I’m in a hopelessly musical mood today after seeing NINE last night and then going home and watching GLEE so there are lots of links to music in today’s report. I wish my life were a musical with catering by the Voltaggio Brothers and Kevin Gillespie. Now onto thoughts about last night’s TV.
TOP CHEF FINALE: So a lot of people aren’t happy Michael won the title and I’m one of those people because I was rooting for Kevin. That said, if a Voltaggio had to win, I would’ve been OK with Bryan. Michael’s arrogance and general dickishness bugged me. I’m not denying his talents as a chef but for the sporting element of TOP CHEF, I would’ve much preferred to see the equally (if not more so) talented, mannered, quietly authoritative Voltaggio brother Bryan win. I was also disappointed that Kevin seemed to be penalized for having a bad night when he’s turned out so many flavoriffic dishes in the course of the competition. I’m reading Chef Tom’s blog about it and if you’re so inclined, here’s the link: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blogs/tom-colicchio/bait-n-switch
There’s also talk that some viewers found the finale anti-climactic. I do not agree with that. The finales are always tense and I wouldn’t have expected any of the finalists to jump around like crazy. They’re a mature bunch which is fine by me. I was surprised to see Michael show some actual emotion and that humanized him for me. But mostly, I just felt bad for Kevin because I think he’s a very talented chef and a lovely human being. I’m also a girl who loves her comfort food so his style of cuisine appeals to me in that let’s-have-a-hearty-meal-around-the-table-together way. Overall, a topnotch season of TOP CHEF that they’ll be hard-pressed to match in the future because they had so many massively talented chefs this time around. Reminder: next week is the TOP CHEF reunion show, hosted by Bravo’s resident giggling schoolgirl Andy Cohen.
GLEE: While I adore Amber Riley as Mercedes, I’m completely burnt out on the Dreamgirls tunes. As a card-carrying nice jewish girl, my favorite song (far and away) was Lea Michele’s astounding rendition of “Don’t Rain on My Parade”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml7KcLxepl0 I think Michele gives The Nose a run for the money on this number.
Other standout moments: Finn’s reaction when Rachel tells him the truth about Quinn’s baby, the sectional judges talking about the groups, and the final scene with Will & Emma which was so winning and lovely, it makes me wish for April to come even sooner.
MODERN FAMILY: An instant classic from the MF crew as Cam & Mitchell tried to give baby Lily her first Santa experience and wound up inviting someone into their home and having dinner with him on Christmas Eve. The more we learn about Cam, the more I adore him and watching him with The Greensleevers was yet another revelation about this multi-faceted character — as was his poinsettia-theme shirt. The scenes with Jay and Manny were also wonderful (as usual) and I continue to love how the two of them bond.
ORDER UP!: TNT ordered a second season of DARK BLUE.
TODAY’S SURF WRITTEN WHILE LISTENING TO: The Ron Fair remix of “Cinema Italiano” from NINE. I lucked into a last minute invite to the film last night and I’m still humming a few tunes from the lushly photographed musical. This is the number Kate Hudson performs in the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMIt8dhh4pg
WISHING ALL MY JEWISH FRIENDS A HAPPY CHANUKAH: Click and enjoy Neil Diamond’s cover of Adam Sandler’s “The Chanukah Song”: http://neildiamond.com/
Tonight’s rundown:
ABC: 8:00pm. FlashForward (R), 9:00pm. Grey’s Anatomy (R), 10:00pm. Private Practice (R)
CBS: 8:00pm. Survivor: Samoa (double eviction tonight), 9:00pm. CSI, 10:00pm. The Mentalist
NBC: 8:00pm. Community, 8:30pm. Parks & Recreation, 9:00pm. The Office, 9:30pm. 30 Rock, 10:00pm. Jay Leno Show
All the NBC comedies have holiday episodes tonight:
ON COMMUNITY: Shirley throws a holiday party. Anthony Michael Hall guests as a campus bully.
ON PARKS AND REC: Leslie plans the Winter Wonderland Festival and then winds up in a sex scandal.
ON THE OFFICE: Mindy Kaling wrote tonight’s episode titled “Secret Santa” that has Michael and Phyllis fighting over who gets to be Santa.
ON 30 ROCK: 30 ROCK’s episode is also titled “Secret Santa,” and has Jack getting reacquainted with a former high school crush played by Julianne Moore.
FOX: 8:00pm. Bones, 9:00pm. Fringe
Zooey Deschanel guests on tonight’s BONES – she plays Emily Deschanel’s (her real-life sis) cousin on the show.
THE CW: 8:00pm.The Vampire Diaries (R), 9:00pm. Supernatural (R)
MYTV: 8pm: Hollywood Christmas Parade
Animal Planet: 8pm: Egypt’s Animal Mummies – I saw a bunch of these at a museum in London and geez are they freaky! But in a really cool way. If you’re into the mummy thing, tune in. The Egyptians were mummy masters.
BBC America: 8pm: Pedigree Dogs Exposed
Bravo: 9pm: Real Housewives of Atlanta: Lost Footage
FX: 10pm: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (season finale), The League (season finale)
On SUNNY: Frank (Danny DeVito) wears skinny jeans. Yeah, that’s enough for me.
On THE LEAGUE: “The Shiva Bowl” has the guys try hiding the “Shiva” trophy from its high school namesake.
History: 9pm: Gangland
TLC: American Chopper
TNT: NBA Basketball: Celtics at Wizards
That’s a wrap for now.
