Reavers ain't men. Or they forgot how to be. Now they're just nothing. They got out to the edge of the galaxy, to that place of nothing, and that's what they became.

Mal ,'Bushwhacked'


Non-Fiction TV: I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own

This thread is for non-fiction TV, including but not limited to reality television (So You Think You Can Dance, Top Chef: Masters, Project Runway), documentaries (The History Channel, The Discovery Channel), and sundry (Expedition Africa, Mythbusters), et al. [NAFDA]


victor infante - May 15, 2008 9:26:34 am PDT #4911 of 23273
To understand what happened at the diner, we shall use Mr. Papaya! This is upsetting because he's the friendliest of fruits.

So, I'm reading through the TC comments on TWOP, and I find people complaining about Tom's "Someone's going home for a box lunch" zing, and asking "Well, if he thought it was so lame, why did he put it on the show?" and asking, "I'm sure Tom and Padma have some input into the challenges, no?"

I'd always imagined the judges had zero input into the challenges, that they always just showed up, were briefed on the challenges, judged, and then spent the rest of the day at the bar.

Is that how other people assumed it ws done? I mean, I think the average viewer is under the impression that the people on the screen plan everything, in much the same way they believed Sarah Michelle Gellar wrote Buffy's lines, when really, the judges on "Top Chef" probably do very little else but judge.


sumi - May 15, 2008 9:27:37 am PDT #4912 of 23273
Art Crawl!!!

I really thought that he was only repeating what one of the Cheftestants had said to him during the sniff and sneer. So, I didn't make that much of it. (Was it Andrew who said that?)


victor infante - May 15, 2008 9:30:54 am PDT #4913 of 23273
To understand what happened at the diner, we shall use Mr. Papaya! This is upsetting because he's the friendliest of fruits.

Was it Andrew who said that?

Richard, actually, but Tom seemed really amused by it.


Jessica - May 15, 2008 9:40:25 am PDT #4914 of 23273
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

This season it feels like the sponsors are designing the challenges.

Tom may have some input (I think he has a producer credit of some kind as well as being a judge), but I'm pretty sure Padma just reads off the cards.


Sean K - May 15, 2008 12:06:33 pm PDT #4915 of 23273
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty

This season it feels like the sponsors are designing the challenges.

Gods yes.

OVER it.


Jesse - May 15, 2008 3:18:03 pm PDT #4916 of 23273
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

Scandal! Whitney used to be skinny: [link]


megan walker - May 15, 2008 3:20:53 pm PDT #4917 of 23273
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

LEARN TO COOK RICE, PEOPLES! Okay, brown rice is marginally harder than white rice, but still.

I have a question about this. They had a couple of hours to prep, right? Why didn't Lisa start her rice right away? It's not like it's going to go bad. I mentioned this to my housemate and he said "Well, brown rice takes a lot longer" and I said "I know, but maybe 45 minutes tops." He said he had just made it and it took 75 minutes. He just bought a rice cooker, is that why? Because brown rice for me is usually around 30-35 minutes, maybe a bit longer.


meara - May 15, 2008 4:04:22 pm PDT #4918 of 23273

OMG. All the more reason for me to be HATING ON HER.

Especially in the link to the LJ community (here) the old dark haired pictures of whitney (not the ones in the fourfour link) she looks REALLY thin) [edit: she also looks GORGEOUS, and a lot better than she does with blonde hair, I think!!]


meara - May 15, 2008 4:07:59 pm PDT #4919 of 23273

And the annoying thing is, there are other models that have done that--said "you know, I am sick of starving myself to be a size two, I am not healthy that way" and gone on to have a plus size career (Kate Dillon, frex). But nooooooo, that doesn't have the pathos of "I was always bullied for being a big fat pig", even if the latter is a ridiculous falsehood.


Liese S. - May 16, 2008 7:22:15 am PDT #4920 of 23273
"Faded like the lilac, he thought."

Top Chef: The rice cooker shouldn't affect the timing that much. I can see some times when it would take that long, particularly if you're dealing with a variety that needs soaked beforehand (half an hour) and steamed off afterwards (half an hour), but nonetheless they had plenty of time. Particularly since they were going to be reheating the items, there wasn't any reason not to cook it well in advance. Although I don't think rice holds up well in the microwave either, but that's probably more that it doesn't do well in refrigeration, so not really their issue.

Heh. I have strong opinions about rice. Whodathunk? Also? I'm totally taking my rice cooker with me this summer. What? It's ten weeks! Like I'm not going to be eating rice for ten weeks! And you know damn sure they aren't going to be serving any as camp food, and certainly not good sticky Japanese rice, which I'm stocking up on while I have access to the Japanese grocery over the summer.

SIUaD: I know none of you are watching this, but I just had to say Oscar is back! Hee. I always felt like the competition was stacked oddly in its genres such that technical dancers were heavily weighted against. So Oscar and Tovah didn't make it through and much less skilled dancers like Michael and Janelle (sp?) did. So I was glad that the reset challenge was something that would work for dancers both with technical skill and with great passion. Oh, and what was up with Mochi's meltdown? Pressure getting to her I guess. And of course Miguel's partner left him in the lurch again! Whatev.