Ilan is what we call chicken shit-they complain a lot and say things like “we shoulda” do this and “we gotta” do that and they do nothing but incite others to do this and to that and in the end they always chicken out. :mad:
Every time I watch this show I feel like I’m being manipulated. The whole “everybody hates Marcel” thing was obvious, staged, insincere and way overblown. It has been obvious from the beginning that we’re supposed to dislike Marcel which is a large part of the reason that he made the finals.
I think the producers have quite a bit more to do with the results of the competition than the judges and I think the show is staged and edited quite alot to get the audience all riled up about stuff.
See, this is why I generally don’t like so called “reality” TV. It’s never actually based in reality.
And yet I keep watching. :smack: There’s a sucker born every minute.
Well, that sucks. 
I have not understood all the Marcel hate all season. Heck, out of the huge bunch of mean-spirited pure assholes this season, I thought Marcel was the most likeable of the bunch! I just think he’s an ultra food geek and his passion for food and cooking tends to override everthing else in his life, including relationships with others. He’s not a mean guy. Prickish maybe, but if anything he’s timid. He has not been mean to anyone all season, and every time someone has been (unjustifiably) mean to him he has turned the other cheek and let the food speak for him. He reminds me a lot of Milan from Project Runway for some reason.
So you think the whole show is fake? You think they really liked Marcel or that he was a bad chef but they kept him anyway? Do you think they doctored his food and the guest judges were on it too? From what I know of chefs and I’ve been around a lot of them if that was the case they’d be talking their asses off about it. If the show was really fixed, don’t you think big mouth Betty would be holding press conferences about it?
I imagine they edit to make the show more interesting but I doubt if they make stuff up. This isn’t like Survivor where it’s everyday people that go back to their own lives. They’re all already chef’s. If it was fake don’t you think they’d complain about it in public considering that’s how they make a living and their reputation is on the line?
That’s what I felt, too.
They did the same thing with one of Elia’s dishes - the first go through, it was an exact copy of something Hawaiian (not a take off at all) but then the second, it was so far away from Hawaiian that it didn’t fit the challenge anymore? Amazing how a dish can change so much.
Marcel did another foam. After last week when they told him they had seen too many foams from him.
Last year, the finale was lost because one of the two finalists did not play well with others. She couldn’t lead mostly because she couldn’t get anyone to follow her. And there is an extent to which Top Chef does require showing some sort of leadership ability. I don’t think Marcel has been the leader on any of the team efforts (this group has showed a weird aversion to leadership and consequently ended up with a lot of strange course combinations). And unless they don’t bring back previous contestants for the finale, I don’t see anyone being led by him. I don’t see Ilan as a great leader (Sam, really, had the best potential for getting people to do what he asked), but better than Marcel.
They didn’t show any losers in the previews for next week, so that makes me think they might not be bringing anyone back this year. There’s been too much acrimony, I think, and it wouldn’t be fair to Marcel. How do you ask him to “lead” people who have been harrassing, threatening and physically attacking him all season?
Not only that, but the judges are professionals as well. Why would they participate in something where their judging was meaningless, where they were just a panel of Padmas? Colicchio has said in his blog on Bravo’s site that the ONLY time the producers have interfered in a decision he wanted to make was when he wanted to disqualify Ilan, Sam, and Elia as well as Cliff for the hazing of Marcel. Those “Judge’s Tables” are hours and hours long, and edited down to only minutes on the screen. There is a lot discussed to which the viewers aren’t privy before they come to their consensus. There’s no vast producer conspiracy going on, that’s ridiculous.
There is no way the judging table decision sessions last for hours and hours. While what we see is obviously edited down, they would not have all the chefs just hanging out in the kitchen for hours awaiting their decision.
As for producer rights on who stays / who goes - it hasn’t been cited that this takes place on this show, but it has been cited for a similar show. I think it was the Last Comedian Standing (I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong). If true with that show, it’s pretty darn easy to see it being conceivable here as well.
I thought the editing on the judge’s table was very poor. Tom C. did mention that it was really a decision on the little things, nitpicking. It’s funny, go to the Bravo website ad read the comments to Tom C. blog. The hatred for Marcel there is intense. He totally doesn’t deserve it. I can see how he would annoy folks, but you know what, he has also managed to turn the other cheek several times, doesn’t seem to hold grudges, at least not to the extent of others and he seems to be willing to live and die with the food he prepared. Meanwhile Ilan and Elia maybe are not as confident as they think in their food and therefore try to bring in the cheating nonsense, etc.
If I was starting a restaurant from those four, I would take Sam first and then probably Marcel (unless of course I was going with a Spanish theme, because…and please correct me if I’m wrong…Ilan likes to cook in a Spanish style. Saffron anyone?) Elia is a technically accomplished chef, but lacks presence and self-esteem in my mind.
I don’t think the judges care at all how they get along, except in team challenges. That is one of the things about reality shows, we form a lot of our opinions based on the character of the person, when that is not what they are being judged on. I hate Ilan, but if he distinguished himself I would say he should go on.
I despise Ilan, Elia and Sam. Two months (or so) passed between the “Sense and Sensuality” challenge and the 1st part of the finale. And those asshats were STILL obsessed with Marcel! When the three of them were sitting there tryong to come up with something that would get him kicked off, and Sam said something like, “Just go with cheating”, I wanted to throw something at the TV. I was so glad that the judges saw through that. I thought Tom’s eyes were going to roll so hard he’d snap his optic nerve.
Go, Marcel! And Ilan? Shove your saffron up your ass.Elia has defended Marcel all season. I can’t help wondering what finally tipped the scales against him in her eyes.
No matter, he wins anyway. Not that I’m happy about that, as I find him obnoxious and annoying.
Right now I’m not sure I even want to see a 3rd season.
I’m finding myself in the same boat. I’m disillusioned with the entire affair. I think that is based upon this season’s chefs, the challenges and the show staff/judges. If they do a season III, I would like to see an entirely different crew from Tom down.
Count me in too. I’ve been thinking I’ve had enough of reality shows anyway (except for The Amazing Race) but this season’s Top Chef has really sealed the deal. I don’t want to risk seeing such a train wreck again.
…Okay, I’ll see how Top Designer starts out to see if it’s any better than last season. I’m betting that it isn’t though. Darn! Reality shows had so much potential for variety and interest too. Who knew they could bog down so quickly?
This seems to be a problem with a lot of reality shows. The first season is successful and entertaining, with good players, and then succeeding seasons taper off in quality with players that never seem as worthy as the first season players. The Apprentice would be an example of this. No season has been as good as the first, which had 4 or 5 players who could have won on most other seasons. They even had the best villain.
I wonder if it’s a result of producers trying to cast for qualities unrelated to actual qualifications (hotness, craziness, etc).
I’m still searching for the cites from exit interviews with the eliminated cheftestants that state that judges’ table goes on for hours. When I find them, I’ll post them. Rest assured, they’ve stated that it does, and they are kept back there for that long.
From Chef Tom Coliccio’s blog on Bravo, emphasis mine:
Your citation of Last Comic Standing actually bolsters my argument against your claims of conspiracy, thanks. The producers interfered greatly in that show, and I believe even overruled the judges’ choice for winner. What happened? The outraged judges complained about it to the press, and there was a hue and outcry. Even more is riding on the integrity of the judges on this show, since they are actually in the food industry. Why wouldn’t they immediately do the same? This show isn’t their day job, they don’t have much to lose. (Except for Padma, and for all her posturing, she’s not a judge… just the host. Several contestants have made that clear in post-elimination interviews.)
Yes, that is the show I was referencing. It does provide evidence that this type pf practice has happened in the past. And although, thanks to the the ethics of judges in this case, it didn’t work IMHO that was probably the exception. The producers simply would not allow the competiton to get to the point that all left were dullards that might be able to cook, but do little else. This is most likely guaranteed in the contestant selection process but should they get surprised they will take action to guarantee ratings and consequently advertising revenue. Tom certainly isn’t going to say anything that would give his show a flat tire and the chefs may be totally unaware. When in doubt, look for the money trail. In this case, it’s all about ratings and advertising revenue.
I think Tom was an idiot in (not just) this regard. His declaration that what goes on in the kitchen is unimportant is moronic in its conception. If Marcel gets a restaurant, everyone employed by him is going to have to endure the same passive-aggressive destructo sequence all over again. His restaurant will fail because he’ll pull the same shit with vendors and customers. It’s just how his world is.
It wasn’t “raw”, and the fact that they didn’t broadcast this info points squarely at the producers manipulating the viewers against Marcel. In Chef Tom’s blog, he answers that accusation:
You mean, it most likely wasn’t raw, which is what that quote says. So there most likely wasn’t a health code violation.
Which inspires an assload of confidence in any particular restaurant. “Hey, let’s go to Marcel’s tonight, there’s most likely not a health code violation underway.”
And he absolutely should be required to work as a team with the others for the final challenge. Team challenges have been a part of the game up until now, and working as a team is a must for a chef. Marcel’s negative charisma is so profound as to encourage other culinary professionals to physically assault him when given the opportunity. I would think that’d be a negative in the restaurant industry.