AllAboutMBTV

Re: The chicken pot pie -- I'm pretty sure I could make one pie crust for the top in much less time than it took Keith to make his latticed puff pastry one. Still, he gets points for presentation (although, as Bastet noted, presentation faltered once served).

The cherry-chocolate pie pops wouldn't be a bad idea if you left them off the stick and just called them a version of hand pies. I'd buy one in a bakery but would never make them. Speaking of never making, deep-frying is one of my recipe dealbreakers, so I was happy enough to watch Lan make lumpia but sad that she did not appear at my door with a plate of them at the end. (The jury is still out on Dan's cacio e pepe tapioca things.) Like chessiegal above, I enjoy watching ATK for techniques and foods I know little or nothing about, but so many of their recipes lately fall into the Would Eat, Would Never Make category. But then I'm a lazy cook with a small kitchen.

So is the entire (or most of) season already filmed and in the can? That's my guess based on the previews they showed at the end. Hey, remember when you could call in or vote online for your Favorite Dancer? Back when the viewing audience had some say (or at least the producers made us think that we did...)? Going by the previews (granted, I wasn't paying super-close attention), it's now just going to be group dances in a variety of industry styles -- Music Video, Broadway, Film, etc. The dancers aren't going to partner up? (So why have five men and five women? And no wonder they didn't pick any ballroom dancers.) Will they even perform in front of an audience or just in a variety of studios? And now the jidges will decide who leaves at the end of each episode? Ugh... Maks is useless, and JoJo is a walking migraine. Way to eff up something that wasn't particularly broken, producers!

So I guess there are no dance styles other than contempo-jazz-funk allowed now? Flamenco, South Asian, African, MIddle Eastern, etc. ad infiniitum? One tapper, one pointe ballet, and a ballroom couple blew by for a nanosecond. C'mon, show... And Maks is utterly useless as a judge.

I forgot the episode the second I turned it off. Reading the above comments reminded me who performed. I then remembered the two-stepping couple and wished they'd made it through (although in the end I agreed with the judges that they weren't quite there yet). I used to two-step a LOT. It's fun, practically everyone can learn the basics, and there are some fantastic choreographers out there. Oh, well...Two-stepping might be a nice change-of-pace genre to try in the regular competiton. Is it Choreography Week yet or do we have more canned, over-processed auditions to get through?

I didn't even know the show was back until I saw a blurb about it in the NYTimes on Monday. Have to agree with TVbitch above that the auditions at least look extremely "curated, staged, scripted." Remember when they used to audition on a stage in a real theatre? And there's not much suspense about who's going on to the next round -- if they show a filmed backstory first you go through. I, too, wish Comfort was a judge for the whole season -- anyone but Jojo, who gives me a migraine; Screaming Mary, even, or, sigh, Debbie Allen. (I also wish they would scrape about a half pound of slap off Alison's face.)

I know scheduling at PBS stations around the US varies widely, but the new season of ATK starts next week in the Bay Area. I believe we'll be seeing at least one ATKer in a new role.

Don't know if it was a one-off, but Cook's Country host Toni Tipton Martin left her on-set library (and Teleprompter) to make poke with Morgan. She is not a natural in front of the camera yet, so I hope she relaxes a bit if she's going to continue in the role. (Of course, the show's other on-air presenters have years, if not decades, of experience.)

I can only repeat what I saw on a "Sex Education" Tumblr post: "I didn't like this season, but I will miss (some of) the characters." (Parenthetical mine.) I hope the actors go on to much better things.

In case any Hulu audience research execs are following this thread, I'm begging you for a S2! Reboot for me was the most consistently funny sitcom (well, "sitcom") I've seen in a good while. And with a murderers' row of comic actors to boot. More, pleaseandthankyou!

Either Aunt Sarah or Ma Mary said they'd spent a fortune in concealer over the years to cover the tattoos.

I would be perfectly happy if McKee gave the girls' parents their own series. They are all equally hilarious in their own way. It can be set a few years after DG ended, maybe when the wee Quinn daughter (does she have a name?) is in her early teens. The original Girls can make (very) occasional cameo appearances as needed.

Not so much The Next Generation as The Next Presenter, since only one person will be chosen, not four or five. I reserve judgement on this show. I wonder if it's planned as a one-and-done or will it be ongoing until the current presenters are all replaced?

I'd consider Morrison an actor who can dance/move, rather than a dancer who can act. Despite her multiple shticks that I never need to see or hear again, Mary will be missed for her ballroom acumen.

Looks like ATK is creeping back into their studio. The newest episode (turkey confit, turkey burgers) had Bridget "teaching" Julia how to confit turkey thighs (never gonna happen in my house) and both J&B doing the taste testing with a nut-brown Jack. (Either the latter has recently been to Barbados or the makeup department hates him. Also, the women's hair has been reshellacked into helmets that don't move, unlike the looser styles they had during ATK at Home, when they probably did their own hair.)

I believe they filmed a Holiday episode with some of the cast members of "It's A Sin." Anyone know when it will be available? (If it already is, let us know!)

Took the words right out of my mouth, dzout. Sigh...

Dear Milk Street Creatives: Please, by all that is holy, stop with the slow-motion cinematography. I'm pretty sure we all know what oil being poured into a pan or kosher salt being added to a dish looks like. Stop giving me reasons to yell at my TV! (Really, the show drives me nearly batty, but I keep watching it because every third blue moon they offer a really fantastic recipe that I make over and over again.)

Now that they're back on set, I hope they keep the more relaxed hair and makeup styles from the At Home season. The women looked SO shellacked in the last studio season -- way too much slap on their faces and hair so sprayed it wouldn't move if Dorothy Gale's tornado was bearing down on them.

Don't forget "Sounds good" and "Gotcha." Both Bridget and Julia say one or both a LOT while the presenting chef prepares a dish. As a director friend of mine used to say, "Make a different decision!"

Agreed, LisaM, that is what Kim's Convenience should have been -- centered on the Kim family. Nothing against any of the Handy cast, but those scenes generally brought the show to a dead halt.

And where would you put the tank afterward, biakbiak? Because a tank that size would surely make hundreds of Aperol spritzes, so you're going to have to store it somewhere. Way to wildly overcomplicate a three-ingredient drink, DAN. Most Eye-Rolling ATK Demo Ever? Yes, I think so.

I stumbled across Julia promoting the ATK cookbook "Cooking For Two" several years ago and bought the book by the end of her segment (mainly because I live alone and get tired of cutting recipes in half or quarters -- math!). It's good cookbook, and I've used it a lot. None of the Bay Area PBS stations showed a new ATK At Home last week (it was supposed to be on Roesti, but we got a recent Old-Skool ATK). Last night it was a new At Home, and now I want Butter Chicken. (I have a recipe from the NYTimes, but it's miles more labor-intensive than the one Julia did on air.)

chessiegal: I have a friend who works on ATK, and said friend told me that two of the presenters did not use their own kitchens. (One used a studio kitchen, the other rented one). It's pretty easy to tell on air as their kitchens are about as personal as a hotel room. My friend did not say why they didn't use their own kitchens, but were I one of them I, too, would have to rent a kitchen as mine is too small and not designed for filming (anything I'd do at the stove would be with my back to the camera as there's no room to film from the side of the stove). Logistics!

I know someone who works at ATK, and I've begged him to ask the producers to give precise measurements for things like onions and carrots (spices they measure precisely). Instead of saying "add one chopped medium onion" say "add one cup of chopped onion." I live in California, and nearly all the onions I see at Safeway or independently owned markets are nearly the size of my two fists and can in no way be what they mean by "medium." (Russet potatoes are even bigger; I can occasionally find small shallots). I only see what I would call medium-size vegetables at farmers markets anymore. I often have the same complaint with recipes in the NYTimes and other publications, both print and online. Give the actual amount needed, not some vague non-measurement that varies from person to person! Also: Nice home kitchen, Adam!