Reality Shows

Please sir can we 
have some Mohr?

Dawn Richard Finds New Life Outside of Diddy's Pop Machine

Dawn Richard's Goldenheart album is the sound of freedom, of a singer-songwriter unfettered by the binds of the pop music machine. Released in January, Goldenheart quickly topped the iTunes R&B chart and opened up a wide new fan base for the New Orleans-born singer best known for being one-fifth of ... More >>

Adorable Pastry Chef Yigit Pura on New Season of Millionaire Matchmaker

Listen up everyone, important news: The cute-as-a-button pastry chef Yigit Pura of recently opened Tout Sweet Patisserie in Macy's Union Square will appear on the new season of the Bravo show Millionaire Matchmaker. This isn't Pura's first foray into reality TV -- before he opened the bakery, his cl ... More >>

ABC Announces New Singing Competition; World Sighs

​The last few weeks, we've been DVRing the shit out of the second season of The Voice to ensure we wouldn't miss a second. There is something thoroughly riveting about that show -- partly because of the concept (waiting to see if the judges will turn their chairs around for the contestants) is tot ... More >>

Does Reality Television Help Viewers Lose Weight?

Could this be you if you watch The Biggest Loser?​For all the studies showing that watching reality television -- OK, all television -- makes us fatter, a new research study whose findings were just reported on Salt, NPR's new food blog, suggests that one kind of reality TV could help you lose wei ... More >>

The X Factor Makes Its US Debut, Crazy People Get Humiliated

​So, this week The X Factor -- Simon Cowell's new reality show/ singing competition -- arrived on U.S. screens for the first time, and we've already had two nights of occasionally exciting, often harrowing, auditions. In case you missed it on Wednesday and last night, the operating principle is ex ... More >>

The Bachelorette's Ben Flajnik: Five Reasons He Should Run for San Francisco Mayor

Those who tuned into ABC's The Bachelorette season finale earlier this week witnessed San Francisco's very own Ben Flajnik get dumped in favor of New York's J.P. Rosenbaum. For all the SF Weekly readers who thought to themselves, "I would have picked him instead," here's your chance. If we are to ... More >>

Top Chef: The Tour Quick-Firing at Embarcadero

Jonathan KauffmanThe Top Chef Tour's San Francisco stop.​Bravo TV trailers and "Top Chef" tents have colonized Justin Herman Plaza this morning. Is Bravo flash-filming a segment for the next series? Is Traci Des Jardins throwing a semi-celebratory Top Chef Masters gala? No -- it's the Top Chef Tou ... More >>

Top Chef Masters: Nostalgic Finale Edition

Bravo TVHost Curtis Stone checks in with San Francisco finalist Traci Des Jardins.​Last night brought the finale of Bravo's Top Chef Masters and our SF-based Traci Des Jardins was in it to win it. On the line was $100,000 for the cheftestants' charity of choice. For those of us rooting for the ... More >>

Top Chef Masters Recap: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Microwave

bravotv.comHugh and his magnificent eyebrow.​After last week's rerun, we were amped for last night's all new Top Chef Masters. What we were not so amped about? The episode's title, "Blinded me with Science." We didn't go blind, but we came close pulling an optic nerve rolling our eyes at the l ... More >>

Top Chef Masters, Week 6: Traci Gives Adam What He Wants, Scores Big for La Cocina

sunovasurfboards/FlickrAdam Levine.​We know there's a rockin' contestant from Santa Cruz still in the running to be The Next American Idol (be sure to over-enunciate every word, like Seacrest), but SFoodie is all about the fact that S.F. chef Traci Des Jardins is still in the running to be The ... More >>

Top Chef Masters: Traci Des Jardins Hosts Her Own Party

Carina OstWatching Top Chef Masters from Public House.​ SFoodie got word that cheftestant Traci Des Jardins would be having a Top Chef Masters viewing party at her casual dining joint, Public House. It was, of course, open to the public, so we headed down there for a seat at the bar. The sound of ... More >>

Top Chef Masters: Crickets and Curveballs

​ Last night's Top Chef Masters was for the crickets -- well, bug eaters. The Quickfire Challenge was to make a five-star dish using bugs and wild plants. Looking at the worms, nightcrawlers, and scorpions, the cheftestants were creepy-crawly freaked out. (The captioning under Alex read, "I can't ... More >>

Top Chef Masters, Week 1: Traci Snarls, La Cocina Wins!

SF CHEFS/FlickrDo not fuck with Des Jardins.​We are still suffering from a bit of Top Chef overload, but the new season of Top Chef Masters with new host, format, and judges brought us right back into the world of cheftestants, Quickfires, and knife packings. We tuned in last night for the Sea ... More >>

Bring On the Finale Already: Top Chef: All-Stars Is Down to the Final Two

BravoTVTop Chef's boys' club...​We are still in it, and the real season finale for Top Chef: All-Stars is still not even upon us. Let the torture stop and the recap begin! Last night's Quickfire Challenge was the Quickfire of all Quickfires. The cheftestants each got to assign a Top Chef Quic ... More >>

Last Night's Top Chef: All-Stars Was All Conch, No Balls

usmagazine.com Padma's flotation devices can't even keep this series above water.​We thought we were out, but we got reeled back with a determination to finish what we started ― i.e., this awfully boring season. Last night's Top Chef: All-Stars was entitled "Island Fever" and it was fitting ... More >>

Is Top Chef: All-Stars the Worst Series Ever?

SanFranAnnie/FlickrPack up your knives: Not even Padma can save this series from sucking.​The Bahamas, Eric Ripert, the promise of Padma in a bikini: What could bad about the finale of Top Chef: All-Stars? Well, everything. Last night's show was the most boring episode to date. Things began ... More >>

Top Chef: All-Stars, Week 12: Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Muddled Dishes...

Turkinator/Flickr​Last night's episode of Top Chef: All-Stars marked the end of the New York challenges. Why not leave New York the same way so many came in? We're talking Ellis Island. For the Quickfire Challenge, the cheftestants had to make a dish from ingredients in a ferry's snack bar. Ti ... More >>

Top Chef: All-Stars, Week 10: Ironing Chef

Delfi Jingles/FlickrCookie Monster: "C" is for "kooky."​Last night's Top Chef: All-Stars began with Dale mouthing off. "I'm not like these new-school parents who are like 'we're all winners' ― f@ck that. That's bullshit, man! Who ever said losing is okay? In what country is that cool?" In ... More >>

Top Chef: All-Stars, Week 9: We Can't Believe It's Fabio!

Last night's Top Chef: All-Stars began with an odd Quickfire Challenge: Create a unique fondue. According to Padma, this wasn't the '70s and they weren't looking for bananas dipped in chocolate. This challenge was all kinds of crazy and the cheftestants would be their own judges. Mike said he wa ... More >>

Top Chef: All-Stars, Week 6: Hooked and Gutted

Bravo TVThe sharks are circling for bait-bro Marcel. ​Last night's Top Chef: All-Stars began with a continuation of douchey Marcel showing his poor sportsmanship. He was drinking gin from the bottle and all up in Dale T.'s face about last week's competition. Ugh, did they forget that this was ... More >>

Bait Car Pays SFPD to Entice Drivers to Steal Cars

Top Chef: All-Stars, Week 5: Hong Kong Like Donkey Kong!

Joseph Schell/SF WeeklyNice tats, Jamie. Now go home!​Last night's Top Chef: All-Stars marked the 100th episode for the Bravo franchise, so we had some high hopes (especially since the show skipped last week). The special night's Quickfire Challenge featured Tom Colicchio in the kitchen, cooki ... More >>

Top Chef: All-Stars, Week 2: A Jonas, Dinos, and the Megabitch

Examiner.comJonasaurus rex. ​Last night's Top Chef: All-Stars had some major attitude. It went from a rock star (okay, a Jonas brother) to children to dinosaurs to a former host to a megabitch. The Quickfire Challenge: Create a midnight snack for kids. Joe Jonas would be the judge, and later ... More >>

Top Chef: All-Stars: Festival of Losers Brings the Heat

BravoTVEx-Absinthe chef (and former Top Chef loser) Jamie Lauren.​Last night was the premiere of Top Chef: All-Stars, and it was also the first night of Chanukah. For those of you un-chosen folks, you celebrate the first night by lighting the shamash (helper candle) that will light the first c ... More >>

My Moment with Yigit: The View from Top Chef's Victory Bash

Catherine BergstromThe author, in full-on gush mode with Pura.​Since Episode 1 of Top Chef: Just Desserts, I've been rooting for San Francisco cutie-pie cheftestant Yigit Pura. We admit it: The boy's rosy cheeks, dimples, well-thought-out desserts, and overall sweetness make me gush. So last ... More >>

Top Chef: Just Desserts, Week 7: Edge-Of-Your-Seat Excitement Minus the Balls

rocor/FlickrFiercer than Game One at AT&T Park, it was Dessert Wars!​Everybody knows the Giants aced Game One of the World Series, but in last night's other competition news, Dessert Wars were on . Top Chef: Just Desserts rolled out a collection of challenge favorites, beginning with the Pastr ... More >>

Top Chef: Just Desserts, Week 6: Dawn of the Divas

Bravo TVErika Davis: All washed up.​Last night's Top Chef: Just Desserts just wasn't as sweet as usual. First, there was the Quickfire Challenge: Make a savory dessert. Zac was unsure if he could do this since he doesn't cook/eat real food, only potato chips and ice cream. The challenge was ov ... More >>

Top Chef: Just Desserts, Week 5 : These Boots Were Made for Eating

Morgan of Just Desserts​Last night we were all glued to our televisions to see the last of the miners be rescued. The night was celebratory and something sweet to top it off was needed — back to mindless dessert based TV. This was the first episode of Top Chef: Just Desserts without Seth ... More >>

Top Chef: Just Desserts, Week 3: It Was Glee All Over Again, Minus the Britney Crazy

1weddingsource.comIt's Sylvia, bitch!​Was the Britney Spears Glee episode this week not sweet enough for you? Top Chef: Just Desserts tried to carry out the same overhyped (school) spirit on last night's episode. Unfortunately, both Glee and Top Chef were misses compared to last week's crazine ... More >>

The Bachelorette and the Big City

Reality TV Contestant Jamal Trulove Found Guilty of Murder

Jamal Trulove, who enjoyed a brief bout of celebrity as an unsuccessful contestant on the VH1 reality TV show I Love New York 2 in 2007, was found guilty of first-degree murder in San Francisco Superior Court this afternoon.Jamal Trulove, a.k.a. 'Milliown'​Trulove, known on the show as "Milliown," ... More >>

The 10 Creepiest Reality TV Shows of the Decade

As 2009 comes to a close, it's important to remember it all - lest we forget. While other outlets sift through the best and brightest moments of the decade, we here at the SF Weekly would like to pay homage to the most bizarre phenomenon of our time, reality television (as we might have some experie ... More >>

Next Week: Top Chef Contenders Try to Keep the Magic Alive at Brisbane Book Event

Feel the burn.​Top Chef has evolved from a way popular TV show to a media entity that launches cooks into fame, complete with charity events, books, and appearances. As proof, consider the arrival of the Top Chef Quickfire Cookbook (Chronicle Books, $29.95) and newly released Top Chef Quickfi ... More >>

The Girly Show

10 Music Stars Who'd Make Great Soap Stars

Paula AbdulAs people turn away from soap operas in droves, daytime television continues to pull out the dramatic stops in order to keep afloat in the recession. But if Days of Our Lives or All My Children wants a bit of a buzzy boost that a fictional transsexual rock star just cannot provide, the pr ... More >>

The 10 Most Annoying Reality TV Stars

(Jon and Kate Plus 8 makes 10. . . but only Kate makes our list) It's not an easy feat to be considered one of the most annoying stars of reality television when the bulk of the competition is fierce, loud, obnoxious and willing to do just about anything in front of the cameras. Like the fat that c ... More >>

Eleven Minutes

Vittles du Video

Throughout my television-viewing life there have been certain programs that I've obsessed over, planned my schedule around, discussed with my fellow zealots over water cooler and barstool and, in short, made a point to watch without fail, but nowadays there's only one show I can't live without, Top ... More >>

Eleven Minutes

Flavor of Love Tryouts SF

The “Fava of Love” Salad starring Fava Fav!

The “Fava of Love” Salad starring Fava Fav!

Royal Flush

Charting Hits

A year on the Public Enemy roller coaster

Bewiched

A top chef expands his brand, and we follow

Behind the Muzak

What do you mean you didn't keep score while watching the Grammys? We did.

Hung's Jury

William Hung is back, and here's what the artists whose songs he covered on his new CD have to say about it

Medea Benjamin for President*

The new reality TV show American Candidate is as rigged as a Florida election. A recount won't help. We need a boycott.

That '60s Show

Oliver Beene goes against fake millionaires and phony idols