Watching What Happens

I did not write a blog post about the season premiere of Being Erica because, truth be told, I found it a bit underwhelming. But, as I am not one to publicly bash my favorite show, I will wait until after the second episode to give a good critique.

So instead I turn to my favorite reality show. I watch way more reality TV than I would like to admit but since Top Chef is pretty respectable (it did win an Emmy after all) I don't mind talking about it.

I am very excited for Top Chef: All Stars. I think any fan who had been watching since the beginning (Remember that season? The one with the host who was not Padma?) always wondered what would happen if their favorite cheftestants went head to head. Now we will finally find out!

The official list is on bravotv.com so I won't rewrite it here. I do have my own list of the chefs I am most excited to see back.

From Season 1, I can't wait to see Tiffani back in the kitchen. She was bold, sometimes abrasive, and the inspiration of what I would argue is the most memorable Top Chef quote of all time: "I'm not your bitch, bitch!" She made it all the way to the finals and, as Tom Colicchio said, could have won. Maybe she she will prove once and for all that the original is still the best!

The return of Casey from Season 3 is also exciting. My heart broke when I watched the finale of her season because I felt she was just off her game that day. She had shown throughout her season that she is a phenomenal chef.

Season 4 had so many talented chef so it is not surprising that out of the four contestants they brought back I am excited to see three. Richard, Spike and Dale are very different chefs with very different personalities but there was never a time during the show that I doubt their passion and ability to put out delicious food. Sigh. Someone really needs to invent taste-o-vision. Or Top Chef needs to come to Toronto.

Fabio and Carla are returning from Season 5 and apart from being great in the kitchen they also had really fun personalities. Carla went all the way to the finale. There was some controversy, with some people blaming Casey (who was her sous chef) for the loss but I think that's nonsense. Carla had an off day and did not cook "her food." After learning that lesson I'm sure she'll be a force to be reckoned with.

I liked Jennifer from Season 6 because she was such a hard-core chef. She was clearly one of the forerunners from the beginning and I think she will do well in this new season.

And then of course there is Season 7's fan favorite. I really love Tiffany. She was fun and smiley and always brought her A game. I teared up just a tad when she got eliminated.

Top Chef: All Stars will premiere December 1st. I'll be watching. Will you?