Always welcome, or always welcome to you?
I agree about people and am furious if what you say is the case about LCK.
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Well, to me certainly! And the lines at The Sausage Guy outside Fenway Park suggest many others as well. Not everyone though 
Right. Itâs interesting how Top Chef might challenge some of the US-centrism that characterises âeveryoneâ 
(No challenging the tastiness of this, or even the popularity in Boston, but this is a specific dish, not a universal one.)
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Traveling and missed it Thursday night!
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I really enjoyed this episode.
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Although a bit distracted, I watched, casting from my tablet to the hotel television screen.
I liked the way the guest host gave feedback to Victoire. was a little put of by the plate licking and the emojis, but Iâd watch it againâŚand againâŚand again.
I think Amar is a âgood sportâ, and Buddha, not so much. Buddha is pretty intense for someone who has already one a Top Chef season.
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I really enjoyed tonightâs episode, itâs been a while since weâve seen a mise en place relay, and theyâre always fun. I liked that the script was flipped and the team that allegedly had the least to work with met the challenge best.
Charbel seemed galvanized by his experience, and is definitely a stronger chef than Dale.
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And I am back in a hotel on a Thursday so I missed it again. I hope to watch on the train today.
Great recap.
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A good recap.
And I do wish they had shown more clearly how Sara frenched those lamb bones.
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Iâm so glad sheâs still there. Iâve always liked her.
I found the movie tie-in painful to watch. Seems a stretch to think that the audience for top chef and for that particular movie franchise intersects very much. Why do they need to do this? Donât the commercials we are subjected to every 10 minutes pay for their overhead costs?
Not a big fan of the whoâs a better prep cook part of the competition. Feel like they keep trying to come up with new twists to keep their viewers engaged when this viewer at least just wants to see good inventive cooking and get to know the chefs. Watching head chefs chop up red peppers was not that interesting.
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I did too. And to see the chefs excited about it is ridiculous. But, I like the miss en place race.
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I hâte the product placements, but Iâd much rather have a dumb and tenuous movie tie in than haven forced to cook with some kind of mediocre prepared or convenience food. Iâm sure theyâre instructed by the producers to act suitably excited, given that every time theyâve had a movie tie-in the contestants have the same reaction.
Why do they need the tie-ins? Comes off as pretty tacky. Iâm assuming a popular show gets bigger ad revenue. Series tv doesnât have the actor holding up a product or extolling its virtues in the middle of their episode. Maybe itâs a bravo thing? Do the real housewives push product on their shows?
Yes.
Product placement takes place in fiction and reality TV programming. Bravo is well known for this sort of thing:
Of course, they also hawk their own product
I could be here all day to provide details on the world of product placement, but I know none of you want that.
Well I do watch some network series show (Ghosts and Abbot Elementary) and theyâre definitely not doing product placement. I guess cable like Bravo needs the money?
I donât want to make this too much of a discussion, since this takes us well off topic (although many times that product is food). But itâs more complicated, and can be even more subtle than you think, but having recognisable brands in a programme is itself a matter of negotiation (why sometimes things in reality shows are blurred, where the association canât be helped).
Abbott Elementary has placement (which, by the way, excellent taste-- I love that show) and it would be interesting to think about the relationship between virtual assistants and television programmes (Siri or Alexa?) such as in Ghosts. (Iâve only seen the first series of the US version, and it was charming and Jay benefits from a longer arc. I was leery because the UK version is so beloved to me.)
Just writing about this made me reflect on the ways advertising in the US can be subtle simply by virtue of how much there is that surrounds people. I remember a visit I made some years ago and I was overwhelmed by the amount. Itâs so much, itâs easy to become inured to it and not see it at play when simply used as prop.
OK. I promise Iâll try not to info dump any more.
ETA: To make this kind of relevant to a food site-- Food is a constant. When do they invent a brand and when is a real brand used? And how? (Rhetorical/ prompt-- not expecting an answer.)
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The abbot thing is interesting but are they ( meaning the show) being paid to wear those brands and use those products? I also LOVE the British Ghosts and waiting very impatiently for the last season to come to the US. I was very skeptical of the US version but theyâve done a good job and the British show runners are involved in US version. I guess my issue with Top Chef last night was my complete disinterest in the fast and furious franchise and wondering about the overlap between the audience for the movie and Top Chef. It was all slightly embarrassing for hosts and chefs!
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