Starts tonight! Who’s watching?
Anyone find it odd that Padma’s new (seems similar to Top Chef) cooking show debuted on CBS last week? 
. Makes me wonder what was behind her leaving TC??
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For some reason, this 1st episode of Top Chef was released on Peacock over the weekend. I did do a bit of digging, and it is only episode 1 that will be released before being shown on Bravo. As I still have cable, I will wait and watch tonight.
I did watch Padma’s series, America’s Culinary Cup, as Buddha is a contestant. Didn’t love the first set of elimination as it was multiple people and how it was set up. I will see if I like the next episode any better.
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Yes I saw they were catering to the Peacock crowd last week!
Looks like the new CBS show will be gimmicky, with game play a significant feature. Top Chef seems to be much more about cooking. My all time favorite cooking show has got to be the original Japanese version of Iron Chef.
I tuned into the new show due to it being on after Survivor and Padma and Buddha. I think the idea was to turn it into a Survivor style show where social connections and strategy play a big role. However, Padma in an interview said it would not be “gimmicky” like TC, with chefs just cooking their best. Just seems like a different kind of gimmick.
To me, however, that sort of game play didn’t work for a cooking show where you want the best chef to win. After the first round, I had thought the weakest players would go home, but instead the winners got to pick the chefs to go head to head. That resulted in a chef that lost the first round by one point (and had overall some of top scores) to go home and chefs that were at the bottom to stay.
I guess it is like Survivor, in that sometimes the stronger players are voted out. But there are alliances and immunity and the goal isn’t to crown the best cook. This seems too easy: get out the strong chefs early.
I also thought it seemed much more scripted. I guess people complain that Tom’s voice is too strong on Top Chef or that the voting is subjective. But it always is on a cooking show!
I don’t think it is a coincidence that Top Chef is debuting at the same time as this new show.
Not sure I will watch that show again, but looking forward to Top Chef.
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Agree about Padma’s show. Hated that due to gameplay strategy (which to be honest I would have made the same choice if a contestant) such a wonderful chef went home in the first episode. There are a lot of excellent competitors for that $1 million prize. But as a viewer I want to see the best of them stay and cook! Will try one more episode and see what happens. FWIW I always liked Buddah and had one of the best meals of my life at his restaurant Huso.
Will tune in Top Chef.
Surely no accident the two shows are starting up the same week.
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Interesting about the other show -I doubt I’ll tune in.
Ok, let’s keep this thread to Top Chef! 
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I may do what I did last season; read the tv boards and decide if I want to bother watching the episode. If they concentrate on regional cooking as usual, I may pass as it’s not one of the cuisines I prefer.
Saw the first episode and thought it was OK. I tend to like TC more as the season progresses.
As an aside, it looked to me like Tom lost a good bit of weight.
I liked it, but agree that I enjoy it more as I get to know the chefs. Not too sure about the twins (I think twins and not just brothers). They may get annoying quickly.
And I also noticed that about Tom. Of course I also thought wonder if it was due to a GLP1. And hopefully was by choice and not due to illness.
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Terrible format and fake dramatic attitude by Padma!
First episode set up that of the top contenders gets eliminated… puts integrity of the competition in question right off the bat, IMO
Great British Baking Show is the only cooking show I watch. Hate all the American ones so won’t be watching this even though I am in the Carolinas. If I was going to watch I’d root for Oscar. He has some good restaurants in NC.
Finally was able to watch tonight. A decent start. A fair handful of NOT stand outs though.
I think the twin brothers ARE annoying! They each have enough confidence for two!
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Two episodes in and I’m not attached to anyone and don’t have any favorites personality wise or chef wise. Hmmm.
I have to say while it’s nothing new, the product placement seems SOO obvious and very plentiful. 
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Watched the first two episodes today. I kinda like Rhoda (the Big Island gal). The twins are obnoxious! As is the product placement! 
I do like Rhoda quite a bit - she’s clearly coming out strong - but personality wise, we aren’t seeing as much yet.
It’s interesting that they have two family teams - the brothers and then the couple (married or not?) from Michigan. I can’t tell from either yet if there is a stand out among the couples. But I feel like the Michigan couple at least has better odds at winning challenge $$! Though it sounds like maybe he does more cooking and she does more back end stuff of their restaurant.
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Anyone still watching? I caught up with the episodes 3 and 4. Although I almost turned it off when they introduced liver mash. A medicinal chemist in me wanted to scream, “Do not eat this stuff!”
I can’t believe everyone did so poorly with the natural color additives!
And the small farms are amazing.
I watched episode 4 last night. I liked the challenges. The wine flight was interesting and I wanted to eat all those sides! Especially the cabbage.
I still don’t know many contestant names. There seem to be several middle of the road chefs.
The local chef that left this week always seems so tense or unhappy.
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We watched episode 3 last night.
Interestingly liver mush is similar to something my family has always made, Dutch heritage, that we call liverwurst. We make it for Christmas morning, it is made with oatmeal rather than cornmeal. We fry slices and eat it on buttered bread and it is so good!
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