History Series / TopChef

** Season 2 was absolutely full of these. Notable ones are Marcel, Ilan, Sam, Cliff, Betty, Elia, and Frank.

* HaveIMentionedIAmGay: The show features at least one openly homosexual contestant in almost every season. Many of them make sure everybody knows their orientation as soon as possible. Ash in Season 6 states that he's the only chef "with a boyfriend," and then pauses for a second before elaborating, "a same-sex boyfriend."

** Richard Blaise, runner-up in season 5 and Top Chef in Season 8, rarely did anything without liquid nitrogen. He even tried to make a damn cookie with liquid nitrogen (and was called out for not actually making a cookie by the Cookie Monster himself). Also, in season 4, he cooked "Banana Scallops" THREE times.

* Richard Blaise, runner-up in season 5 and Top Chef in Season 8, rarely did anything without liquid nitrogen. He even tried to make a damn cookie with liquid nitrogen (and was called out for not actually making a cookie by the Cookie Monster himself). Also, in season 4, he cooked "Banana Scallops" THREE times.

** Hung (winner of Season 3) was stuck on the sous-vide technique. When Casey tried calling him out for this, he immediately pointed out that she likewise braised most of her dishes. Richard Blaise, runner-up in season 5 and Top Chef in Season 8, rarely did anything without liquid nitrogen. He even tried to make a damn cookie with liquid nitrogen (and was called out for not actually making a cookie by the Cookie Monster himself).

** Season 2 was absolutely full of these. Notable ones are Marcel, Ilan, Sam, Cliff, and Frank.

** Also from Season 2, Otto withdrew from the competition because of a mix-up involving unpaid ingredients during an elimination challenge. Howie from Season 3 attempted to withdraw, but the judges said it was not his decision to make, and they eliminated him anyway.

** Marcel and Ilan in Season 2.

* In episode 9 season 9, Chris C and Chris J were both up for elimination. Padme first said Chris and there was a long pause before she said C during which both Chrises looked quite stressed out.

** In almost all the seasons, Season 1 has ended with a "This season on Top Chef!" preview, where you might see Bob saying "I'm cooking at a baseball park!" So until that clip pops up, Bob is completely safe. And if Alice is saying "We have to cook at NASA." Then again, Alice has immunity til the NASA challenge, and the shock of this new challenge will be softened because you knew what it was anyway.

The show is hosted by Padma Lakshmi and features chef Tom Colicchio (Craft, Craftsteak, Wichcraft, etc.) as its head judge. Most seasons have also featured Gail Simmons as a regular judge, with Ted Allen, Toby Young, and Eric Ripert also each judging regularly in some seasons, and various other famous chefs and critics coming in as guest judges.

** Season 9 has two Chrises, Chris C and Chris J. Chris C was also referred to as Malibu Chris or Malibu, as he resides in California and is, well, pretty. He was elminated in episode 7 leaving Chris J as the lone Chris.

** ''All Stars'' has two Tiffanys and two Dales (though, one Dale is Asian and one Tiffany is Black).

* EntitledBastard: Richard Blais in season 8, where he seemed completely incapable of going by five minutes without whining about how he "should have won season 4", or how the current season would not be successful if he didn't win.

* EverythingsBetterWithBacon: If a "cheftestant" uses bacon in a dish, some judge is bound to say, "Bacon is always a good idea," or the like. Makes you wonder why they don't use it more often.

* EverythingsBetterWithMuppets: All-Stars had Telly, Elmo, and Cookie Monsters judge the Quick Fire Challenge, with Elmo likening a contestant's cookies to cow pies.

** Marcel in Season 2.

* [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters Loads and Loads of Cheftestants]]: Season 9 has ''twenty-nine'' cheftestants. Guess they really do do everything bigger in Texas.