Okay, we have a lot of Malarkey to get through, so we’ll keep our thoughts on last night’s two-hour premiere of ABC’s The Taste short. Better than we expected? Absolutely. The series is most definitely watchable. The biggest issue with the premise, however, is that the judges don’t get a description of their bites before they take them. Instead, they get so caught up in trying to identify what they were eating that they lost sight of whether or not it actually tasted good, and thus, a lot (read: a lot) of really talented chefs went home, leaving Anthony Bourdain, Nigella Lawson, Brian Malarkey, and Ludo Lefebvre kicking themselves for much of the auditions.
On the bright side: we can’t wait for Ludo and Malarkey to become the Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey of The Taste panel, and we hope Nigella wears that red dress every single episode. Without further ado, and in no particular order, here are the five best moments from last night’s series premiere of The Taste:
1. Anthony Bourdain calls someone “a delusional fuck” on network television. And we’re off.
2. The first person Anthony Bourdain picks to cook on his team is a spunky, yoga-practicing Harvard grad who has a big crush on him. Oh, of course she is.
3. Nobody puts Ludo in a corner. Especially not Brian Malarkey.
4. Ludo offers a culinary instructor who quit her teaching gig to audition for the show (and not get picked) a job working for him.
5. The show stopping tear-jerker moment. Get your tissues ready, and watch all the way to the end. This girl has balls enough to call Ludo out even while she’s sobbing.
Honorable Mention: The clearly meant-to-be-sexy, but really just sort of awkward opening theme.
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