Bella

I've re-opened this thread for the live chat during this evening's episode.

I have an idea that is quite hate-able: celebrity edition for charity. What with the G-list social media people and the recycled folks from other reality TV shows, would it be that much of a stretch? I envision this as one of two things: the last ever season of TAR, or a desperate attempt to revitalize the franchise if it's perceived as teetering on the edge. My concept is that this happens once, then never again. I also like the idea several posts above, bringing in stars (winners?) from various international editions.

I completely agree. I suspect her family wouldn't be that supportive, though, and I wonder if Megan is strong enough to manage that. Oh, well, if it happens, we probably won't see it on the show.

Yes, and what I'd like would be more such episodes.

The only problem with that would be that they'd all blame her, and she'd somehow feel responsible despite the fact that IMO Josh is an entitled, oblivious, self-absorbed prig.

How about random chefs who don't know each other, don't have any sob stories, and just like to cook for a living? At this point, that's the most special group of contestants of all, since we don't see them anymore. They really need to take this show on the road. Would Amanda mind a trip to California? Would Maneet enjoy herself in Chicago? Would Marc Murphy like a tour of the south? How about a special group of contestants being "people not from the East Coast"?

I watched Kevin Sbraga at Sbraga one night (I forget which season he won), and he was keeping 1 eye on the open kitchen and 1 eye on the guests. He entered the kitchen twice while we were there, once to talk to a couple of the cooks and once to do some hands-on cooking for about 5 or so minutes. It was as if he was making sure they met his standards. Like Spike, he has multiple restaurants and can't be in more than one place at a time.

Bella's rules of CTK: 1. Don't sabotage yourself because that's the hardest sabotage to beat. 2. Do not level the playing field, as noted above. 3. If a chef has all the sabotages and still makes it through, you're screwed - that chef often wins. See: Fabio in All-Stars, the finalists in Camp CutThroat, etc.

I always assume that the judges taste everything and that the actual judging lasts far longer than what we see on TV. If low-drama tasting cuts into the story line, production won't show us the tasting.

I don't remember whether I watched Unfinished Business or not, as I haven't bothered to develop an encyclopedic knowledge of all things TAR. I do know I've only seen the cowboys in their initial season, and that was by choice.

I'm not going to turn this into a formal poll, but what are your favorites from among these? New Year, New Sob Stories New Year, New Chefs, Same Sob Stories That Dish Was Just Offal Yes, those were my favorites (except my own, and I'm not including it because of obvious bias). Thoughts?

Just moved an altered picture of Derick to the Goofy thread. Please don't forget that we have the Goofy thread for this kind of thing.

Aside from All Star seasons that include the cowboys, I always watch the first episode and usually get pretty deep into the series before losing interest. While the show doesn't intrigue me nearly as much as it once did, by its very nature it has potential. So I'll watch the first episode and hope for the best. I do like parent/child teams, so I'm hoping those will prove interesting.

I will put it on my want-to-mod list, but I won't actually be watching TLC until they pull all shows involving the Duggars (said the mod who's been dealing with the 19 Kids forum since before the first scandal broke out this year).

Here's where you can discuss Season 8 beforehand.