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Sunday, January 21, 2007 12:00 AM

I Like to Watch

All work and no play make Jack Bauer a mean boy. Plus: Cliff takes on the Heat Miser (and pays for it) on "Top Chef"!

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  • Sunday, January 21, 2007 10:13 PM

    Confused about "Top Chef?" Here's an explanation for the clueless.

    Top Chef is a REALITY SHOW. The first thing you must learn is that there is NO reality in a reality show.

    Now, I didn't see this show. I have a disadvantage in watching shows like this; I'm not gay. But I don't need to be gay, or to have watched the show, to make some reasonable assumptions about what happened. Either the producers encouraged this fight, to try to up the drama on this show, or the combatants decided to do it on their own for some self-aggrandizement.

    Cooking demonstrations used to be featured on noontime newscasts and "happy homemaker" shows. Those shows have been shoved aside for hard-core local news; weather, sports and who got shot last night. To make a cooking show interesting enough to run in prime time, even on a minor cable network, something has to be added. They went with anger and Jerry Springer/Geraldo Rivera attacks. Now me, I would have gone Battle Royale with it, with the winner of the cooking contest stabbing the loser and mutilating the corpse on-camera with the sponsor's brand of kitchen knives. My method would have insured larger ratings, and fewer contestants. But that's just me.

    It shouldn't be long until we have this situation; if you doubt it, see George Carlin's recent HBO special. And you reality show fans are just stupid enough to lick this up.

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