TVSquad

It could have been worse. It was a 90-minute premiere.

There was a time when I would have watched a show like this, in the 70s or maybe the 80s, when real celebrities would be involved instead of reality show stars. They were fun shows. I watched the first 60 minutes of The Superstars and then sort of snapped out of it, thinking, why am I watching this? Nothing really happened, and I decided I wouldn't care at all if anything did happen. Who cares if Jennifer Capriati loses a bike race?

Wipeout is mindless entertainment. The Superstars is stupid entertainment.

I'm not a big reality show fan, but if it involves food I might just watch it. Tonight Bravo debuts Top Chef Masters, which is Top Chef only with some of the best chefs in the country, including Wylie Dufresne, Rick Bayless, Cindy Pawlcyn, Anita Lo, and Art Smith. Here's a clip from the show. I wonder if this is going to be more foodie-oriented than trash talk/arguing-oriented?

(S01E01) "He invented food. Almost." - Kelsey

Marco Pierre White must be a little ticked off. Here he is one of the most renowned chefs alive today, and he's pretty much eclipsed by one of his most famous proteges, Gordon Ramsay. Supposedly they're even on the outs. Sure, White is well-known overseas and very well-known to cooks and aspiring chefs, but I would bet 9 out of 10 people in the U.S. wouldn't know who he is. Maybe The Chopping Block will change that, maybe not.

I'm leaning towards maybe not, since this is yet another reality/food competition show and offers little that's new or different.

A couple of week's ago, I noticed -- and ranted here -- about the Food Network showing a promo for the penultimate (or nearly penultimate) episode of The Next Food Network Star which revealed who would be eliminated in the show that I was viewing. It seemed like bad form to me, but some people defended FN and advised me to get a DVR and use it. Just to be clear, I have two and use them extensively. This was a case where I was watching a rebroadcast a day after the airing, commercials and all. My point was that FN should know better than to schedule a promo for that reveals so much about the show you're watching even on a rebroadcast.

Anyway, now it turns out that Food Network has made yet another flub that's spoiled the surprise of The Next Food Network Star reveal. This one occurred on their web site. D Magazine reported that a week before the finale of the competition reality show, video interviews with the three finalists were broadcast on the web site and the winner was clearly indicated. In case you have the finale on your DVR and haven't watched it yet, The Next Food Network Star will be shown after the jump.