairy
Do read food packages - 'Doh!'
Do eat: grilled chicken on a salad
Decrease alcohol by half...

Needless to say, that last one made anyone who's watched her party hearty on her show go 'Whoa, Pot, meet Kettle?

Truthily, Ted

Top Chef judge Ted Allen updated his blog yesterday.

Ted-bits from his 'truthiest' blog yet:

'Finally, a contestant emerges as the villain!'

…so villainous that her villainy has the blogosphere harrumphing vigorously on behalf of… Dale? The guy who punches lockers, grabs his crotch while yelling at a woman, and calls waiters “a—hole”? O-kayyy.

Personally, I like Dale and Lisa, even though they’ve both had trouble keeping their cool, and I think they’ve both cooked some great food -- but until now, the commentoscenti have been uniformly harsh on both…'

Q&A:

Anonymous wrote: 'you all were 100% wrong to send Dale home over Lisa. Hope someone has a VERY good explanation.'

Ted: We sure do. We tasted the food.
We had no expectation that anybody would be upset.

Remember, when we shoot TC, the judges don’t know anything about the story lines or dramas that are evolving among the contestants, nor do we know which chefs are popular with the fans -- and it’s fairer that way. We base our decisions on the food. What matters is who did best today. In other words, what have you cooked for us lately?

Jay wrote: 'I have heard rumors that the judges were trying to stack the finals with females this year and up until this week have paid [those rumors] no mind, but now I think there might be something behind them.'

Ted: Right - you caught us.
You’re gonna love the swimsuit competition!

Cheers, Ted

Top Chef on Tilt

Lop-Sided = Lisa-Spiked
'Restaurant Wars' was a 'lop-sided' challenge.
But I'm sure it was unintentional on Bravo's part.

Think about how far ahead the shows are scripted.

Way back when Bravo was planning this episode, I'm sure they guessed that the last 6 chefs (of 16) would be reasonably close in their skill level. That way letting the QF winner pick two -wouldn't- be that much of an advantage because they'd -all- be good chefs.

I can't blame the producers/writers for not anticipating that Crabby and Weasel would get this far.
------------

YumSugar talked to Dale recently:

''I'm trying to buckle down and write this screenplay that I've had in my head for the last five to six years. I want to travel and get together an itinerary, and push ideas for a TV show. Keep my face in the media.''

Lovely - TC spawns another fame-hog...

* As of this week, Dale is still a sous-chef.
-------------

One final new tidbit from a diner:

''I was one of the diners in this ep, on Antonia/Steph/Richard side (the back of my head was pretty much in every shot on their side). They didn't really mention at all last night that the "gastropub" concept they did was very beer centered -- each dish had its own beer pairing, including dessert. And as such, they served us a lot of beer -- pretty much as much as we could drink!'' -hazel p. (TWoP)

Why didn't they indicate this on the show?

For the 'L' of it

Putting an 'L' back in the weekend...

Nothing to do until TLW's S6 spoilers arrive?
Review the 'L' tidbits in each these blogs to keep busy.

*no guarantees... but they are unique.



BabyCraft

FemSpec S5

FemSpec TLW

SitPretty


NonInject

Dale packs his nuts

Oops, my bad,
I meant...
'Dale packs his knives & goes'

Everyone realized that this guy had issues, but I have to give props to the reviewer at BuddyTv that guessed that tonight would be the night that Dale would 'PYK&G'.

Quote:

I think that Dale makes interesting and exciting food, but this next episode is Restaurant Wars and we've already seen that cooperation and controlling his response to team-related frustration are not necessarily his strong suits. - L.S., BuddyTv

Couldn't agree more, I think he's quite capable as a solo chef, but to be a true executive 'top' chef you need to be able to control your kitchen. I just don't see those skills in this guy.

You may declare 'Oh, its those editing monkeys at Bravo.' but for me, as soon as I saw him do a crotch-grab in front of a tv crew, I knew he just didn't have the smarts to run a 4-star anything.

So congrats again to Stephanie, Richard, and Antonia - I'd wait in line to go to your 35 seat diner, anytime. -----------
P.S.

Was it any surprise that both teams wanted Jen as sous?

P.P.S.

via TWoP:

"Lisa?, embrace the potato."

Doug Donors Dug Deep

Good News:
they did a benefit in Doug's name, RIP Doug.
Bad News:
both famehogs, Jackie and Peeler, showed up.

Doug & Jackie at his last birthday party.

Last fall they held a fundraiser for Doug Blasdell's (the nice-guy trainer that died in Jan '07) Foundation. And of course BravoTv was there to film it. But the few moments we saw of the benefit ended up being all about Peeler and Jackie. Typical of Bravo's editing monkeys. Thanks a lot, guys.

At least they raised some money, and gave us a few dignified seconds on an otherwise embarrassing episode.

Gawker also beating the 'boycott JW' drum.

Cozy up to Casey

Top Chef's S3 finalists, Casey Thompson in center.

Casey's blog adds a bit of topping to S4's dish.

re: Sam
'have to give Sam a call and get gory behind-the-scenes details'
Hopefully she'll share them with us.

re: the Quickfire
'How come they never say whose dish was the worst???'
'Spike. You win. And you have an advantage coming your way, AND piercing death stares from all of your fellow contestants.'
So they didn't even tell them off-camera.

re: the Challenge samples
'Trays of a bunch of fast food packages and brown bags. Wait, this isn't your Elimination Challenge, it's your lunch! They tricked ya! Oh, I'm wrong ... it really is your challenge! The trays of fast food for dinner will come later. Be patient. We all know how much we looked forward to meal time!'
Which means the chefs handle great food
all day, yet get fast-food for themselves?

re: the Challenge itself
'What the hell??? Is anyone else friggin' bored with these challenges?? Box lunches? Zzz ... Come on! Let's really cook here! I really want to see these chefs in a restaurant kitchen rockin' it out!'
So, we aren't the only frustrated viewers.

re: Spike
'Sounds like he is kind of a little shit around the house'

re: the sabotaged brown rice
'it does happen in the kitchen all of the time. No body wants it to happen -- it just does... In this situation, you come up with something else. Barley cooks up really fast. I'm just sayin'...'?

Link: Casey's blog on BravoTv