Top Chef 3/27/25--"Best Served Cold" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: We got two stereotypical food challenges out of the way. The Quickfire was the poutine challenge, which everyone should have seen coming. Like Shuai, who practiced fondant potatoes at home because he knew he'd have to make poutine and won the Quickfire. The Elimination challenge was a team challenge to make brunch dishes with maple syrup. Zubair won, for making fried chicken with maple. The same fried chicken that he used to start his restaurants. Bailey made tarts but she screwed up the filling and then had both honey and maple and then underbaked them, so she was eliminated. (click for more)

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TAR 37, Recap Leg 4, 3/26/25

Welcome to Leg 4! Last time, on Shrines and Temples and Paper, Oh My!, 11 teams raced through Japan from Osaka to Kyoto. Ana scores the Express Pass for her team, which needs to be used by Leg 5. Han and Holden stage a comeback, while teams struggle on a hard Detour task. Ultimately, Scott and Lori finish first and the dating nurses Courtney and Jasmin continue to have taxi issues and are eliminated from the race. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

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"The Joe Schmo Show" 2025 -- episode 10 "The Greatest of All Time"

 

Previously on “Joe Schmo”: We finally got down to the final two people. Ben, who doesn't know this show is faker than usual, and Maya, his supposed “ride or die” BFF. Maya managed to win the challenge, even though she forgot one of the answers she was given, and then she had to make a choice. Get rid of Jessica, who is a third wheel and also straight up didn't do like, half the challenges? Or get rid of Ben, who is far more deserving but also might beat her in the final jury vote? The jury told Maya that if it was her vs. Jessica, she would win with all of the votes. Ben even told her no hard feelings, so of course she got rid of Jessica. (click for more)

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TAR 37, Recap Leg 3, 3/19/25

 

Welcome to Leg 3! Last time, on Sometimes Working the System Is Better Than Arguing, 12 teams raced from Hong Kong to Osaka, Japan. The Lumberjacks and the Mother-Daughter team managed to get a better flight while the Besties argued. Ernest struggled at the intersected Roadblock with Mark, but they eventually got through. Jonathan and Ana got the first place finish they wanted, and even though the siblings argued, they managed to show up before Ernest and Bridget, who were eliminated. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

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Top Chef 3/20/25--"Brunch a la Boulud" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: We began “Top Chef: Destination Canada” which seemed to be a usual season of Top Chef. The Quickfire asked everyone to get in groups of three to make random dishes, and the winners got money. Immunity is only for Elimination Challenge wins. We had five regions of Canada, represented by five sets of ingredients, and each group had to pick one. It was a good challenge, honestly. Vinny won, which is fine because he seems to be a good chef but I find him annoying is all. Mimi screwed up all of her components of her dish and was sent home. (click for more)

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TAR 37, Recap Leg 2, 3/12/25

 

Welcome to Leg 2! Last time, on Fourteen Teams Is Really Pushing the Envelope, 14 teams started Amazing Race 37 and raced from LA to Hong Kong, China. Racers encountered a new element in the Fork in the Road, which is essentially a Detour with two different endings. Gaymers Carson and Jack finished first in the lion dance option, and it was a three way race for the end of that leg, where retired firefighters Mark and Larry were eliminated. Newlyweds Alyssa and Josiah finished first in the Chinese Opera option, and it was stairs at the beginning of the leg that slowed sisters Jackye and Lauren down, eventually leading to their elimination. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

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TAR 37, Recap Leg 1, 3/5/25

 

Welcome to Leg 1 of The Amazing Race 37! We are informed by Phil’s voiceover that this is a season of surprises. The Fast Forward is back! The Express Pass is back! The teams are going to have once in a lifetime experiences! There will be emotions! There will be tensions! The camera careens to the roof of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, and the teams run across the roof. (click for more)

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"The Joe Schmo Show" 2025 -- episode 9 "The Triumvirate"

 

Previously on “Joe Schmo”: Ben returned to the competition, and the producers decided we could finally hear from Danielle. This whole time, Danielle has been a weird crunchy granola person who talks about gut health and how you're just a tube and all natural remedies. We've seen none of it and frankly the show would have been better with more nonsense from Danielle and fewer interviews with the producers about how everything has to go perfectly or the show is ruined. Anyway, Jessica “ruined” her hair with one of Danielle's all natural oils or something, and then we are led to believe that this would prompt Jessica to put forth effort and win a challenge so she could get rid of Danielle. Briefly Maya was up for elimination and frankly that would have been the smarter choice but this is the storyline, I guess. (click for more)

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TAR 37, Recap Leg 0, 2/26/25

 

Welcome back to the Amazing Race! It’s season number thirty-seven. It’s been a full year since out last one, and we’re finally taping episodes without COVID restrictions! Oh, and I brought Toyouke along for the snark. Aren’t you lucky? We’ve read the bios and watched the videos, so let’s get to this shall we? (Toyouke: “I’m very annoyed they don't have good bios or individual videos this year.”) The fourteen (!) teams for TAR37 are (click for more):

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Top Chef 3/13/25--"Across Canada, We Go!" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: Kristen had her first season hosting, and it went very well. The show was in Wisconsin for whatever reason, which was odd. This season is in Canada. “But wait! Isn't there already a “Top Chef: Canada”?” Yes, there is a whole version of Top Chef in Canada already. I don't know. (click for more)

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"The Joe Schmo Show" 2025 -- episode 8 "A Hairy Predicament"

 

Previously on “Joe Schmo”: the producers decided that eliminating Ben and having him come back via “Redemption Island”/”Last Chance Kitchen” rules would be a good move. And it was, in general, except for the part where it sounded like this was one plot point they had from the start. They rewrote a lot of the show, but this part was always in there. And then they acted like they had to scramble last minute to build “Losers' Loft” and bring back all the actors and get them back into character, when they knew this was coming. Also last week I said Barbara wasn't there (the woman who was eliminated immediately after the first challenge) and that if it was me, I'd be suspicious. Then I just now realized, Jonathan Lipnicki wasn't there either and no one said anything. Anyway, of course Ben returned, and then Braxton and Chastity were eliminated so that Ben could be in the Final Four with Maya, Danielle, and Jessica. (click for more)

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"The Joe Schmo Show" 2025 -- episode 7 "One Flew Over the Losers' Loft"

 

Previously on “Joe Schmo”: Ben had a meeting with the supposed creator of this supposed show, Mr. Danish. Mr. Danish was of course weird and cryptic, so Ben immediately assumed this was on purpose to mess with him. Then there was a puzzle challenge, which Braxton won. Chastity got a “makeover” which was basically some makeup and she and Braxton got very close. Ben finally figured out she'd just replaced Trevor with Braxton in her power couple, which was not good for him. The elimination came down to Ben and Chastity, and of course then Ben was eliminated. On the way out, Mr. Danish showed up again and said that it wasn't over yet. Or something else cryptic I guess.(click for more)

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"The Joe Schmo Show" 2025 -- episode 6 "The Enigma of Testacles"

 

Previously on “Joe Schmo”: the writers decided we needed a challenge that Ben would win. “But wait!” you say. “Didn't they do that last week?” They did. But he bombed that so they tried again, but this time with a physical challenge. Ben finally won, and then they knew he'd get Trevor and Chastity to be nominated, so they got Trevor to be as much of a dick as possible. I was skeptical that this would work, because Ben has shown he votes strategically and not just for people who bother him. But it did and Trevor was sent home. (click for more)

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"The Joe Schmo Show" 2025 -- episode 5 "The Ascent of Nicodemus"

 

Previously on “Joe Schmo”: the writers decided we needed a challenge that Ben would win. But they chose a challenge based on riddles, then acted shocked when Ben was bad at mental challenges. As if they didn't know he was more confident in physical challenges. Come on. Anyway, the plan was for Ben to win, but he choked big time. They had to scramble and have Maya win, so Ben knew he was safe. Then Jessica “betrayed” him, played a token, and put Braxton up for elimination. Ryan ended up going home, not either of the siblings, which upset Ben because of betrayals or whatever. (click for more)

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"The Joe Schmo Show" 2025 -- episode 4 "Think Inside the Box"

 

Previously on “Joe Schmo”: There is at least one storyline that has been scrapped, because the writers told the rest of the cast that the only thing they are doing today is “the woodchipper bit”. This is a bit where Charles Michael snaps and throws Ryan's stuff in the woodchipper as part of their “prank war”. So they concocted a whole fake challenge and got Ben to go inside so he can't see the start of the thing and then he came out to the woodchipper running and Charles Michael throwing stuff in there. Everyone just stared at Ben instead of reacting. Ben, meanwhile, brought up the excellent point of how exactly this happened, how did Charles Michael have time to go get Ryan's stuff and destroy it without anyone stopping him, why isn't anyone stopping him now? Everyone just stood there and then scrambled with a garbage story that a rouge producer (who has since been fired) put the luggage next to the woodchipper. Anyway, Maya was given an Advantage Token so when Ben and Charles Michael were up for elimination, she could save Ben. Then Trevor was put in his place, Chastity ended up making the decision, and Charles Michael was eliminated. (click for more)

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"The Joe Schmo Show" 2025 -- episode 3 "It's All a Prank on Me"

 

Previously on “Joe Schmo”: Now that Ben has supposedly bought into this deception, the producers needed a way to isolate him from everyone. Really, an excuse for him to be alone so they could have meetings. So Ben was made the “Goatkeeper” because of course there is a real live goat. The challenge was to run out onto a narrow walkway over the pool, and then get a bell and then bow down to the goat. Your bows were recorded by you smashing your forehead into a platform and then smashing the back of your head into another platform. This was fixed so Braxton would win, but supposedly no one expected Ben to try really hard. They also were blindsided when Ben told his alliance not to vote for Ryan, who was annoying and threw the challenge so poorly everyone knew he did it on purpose. He told them to vote for Chastity and Taylor, to break up that alliance. We were told the writers had to rewrite everything to account for this, since if Ryan was nominated, Ben would know someone turned on him. So their solution was to have Agnes be eliminated, a person in his alliance, which resulted in the same thing: Ben is looking for traitors. Why couldn't they just let Ryan go home if the result (Ben being paranoid) is the same? Who knows. (click for more)

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"The Joe Schmo Show" 2025 -- episode 2 "The Golden Goat"

 

Previously on “Joe Schmo”: we rebooted the franchise, but somehow it just wasn't the same. Did they not go far enough? Can you bring back a fake reality show after nearly 25 years of “real” reality shows? Are my standards too high? Ben is just a blue collar guy from Baltimore who hunts and fishes and is single. He's on “The Goat USA”, a “spin-off” of a supposedly Korean game show that everyone pretends they have heard of. It's got just enough “Squid Game” for you to notice but not enough to sue. The elimination ceremony is called “The Sacrifice” but I feel it is not dumb enough for my satisfaction. Jonathan Lipnicki (yes that one) is playing a douchebag child star and is the first one voted out. Don't forget Barbara, though, who randomly hit a button and was the actual first person out. Which promptly caused Ben to declare her “100%” an actor. (click for more)

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"The Joe Schmo Show" 2025 -- episode 1

So “Joe Schmo” is back on television. The articles about this premiere made it sound like this is a new idea, as if this isn't the fourth season of this show. But I guess part of how the show works is you need to wait between seasons so everyone forgets this show is a thing, or else people are too suspicious. (click for more)

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