Bed & Breakfast
March 26, 2008 - 10:53 PM
QUOTE (teleburst @ March 26, 2008 - 01:48 AM)

I think Tom is there to represent the restaurant community, and therefore give credibility to the panel. And, since he's not a writer, or a foodie celebrity, or a foxy hostess, he's sort of the "continuity" of the show (the yin to Padma's yang, so to speak). And I think that's the contradiction. We expect the "continuity" to be consistant, as those two terms are twinned. And yet, we also expect him to be an advocate to the "chef/restaurant community". I'd argue that this puts him in almost an untenable situation. Anytime he exposes his inner thoughts, he's in a Catch-22. He can't really just pop in and out like a Bourdain or Rocco.
He'd be better served not blogging at all, but this too is expected of him. And once he's "honest" about his feelings and judging criteria, he's drawn and quartered for it (heck, I've done it myself). Now, I"m as much a fan of pilloring people as anyone (as is obvious at this point). And, frankly, WAJ is a prime example of how this drama thing works. Without WAJ, and similar folks (and me too, I guess), this thing falls flat. What good is it for Gordon Ramsey to go into a successful restaurant? What good is it to have a show where people can't argue about sometimes inane stuff?
My point is that the target that has been set is perhaps about 30 yards outside of the shooting range. We seem to accept the premise that the show should be "fair", should be "consistant". I say, NAY!, NAY, I tell you, NAY! I think that this is a false value that's being promulgated. I think that Bravo would like for the contest to be perceived as fair and unbiased, only as far as it brings people to the party. But once the party starts, the idea is to create a tension that keeps people watching. And some of this is the idea that your favorite could be tossed because an evil judge has it for your fav. Or that they have the flu the day of filming. Or that a guest judge throws a monkeywrench into things.
I guess that's what makes things interesting, because it becomes a platform for fans disagreeing, agreeing, and bitching about pedantry and "nitpicking".
The only problem with the concept that the judging is based on drama is that, time and time again, at least until the finals, the worst dish, (or the worst dish on the losing team) has gone home. I'll say it again, the editing is done for drama; the elimination is All (almost) About the Food!