[private joker]

Top Chef is a decent show, but it's really just Project Runway with food. Exact same format, same production, same attitude. But PR is better suited to this format than TC, which really comes off as a retread. HK is a far better show, not just because it's fresher and more interesting from show-to-show (it always feels like newer things are being done, and the drama is escalating), but also because Ramsay is a fantastic headliner of a host, and the character work on the other cast members is much stronger -- you really get a sense of who everyone is, as opposed to on TC where the character development is really thin.

I also like that HK isn't just about being a good cook, it's about working on the line, being in the weeds, getting timing down, and basically becoming a team to get food out -- you get to see what it's like in the part of a restaurant you never see. TC is about fancy ingredients that I never get to taste when I'm watching it, so who cares.