halopub

I can see that. I think she's okay in small doses and definitely better when she gets to go off script. Here's my first Anglo-American divide for the season. "Mexican" wave. It's uncomfortable to call it that. It's just a wave, folks. And it originated in the US, to boot. I suppose Jo shouldn't be expected to keep up with food trends - cough, cough, I'm looking at you Paul and Mary - but wow, yuzu is not a weird ingredient that no one's ever heard of. At least over in the US, it's been used in cooking competitions for over a decade because the strong citrus is a way to infuse flavor in a short amount of time. Now it may be more common in savory cooking, like the ponzu sauce you get with an order of gyoza, but one of my local french bakeries sells yuzu macaron. It's not exactly a cutting edge shop, either. I wish Jo and the writers of Extra Slice weren't so provincial in their food knowledge. You're producing an aftershow for a food program! Someone should send her a bunch of yuzu flavored kit kats, or maybe some yuzu kosho to go along with some grilled chicken. Yum!

Matt LeBlanc “Not Sure” If He Is Returning To ‘Top Gear’ – TCA

The first taping was today and the tent set looks pretty swanky from the inside. More entertainingly, the guys are still struggling with the concept of livestreaming on Facebook.

There are reports that BBC execs are giving Alex Renton creative control for next season. And they're planning on bringing in writers, which is terrific. The taping schedule for Man With a Plan is up. Assuming the sitcom uses a typical five day week, I think this means LeBlanc has a week off in both September and October.

In the US and UK, you can pay a monthly fee, just for Prime Instant Video. I think over there the fee is £5.99. You won't get any other Prime benefits but I think the commitment is only monthly.

I agree that the parallels are limited. A sitcom is a relatively manageable schedule compared to a drama but it still runs four to five days an episode, with some 12 hour days. With DWTS, I suspect there is a lot more involved in a judge's work day than just primping for tapings but I get your point.

Okay, having Snoop Dogg on this was pretty darn amusing. It was great how enthusiastic he was about competing. Anyone else think that Sugar Ray Leonard's brother-in-law resembles Colin Firth?

Amazon is now running sweepstakes for audience tickets in Germany, the UK and the US. The US rules mention airplane tickets and hotel accommodations somewhere in California.

Unnamed BBC sources have told different British media outlets that they currently plan to keep everyone else. Variety reported yesterday that LeBlanc is going to be the lead host for season 24 but other sources suggest that he has yet to finalize a contract for an additional season. You've brought up the sitcom issue for a few times, which got me curious. According to Zap2it, “Man With the Plan” is in first position but LeBlanc has it written into his contract that production makes room for work on Top Gear. I would guess that the new sitcom follows a typical five day schedule, with shooting days being the lengthiest. So maybe he can work on the two days off and then after table reads on day one? Then film all the studio segments during winter hiatus? I dunno. The closest commuting parallel I can think of are judges Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli at Dancing with the Stars. They spent ten seasons flying between London & Los Angeles twice a week to accommodate Strictly Come Dancing in the fall. I believe Tonioli still does.

Charlotte got to keep her alteration challenge and modeled it on instagram.

Plus the sewing bee contestants generally seem like they have less self promotion and marketing opportunities than their equally likeable counterparts on Bake Off. Last year's winner, though, does have a book and a fully thought out website. I don't have much to add to everyone's thoughts on the challenges but thanks to Charlotte I did totally tear up twice during this episode. The joke about the UK's version of Jerry Springer ending in a teary hug with Ruth and then her despair over the zipper. Man....I got so emotionally invested. It was pretty cool to learn about Jade's competitive swimming days - which almost makes me forgive her for saying she doesn't know what the world was like before 1998 (the 60s episode) and I think it's fascinating that Charlotte's speciality is bones.

There is also a criminal allegation that the police has confirmed it is investigating.

Woop! Woop! I'm thrilled to see Charlotte doing so well. That duvet alteration rocked.

It may not mean anything but Charlotte and another contestant apparently got sewing bee tattoos.

I'd pick and choose which segments to watch. I just fast forward through any of Evans' reviews and speed through any challenges he's in.

There are so many fantastic episodes to add. Off the top of my head, I'd like to add the time Jeremy reviewed the Peel P50; his review of the Ford Fiesta in shopping mall; James May learning the Scandinavian flick; the bullet train race across Honshu; the Toyota killing challenge; the time the hosts' moms reviewed some cars; when they taught some grannies to do donuts; and just a classic review of three cars on the Isle of Man. Beyond the fantastical and the gorgeously filmed travelogues, the last one covers cars and demonstrates how May, Hammond and Clarkson click.

According to the BBC America schedule, it ought to run at 10:30 pm on Monday nights, right before Cars of the People.

They will be on both.

There were some decent parts and it might be worth checking out a few segments. Luckily the best contributors, Chris Harris and Rory, will now be participating in future mothership episodes. Audi R8 - another irritating, shouty film by Evans. It was interesting to see Sabine briefly lap Laguna Seca with and without the R8's computers. Ferrari F12 TDF- a solid contribution by Chris Harris and a beautiful film. Something felt missing, though, that prevents it from being a true classic. Maybe they should have included that bit of the side mirror falling off the car instead of putting the blooper on the aftershow. The audience segments - led largely by LeBlanc, rather than Evans. He wasn't 100% natural, but he was much more successful at interacting with his co-hosts than Evans. One gets the sense that Harris, Sabine and Rory actually get along with him in real life. SIARPC - Skippable. Kevin Hart was his usual self and was a game enough guest but this ran way too long. Maybe 15 minutes? Ford Focus RS review - a straightforward, well-produced hatchback segment with likeable Rory. Something that'll appeal to both motorheads and more general design fans. LeBlanc's tour of London in Ken Blocks Hoonicorn - it had some promising elements - a dramatic intro and a cinematic view of London on closed streets. But it felt long, soulless and pointless. It needed a better story to justify its existence/cost.

Rory is certainly more personable and less yelly. And hey, like Chris Harris, he does know something about cars. The Focus film was solid. Was it just my imagination or did he and Chris Harris not have HD cams for the car interiors? As we see with this episode, I think the producers are pushing LeBlanc to do more hosting duties in the audience segments. The interactions aren't fully natural but it's a definite improvement whenever Evans' screentime is cut. Now they have to cut down on the American in UK storylines.The dude's spent a bit of time across the pond, which is how he got on their radar in the first place.

Rory tweeted that he and Chris Harris will now be on the main show the rest of the season.

I was a bit surprised when Patrick broke out with the "chi pao" instead of calling it a cheongsam. I've heard both transliterations in English but it can be tricky knowing which old Romanized Cantonese words are still acceptable for everyday use. I would guess that using Peking is as out of touch in the UK as it is in the US. However, there is a sizeable, vocal Cantonese population from before the Hong Kong handover, so maybe some of their words persist over Mandarin names? Anyhoo, the fitted garments we saw are more of a twentieth century invention than the kind of flowing brocade clothing that preceded them. And has some complicated political and pop culture legacies. The challenge wouldn't have been out of place in next week's 60s episode, since that's when Nancy Kwan (Suzie Wong) popularized it in the American consciousness. I too, felt for Charlotte, when she forgot to do that extra stitching and her tears got to me a bit. While it was time for Josh to go, I'm glad his chi pao turned out pretty well. His skill level and experience may not be up to par with his fellow contestants, but if he takes his time and has a pattern, Josh apparently is capable of creating beautiful garments. So when and where does Patrick envision himself wearing Charlotte's purple harem pants? Heh.

The second episode was still fun in bits - it was infectious how excited Chris Harris got about his car at the 24 hour race. (New York road legal!) And I liked how Rory genuinely enjoyed the school run/grandparents' car on the track. I wished they had ditched the whole Chris Evans segment.

The second episode was less painful for me, but I think that's just because I weirdly enjoyed Sharleen Spiteri's buddy comedy with Eddie Jordan.

Apparently the second episode was in the can before viewer feedback from the premiere could be taken into account. Starting with episode three, the powers that be have responded to the awful viewer feedback by 1) asking Evans to use more of his indoor voice and 2) getting rid of the Clarkson references, like the "on that bombshell" jokes.