Just streamed Top Chef starting from season 1. Great cooking show that shines when the contestants are given challenges (the clock, identify spices while blindfolded, short list of items to cook with, last chance kitchen), and less so when they are given handicaps/sabotages (the clock, restaurant wars, team cooking, shortage of ingredients, promised time off that's not), which can cause a better chef to be sent home. Did I mention THE CLOCK?
The judging seems to always be in integrity, with no favorites being played. That's hard to do season after season, and the judges deserve a rarely issued pat on the back, with Tom Colicchio being the leader there. Regarding the contestants, we do form a charge on them one way or another do we not? We pray for some to pack their knives, and others we urge on to the finals, and if they don't make it we are heartbroken.
But not all the players on Top Chef can be sent packing. I'm talking about the staff. Season 21 is a standout for one primary reason; the exit of Padma. I was done with the "Look at me, look at me, darn it look at ME!" motif of this woman by season 2. In every show Padma is distracting us from the contestants with her show-as-much-skin-as-possible attire. Even during her pregnancy. Is that what being a powerful woman is all about? And post-preggers, we were treated with a see-I-am-skinny-again midriff show off. The camera of course went along with the Padma Parade, because, hey, s-e-x sells. But the woman's genetics make her so naturally striking she could show up sans make up, wearing a burlap sack, and look great. But nooooo, the audience had to have its collective noses rubbed in Padma's cleevage episode after episode.
And inquiring minds want to know why was hostess Padma sat at the judges table with no discernable credentials?? It was an insult to the qualified judges who earned their seat. It was so funny watching her take cues from Tom and then expressing her opinion in agreement as if it was an original thought. And it was hilarious to see Tom's look of surprise at times when Padma led with an opinion, only to have him render the opposite view. Then came the self-promotion. Trading on her looks, again, Padma came out with a cookbook at some point, and... hold your breath... frozen rice meals. Frozen rice. Wow. Nice work if you can get it.
So why did Padma finally leave the show? My theory is that although she made a reported 50K per episode, I calculate that she spent 51K on wardrobe. You can only keep that up for so long.
By season 16 Padma finally started to tone it down, although still displaying her wares all too often. But we could finally start to see an attractive, smart, articulate lady who made a great spokesperson for the show. There is a reported quote from her in that timeframe that had me laughing though. After growing from a size 4 to a size 10, and tipping the scales at 146 pounds (with more and more layers of makeup attempting to counteract the weight gain), Padma is quoted as saying in response to a comment about her fat arms "It shouldn't be about what I look like at this point ...." . Right Padma! It NEVER should have been about how you looked. You're being made fun of now because you've been assaulting us with your body since day one. If Padma had put some clothes on in the early years and had stuck to hosting, not judging, I would have loved her (in the meantime Gail seems ageless and actually has food credentials). As it is I am so looking forward to season 21 with the highly likable and super foxy CHEF Kristen Kish.
But it's been great to follow the evolution of the show. It's the innovation that kept me tuned in for season after season. The unsung heroes of the show in my view is the production staff, which pulled off great sets, locations, arrays of food, etc., etc., show after show. Their must have been a full time person just being on the phone getting permissions and lining up guest chefs. Well done folks.
(ps the title of this review is a quote from two female Top Chef cooks midway through the series who were trying to look acceptable every day while struggling through the rigors of the competition. They were ribbing Padma for looking so effortlessly good every single day.
