Tango64

That was delicious seeing the cutlery designer -- who is competing to be a "food star" -- fail to demonstrate the unique quality of the butter knife. I laughed when he said, "Look, it can slice butter!", just lopped off a huge slab of butter onto his toast, and then sat down.

"I'm on a big cooking competition. I have one hour. What should I make? Oh, I know. I'll make this tasty dish that requires a 37-hour cook time." We see it over and over.

I heard next week's challenge is to build a bridge across the Thames in 24 hours. And write a jingle for it.

There seems to be a relatively new career specialty in the tv industry now: the ability to act totally awestruck, amazed, and astonished at mundane performances or reveals. AGT features some of the most talented in this field, with the editors spending about 60% of the time showing the judges and Crews being out of their mind with disbelief. See also: The Masked Singer.

The domino act was okay once they got to it, but all the fake drama over emptying the theater and then everyone whispering was ridiculous. I laughed out loud when everyone was being soooo quiet and then the domino twins take their mics and boom out "HI! GREAT TO BE HERE!"

It would be helpful and very interesting to show some of the judges' discussion that leads to the final decision. Maybe not every episode, but certainly for the finale. Let's see a bit of their recap, disagreements, and convincing one another. But alas, that would detract from the big dramatic reveal at the end, and that is the raison d'etre for a show like this. Maybe they could make it available online afterward.

So one team developed a wine bottle that would be bought only by women (or men wearing lipstick) and only for romantic moments. The other developed a bottle to sell only for New Years Eve. So limited, in addition to all the other flaws. And it might be just me, but the lipstick prints were gross. I don’t want to look at that on my wine.

When Danny boasted “I’m turning this whole oven into a smoker!” I immediately thought about the cooks who have to use it the next day to feed thousands of people. They might not appreciate the lingering smoke flavor in their croissants or whatever, and I doubt the show scrubs ovens when they’re done.

But do they really? One is a guy who supposedly invented a water machine and one designed some cutlery. I don’t think their dream is to be cooking on tv or writing cookbooks. This show makes no sense.

The show seems to be about gathering some “entrepreneurs” with no commonality, making them do things for which they have no skill or experience, and criticizing them for not being professionals in that field. Good for a laugh, I guess.

I’ll never understand why people audition for this show with a New York strip and fried potatoes. Even if they execute it well (and they often don’t), so what? Any mediocre home cook can do that.

I have advocated this for a long time and it's good to see Tom confirm it. Chefs sometimes get too caught up in cooking to whatever convoluted, vague challenge they're given instead of just making good food. I don't think we've ever seen someone eliminated for making a good dish that didn't really adhere to the stated challenge. But we've seen plenty where they said, "It didn't really follow the challenge, but it tasted great, so no elimination." Make good food. Then make up a story to go with it. The judges won't mind even if they know that's what you're doing.

I found that surprising and off putting. It wasn’t a “feed the toddlers and watch them make a gross mess with their food” challenge. It sort of disrespected the chef’s food.

I’d like this show more if they just made it a variety show. It’s the competition aspect that creates so much outrage, frustration, and condemnation.

I was excited to hear Michelle say she was making biscuits and how she works in the butter with her fingers, as you should (or shortening). Biscuit-loving Southern guy here. But then she pulled out a pan that looked like a brown sheet cake. She served little cubes of it and Tom said they were like a sponge. Did something happen and she pivoted? Cause those weren’t biscuits.

Somebody help me out here with the would be contestant from Long Island, Lexi the witch with the fake eyelashes, terrible vegan loaf, and picturesque mother and grandmother. I know for certain I’ve seen her on some other show but I can’t remember where. Does anyone else remember?

The water maker seems like it’s just a dehumidifier. I can get one at Home Depot. That coaster thing was absurd. But the plastic lady said yes, so it looks like this show will be a train wreck.

What an odd mashup of Shark Tank and … I don’t know, some Gordon Ramsay food show? I thought it was going to be all food entrepreneurs like last season, but we have a miracle water maker, a miracle wine physics changing coaster, and some not so miraculous cutlery. Most of the contestants seem insufferable. And this Vanderpump person, no thank you.

I'll be watching the news for reports of backyard chefs who got the idea to do the cool trick of tossing flammable liquid onto a fire. Except they're not on a beach, they only have the lawnmower gasoline instead of kerosene, and they fumble the throw at the last second... Top Chef's Top Ways to Burn Your Friends and Family

I was pretty nauseated by how Kenzie and Liz went overboard with apologizing to Maria after they (jointly) beat her in the challenge. It was so over the top with them practically genuflecting and bowing amid their cries of "You're so good it took two of us to beat you!" Maybe there's some truth in that, but if so, just say it quietly and once. The adulation and fear(?) in their apology was unseemly. Maria looked like she expected no less from them, which made me dislike her even more.

Yeah, I think they play it up so much as “Oh my gawd, I can’t believe I’m saying this!!!” even when the joke is not so funny. Actually probably more in that case. It’s too expected and forced, not at all unexpected as it was with the original idea.

Did Remy say “shrimp stuffed with girl power?” For her own good, please, someone make her stop that. Yay for Bryson. Seems like a great kid.

The Weekend Update hosts telling jokes from the other they haven’t read before, the first few times: really funny. The now times when they know what’s coming and fall apart before they can even finish the reading: not funny.

Yep, that's all that was needed to pull that skit together. Without it, you kept wondering what the hell was up with that daughter and why they kept going along with it. The parental excuses also should have started out plausible, then a little less plausible, and escalated to the absurd as they ran out of ideas. They jumped right to the absurd and killed the joke.

The marinated Hormel teriyaki flavor is my favorite. Maybe next time I’ll elevate it with some pineapple. Agree, it was crazy they delayed the judges’ food like that. The experience of the other diners is always secondary to the judges’. Their opinions are the only ones that count.