TV is the New Reading

Reality shows make way for fresh programming

In this week's topic, NBC closes out Marco Pierre White’s reign of terror.

In the runup to the series finale of NBC’s aptly titled “The Chopping Block,” one seemingly small-voiced retiring chef was in the cross-hairs of world-renowned chef Marco Pierre White, the guy they brought in because Chef Gordon Ramsey was too busy screaming at people on “Kitchen Nightmares” and in “Hell’s Kitchen.”

Marco screams less. What he does is he intimidates. He’s not a small man, and when he looms into a kitchen his presence and authority are unmistakable. Also, he’s got this gravelly assessment of people’s cooking that doesn’t let them know right away what his thoughts are about it.

“The Chopping Block” is a cooking show that NBC premiered in March in some answer to the BBC’s “The Restaurant,” retitled on BBC America as “Last Restaurant Standing” featuring French chef Raymond Blanc herding nine couples through excruciating challenges (often as bad or worse for their customers) and elimination rounds to shake out one couple who can run a restaurant he’ll personally fund and back.

NBC yanked its version almost instantaneously, only to bring it back this summer where it’s up against ... less. I’m not sure what kind of numbers it’s getting even now, but in the episode I saw, the shy, retiring small-voiced chef was safe in favor of the losing team, who served up a plate of moldy berries to a food critic for Bon Appetit, bringing the number of teams to two as the series grinds to a close.

I will say this -- his farewell to the losing couple was heartfelt and endearing, and while I’d look very hard at anything they served, they seemed to put their heart and soul into turning out good food.

Reality TV

Except for the crack cocaine served up by ABC Wednesdays with “Wipeout” and “I Survived a Japanese Gameshow” which I approach as game shows featuring broad physical comedy and wacky sight gags, I’ve been staying away from reality television this summer.

First off, because there’s no shortage of perfectly good programming without it. Sure, ABC says farewell to the final “Eli Stone” in its summer closeout this weekend, the final “Kings” is set to air next Saturday, and the murder mystery thriller “Harper’s Island” closes out this weekend in a two-part finale as well. However, this week saw the premiere of “Warehouse 13” and “Eureka” on SyFy, we’ve got “Drop Dead Diva” starting on Lifetime and “Dark Blue” and “Leverage” starting up this week on TNT.

Secondly, because reality television gets all the viewers it needs without any encouragement from me. Besides, I get the jist of it -- and with much funnier commentary -- from the weekend roundup offered by Joel McHale on “The Soup.”

So I haven’t really bothered with Bravo’s replacement strategy for “Project Runway,” moving to Lifetime sometime in the future. They pulled in fashion legend Isaac Mizrahi and Kelly Rowland, one of Destiny’s Children, to host something called “The Fashion Show,” and if you like what the designers design you can buy it from Bravo’s Web site.

It doesn’t do a thing for me. Sorry, but the challenges, the flakes and their ridiculous efforts .. are indeed quite similar to everything we saw on “Project Runway.” But somehow having Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn around gives the whole thing an air of authority this thing doesn’t seem to have.

Besides, the prize here seems like a Web promotion, whereas the goal for Project Runway was a turn on the runway during Fashion Week, and the people they brought in to compete were demonstrably more talented, ultimately, than anything I saw on “The Fashion Show,” which is a placeholder title if I ever heard one ... sorry, if I go on any more about that hot mess I’ll get possessed by the spirit of Meshach Taylor’s Hollywood Montrose from "Mannequin" and that will be the end of it.

Lots of show notes on this one. NBC’s “The Chopping Block” continues on toward its series finale Friday at 7 p.m., NBC’s “Kings” closes out its summer run Saturday, July 18 at 7 p.m., “The Fashion Show” continues on the road to its finale Thursday at 9 p.m.

Among our series premieres, “Drop Dead Diva” opens July 12 at 8 p.m. on Lifetime, Timothy Hutton pulls the gang back together for a second season of “Leverage” Wednesday at 8 p.m., followed by Dylan McDermott’s return to the airwaves as LAPD covert-ops team leader Carter Shaw in the premiere of “Dark Blue,” 9 p.m., both on TNT.

Also on tap, “Warehouse 13” airs new episodes Tuesday at 8 p.m., and “Eureka” Fridays at 8 p.m., both on SyFy.

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