Television/Film

Entertainment Weekly released the exclusive list of Top Chef Masters Season Two contestants earlier today and we're excited about familiar names such as Marcus Samuelsson, Wylie Dufresne and David Burke. Besides an all-star lineup of contestants, judges and special guests include Gail Simmons, Gael Greene, Hank Azaria (The Simpsons) and the cast of Modern Family.

The entire list after the jump.

With 'Sex and the City' and 'Gossip Girl' tours already underway in New York City, it only seemed inevitable that some enterprising foodie would concoct a 'Top Chef' walking tour.

Because the popular cooking show is filmed in a different city every season, this tour focuses on season five -- which was filmed in Manhattan. The tours are conducted by professional chefs who offer culinary tips and fun quizzes while schlepping around the Big Apple.

Places visited on the tour include DiPalo's Fine Food in Little Italy, an old school store that sells homemade mozzarella and scrumptious soppressata, Wichcraft, a restaurant owned by Tom Colicchio, the head judge of the reality TV series and 24 Prince, a Soho bistro co-owned by Nikki Cascone who was actually a contestant on the show. Whenever she is available, Cascone drops by to chat to the tour group about what it was like being a reality television show contestant. (According to A.P. she yaks about being evaluated by mental-health professionals. We guess that Bravo isn't keen on having sociopaths in close proximity to sharpened knives).

We knew going into this week's Iron Chef that we'd have fun. The only question was how much fun. Ace of Cakes professional goofball Duff Goldman as a competitor? Chocolate and chiles as the secret ingredients? Who needs the Super Bowl?!

Sure, it may have been a little brazen of the Food Network to slot one of their own superstars opposite the easygoing (and similarly cue-ball domed, chin-scruffed) reigning chef, Michael Symon. But, hey -- if you want to lure viewers away from one of the most-watched events of the year, you've got to bring out the big guns, right?

They didn't stop there: Not only did Duff get his own cheering section -- his Charm City colleagues and a bunch of screaming ladies -- he also got a super-celeb judging panel. The whole evening, in fact, seemed to be designed for the 25-to-40-year-old female demographic who, if we may be so bold, probably wasn't bothering with the macho-testosterone play-by-play over on CBS. Call it the "Women Who Appreciate Fine Dining and the Bald Lunkheads Who Love Them" hour.

Animals. Babies. Animals acting like people. People acting like animals and babies. And light beer. Lots and lots of light beer.

It's the simple things that get us buying again -- and few things come simpler than Super Bowl ads. Sure, all the usual themes were there: Men feeling dominated by work/women/the family pet? Drink some Bud Light! Drive a Dodge! Kids/arrested-adolescent men looking for some escapism? Jake Gyllenhaal/Russell Crowe/EA Games can help.

Women ... okay, there was really very little in the spots aired last night for women, unless they wanted to buy some Dove male body wash for their stinky, unkempt mates, or, in an ad that just missed our list, buy a rejuvenating Snickers for their anemic, Betty White-esque boyfriends.

If there was a new, recession-friendly theme last night, it was bargain meals from two big chains: One being Taco Bell, whose $5 meal pack was touted by an intentionally flat Charles Barkley -- at least, we hope it was intentional. The other, well, was by far the most irrationally funny moment of the evening -- we'll save that for a little later.

Drumroll, please, for our top 5 food-related Super Bowl ads, after the jump...

We're still not quite sure what we watched last night when we flipped on the Travel Channel. Like some sort of weird food-TV hangover, our memories of the evening are vague: loud hooting and hollering; bright neon lights; low, guttural noises. And cheerleaders -- yes, we're pretty sure there were cheerleaders.

When we finally came to this morning, we had a splitting headache and a general feeling of shame and embarrassment. One thing's for certain: We don't think we should've been there.

In a feat of self-promotion that would make P.T. Barnum proud, Adam Richman -- he of "Man v. Food" quasi-fame -- staged a live, televised eatathon in Miami, just in time for Super Bowl XLIV. We don't know about you, but we love us some competitive (a.k.a. speed) eating: men and women with names like Crazy Legs and Crazy Bear wearing weird masks and/or sunglasses, stuffing their faces with as many hot dogs, doughnuts or deep-fried appetizers as possible in just minutes.

But what Richman does isn't quite the same as these Guinness Record-busting fanatics. In case you're not familiar, "MVF" is less of an eat-off than it is the Travel Channel's attempt to spawn their very own Guy Fieri. Looking a little like a cross between John Belushi and Jonah Hill -- although not as funny as either -- Richman travels the nation looking for notable dives featuring super-sized burgers, inhumanly spicy chicken wings or 7-pound burritos.