Ugh! What's happened to Top Chef?? It used to be such a a great show, but this last season was boring as shit. My boyfriend and I would get all excited every Wednesday night to watch it, and then shortly after would be bored to tears. He would usually fall asleep, and I would end up watching some grisly show about serial killers on TruTV. This show has become a worn out version of its original self. I mean how many times can you watch Rocco DiSpirito and Anthony Bourdain make snarky, albeit witty remarks about the contestants' dishes? It's the same season over and over, a perpetual photocopy with the same challenges, e.g., the restaurant wars; and the same celebrity judges being trotted out like show horses.
What made the first two seasons of Top Chef so great was the contestants were interesting, and they had personalities. Who didn't love Dave from Season One! He was a mental case who was constantly breaking down into tears, but he was passionate and it showed. He had a quirky personality. He was mentally unbalanced, but he knew it, and it made him a great character to watch. Tiffany was fascinating because she came across as such a bitch that you didn't know if it was real or just an act she put on for the cameras. Then, there was - Stephen. Stephen was pretentious, awkward, and as much as you wanted him to leave, you wanted him to stay even more. These people made this show great. So, when Season Two arrived, everybody continued to watch. Season Two was another great season with the villainous Marcel, Ilan the underdog, Sam the heartthrob, and Cliff as a top competitor who made a very poor decision.
So, then where did it go wrong? I think with anything, if you take something wonderfully original and duplicate it over and over, then you slowly lose the integrity of once was. Top Chef isn't interesting anymore because it's now become a template. There is no originality added, and the producers don't seem to care if the contestants are likeable or not. I found myself watching this last season thinking, "I don't care who wins or loses. I'd rather watch paint dry than watch these people compete with each other." Bring back the villains and the fights. Villains are what made the show. Every great competition needs a good guy and a bad guy, and if you don't have that, then what's the point of watching? Every Rocky needs his Ivan Drago. Every Daniel Laruso needs his Johnny Lawrence. And, every Ilan Hall needs his Marcel Vigneron.
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