Meanwhile, though, think of questions you’d like me to ask the stars, and suits, and scribes while I’m in TV land. Post them for the chat by clicking HERE, but in an exception to our “no chat questions on the blog” rule, you can also post them as comments here. I can’t promise I’ll get answers — and especially answers you’ll like — but I’ll give it a shot.

I was interested in the creation of the restaurants and would have liked to see more of that. Poor Christina; such a little control freak, and I really think the designer misunderstood her on the stripes. Wasn’t she talking about the banquette fabric? And she was right; the wall stripes were hideous. It was funny how much J-P seemed to enjoy Petrozza, who liked simply every suggestion.

Looking at all the other executive chefs, though, I still can’t imagine Petrozza fitting into that group. (Funny crack from Christina about him being old.) In fact, the way the episode skewed to him suggested to me even more strongly that Christina wins.

I. T. R. S.
RANKING REPORT
01 THRU    86 (OUT OF    86 PROGRAMS)
DAYPART: PRIMETIME MON-SUN
FROM 06/23/08 THROUGH 06/29/08
REGULAR AND SPECIAL PROGRAMS
LIST RANKED BY: VIEWR   2+  (000)

WEEKLY RANKINGS

- ——
                                   VIEWR  VIEWR
RANK                                2+     2+  
                                   (000)   RTG 
—–                             —— ——
    1   AMERICA’S GOT TALENT       11680    4.1
    2 * WIPEOUT                     9980    3.5
    3   60 MINUTES                  9420    3.3
    4   TWO AND A HALF MEN          9220    3.2
    5   CELEBRITY FAMILY FEUD       8820    3.1
    6   SO YOU THINK CN DANCE-THU   8630    3.0
    7   MILLION DOLLAR PASSWORD     8490    3.0
    8   SO YOU THINK CN DANCE-WED   8290    2.9
    9   CSI: MIAMI                  8190    2.9
   10 * I SURVED-JAPANESE GM SHOW   8000    2.8
   11   BABY BORROWERS              7950    2.8
   12   CRIMINAL MINDS              7940    2.8
   13   NCIS                        7850    2.7
   14   HELL’S KITCHEN              7800    2.7
   15   CSI: NY                     7700    2.7
   16   48 HOURS MYSTERY TUESDAY    7550    2.6
   17 * BACHELORETTE, THE           7520    2.6
   18   HOUSE-MON 9P                7450    2.6
   19   DATELINE SUN 9PM            7440    2.6
   20   CSI                         7330    2.6
   21   SMARTER THAN 5TH GRADER     7190    2.5
   22   RULES OF ENGAGEMENT         7050    2.5
   23 * PRIMETIME: CRIME            6940    2.4
   24   MILLION DOLLAR PASSWORD S   6780    2.4
   25   DEAL OR NO DEAL-WED         6710    2.3
   26   WITHOUT A TRACE             6670    2.3
   27   COLD CASE                   6630    2.3
   28 * PRIMETIME:THE OUTSIDERS     6600    2.3
   29   BONES-MON 8P                6530    2.3
   30   COLD CASE 10PM SPECIAL      6230    2.2
   31   NUMB3RS                     6210    2.2
   32   DATELINE FRI                5970    2.1
   33   PRICE IS RIGHT PRIMETIME    5930    2.1
   34 * HOPKINS                     5920    2.1
   35   NASHVILLE STAR              5890    2.1
   36   SWINGTOWN                   5630    2.0
   37   NUMB3RS 9PM                 5620    2.0
   38   OLYMPIC TRIALS SUN 7PM      5590    2.0
   39   CELEBRITY CIRCUS            5580    1.9
   40 * EXTREME MAKEOV:HM ED 8-10   5550    1.9
        GHOST WHISPERER             5550    1.9
   42   48 HOURS MYSTERY            5490    1.9
   43   HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER       5420    1.9
   44   LAST COMIC STANDING 6       5300    1.9
   45   BIG BANG THEORY, THE        5210    1.8
   46   AMW: AMERICA FIGHTS BACK    5200    1.8
   47 * WIPEOUT-6/29                5070    1.8
   48   AMERICAN GLADIATORS         4950    1.7
   49   LAW & ORDER:CI-SAT          4920    1.7
   50   MOST OUTRG MOMENTS 830P     4480    1.6
   51   FEAR ITSELF                 4450    1.6
   52 * WIFE SWAP                   4330    1.5
   53 * 20/20-FRI                   4250    1.5
   54   FOX MOVIE SP-6/29 7P        4180    1.5
   55 * SUPERNANNY                  4100    1.4
   56   MOST OUTRG MOMENTS 8P       4060    1.4
   57 * MOLE, THE                   4050    1.4
        FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN      4050    1.4
   59   COPS 2                      3960    1.4
   60   LAW AND ORDER-SAT           3890    1.4
   61 * DANCE MACHINE               3610    1.3
        COPS                        3610    1.3
   63   CRIMETIME SATURDAY 8PM      3600    1.3
   64 * WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY   3500    1.2
   65 * UGLY BETTY                  3410    1.2
   66 * GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM      3400    1.2
   67   OLYMPIC TRIALS 6/28 8P      3380    1.2
   68   HELL’S KITCHEN SP-6/24 8P   3290    1.1
   69 * DUEL                        3250    1.1
   70   FOX MOVIE-FRIDAY            3220    1.1
   71 * DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES        3080    1.1
   72   CRIMETIME SATURDAY          2750    1.0
   73 * ELI STONE                   2730    1.0
   74   FARMER WANTS A WIFE         2480     .9
   75   SMALLVILLE                  1740     .6
   76   SUPERNATURAL                1560     .5
   77   REAPER                      1290     .4
   78   GOSSIP GIRL-MON             1170     .4
   79   AMERICA’S TOP MODEL-3-ENC   1100     .4
   80   ONE TREE HILL-MON           1070     .4
   81   GIRLFRIENDS-SUN             1040     .4
   82   GAME, THE-SUN                940     .3
   83   BEAUTY AND THE GEEK-2-ENC    870     .3
   84   EV HATES CHRIS-SUN2          750     .3
   85   ALIENS IN AMERICA-SUN        700     .2
   86   ONE TREE HILL-ENC            560     .2
                                               
                                               
            5 NETWORKS AVERAGED     5350    1.9
            5 NETWORKS SUMMED      25400    8.9

Nah; don’t think so. I do think, though, that as the Mole, Mark could be faking a nervous breakdown, or a major huff, to sabotage the group. Yes, it would be pretty obvious by now that he’s simply refused to do two missions, including last night’s wacky (and impossible) challenge for everybody to travel 5 miles on a unicycle, in scuba gear, in a llama costume, etc. But maybe his strategy is that being obvious is sometimes too obvious. Whatever.

Meanwhile, I’m not sure what to make of the fact that all the women but Nicole have now been eliminated. Thank heavens they did that underwear mission early, huh?

Smart money would seem to be on Jason, especially after his A-plus performance as Fun Jason on the overnight Bahamas date. Before that, he had often seemed overly serious and reserved, and this date might have been a turning point in DeAnna’s feelings for him.

However, she keeps keeping Jesse. He’s declared his love. The first “Bachelorette,” Trista, went against predictions by picking Ryan, who was kind of a Jesse type except, well, not a snowboarder. I wonder if his requirement to live in the mountains part of the year was a deal-breaker.

By the way, she eliminated Jeremy based on just what I read into what she kept saying: He was the perfect man, with everything she could possibly want … but (unsaid) she just didn’t feel it.

In the finale next week, they seem to have both men dropping to their knees to propose. I don’t think that’s how it happened with Trista — didn’t she send Charlie away and then tell Ryan he was the one, after which he gave her the ring he’d picked out? If they’re going to have both men propose with rings, and then reject one, that seems too cruel. Of course, teases are often misleading, deliberately so.

As for the “Men Tell All” special: Wow, did they. They were so mean and bitter that in most cases, it was clear that DeAnna did the right thing in eliminating them. There were some cuties, though, that would be great catches for someone else — including adorable sweater-vest guy (name escapes me) who got propositioned by the woman in the audience!

• ‘Top Chef: The Tour’ finally opened St. Louis reservations (sometime over the weekend?) and immediately sold out. However, the website says walk-ins are accepted for all sold-out times. The day is July 16 and the location is the new Whole Foods superstore in Town and Country (which is a show sponsor and thus beat out Soulard Market). St. Louis’ “chef’testants” are Dale and Josie; for more, here’s the site link. And be sure to let me know if you managed to get a reservation.
• Farmer Matt found a wife — or did he? My colleague Susan Weich, a columnist in our St. Charles bureau,  interviewed him for a story that ran in the Saturday paper, but he was vague about what his specific future with Brooke might be. Here’s a long blurb from his MySpace page in which he talks more about it.  But I get the impression we might see Brooke on TV before we see her in Portage des Sioux.
• Christina, as expected, made the final two on “Hell’s Kitchen,” competing against (not expected) Petrozza. I got an Evite to a finale party she’s throwing here ($50 per person complete with a re-creating of her finale menu) but I can’t make it because July 8 is the day I’m heading for LA for summer press tour. I’ll make every effort to blog the finale that night, though, and somebody here will catch up with Christina afterward.
• In one of the most bizarre scenes ever in “The Bachelor” or “Bachelorette,” DeAnna tearfully eliminated Graham after saying HE was the one she’d been falling in love with and now she didn’t know if she’d find true love. A friend of mine thinks he really wanted to tell her “I’m just not that into you.” I think maybe his emotional unavailability was why she thought she loved him. In any case — what if rule-breaker DeAnna asked ABC to bring him back and give her another chance? That would be interesting, although I still think she’d be way better off with Jason or Jeremy.
• What am I leaving out? Oh, self-taught dog groomer Artist won Animal Planet’s “Groomer Has It,” a show I was probably the only one watching, although I enjoyed it a lot. In a touching finale, Artist — who desperately needed the prize money and fancy mobile grooming van — dropped to one knee after he won, crying. His dog ran up and licked his face.

This summer, I’ve already scratched “So You Think You Can Dance” off my dance card.  Maybe I’ll rethink this when it gets down to the final six or so, but not with three hours a week in the early rounds.

Also a “no, thanks” to “Celebrity Circus” — despite the promise that tonight, Christopher Knight lights himself on fire. 

And last night, I opted out of “America’s Got Talent.”  Again, maybe at the end I’ll start watching — the ventriloquist guy from last season was really good — but it remains my opinion that America, in general, doesn’t have the talent it thinks it does.

Correspondent Garricks, however, weighs in that last night, “Neil Boyd, insurance salesman from Sikeston just OWNED ‘Nessun Dorma.’” And NBC was happy with the ratings; this from the Hollywood Reporter:

The premiere of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” got off to a strong start despite facing significantly increased competition this year.

“Got Talent” (12.8 million viewers, 3.6 preliminary adults 18 to 49 rating and a 10 share) was NBC’s best-rated non-sports show since the May finale of “The Office” and tied Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” as the highest-rated premiere this summer.
The reality series opened against heavy hitters “Hell’s Kitchen” (8.2 million, 3.9/11) and ABC’s deciding Game 6 of the NBA Finals (12.7 million, 5.2/14). “Kitchen” and “Got Talent” both took a ratings hit, with top-rated summer series “Kitchen” coming out ahead.

“Got Talent” was off 16% from last year and marked its lowest summer premiere yet, but nonetheless represents a change in the story for NBC. A special “Deal or No Deal” (8.7 million, 2.1/7) served as a lead-in.

Nevertheless, I feel more strongly than ever that Christina will be the last cook standing. She won the first challenge, cooking for 80 people who turned out to be pregnant women. Her prize was a shopping trip to Rodeo Drive (which was a little creepy, with Ramsey watching her model outfits — would he have done that with Petrozza, who lost by only two votes?) We did learn that Christina, while cute, is a fashion dork, with no idea how to dress herself.  And I had to agree with Jen that the clothes Christina brought back, chosen with the help of the boutique owner, weren’t that great; kind of skanky, actually.

The dinner service itself went comparatively well and was completed. Don’t you feel as if you’ve eaten that risotto over and over by now? And the dumb scallops with eggs on top (eww)? No wonder the cooks are getting better; the menu is monotonous. But I was amused by Jen’s inconsistency. Corey had it right when she said Jen acted differently when chef Ramsey was watching and when it would benefit her rather than the team.

And so, in the end, the evil and eternally egotistical Jen was sent home, a week too late. (Poor Bobby.) The final three are Christina, Corey and the surprisingly resilient Petrozza. (Even he’s surprised he’s still there, although he’s a fine if sloppy cook.)

There are three more episodes leading to the finale July 8. I’m assuming that next week, the final two emerge. Then the finale is split in half, with each of the two finalists creating and running a restaurant. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Petrozza in the final two because Corey has been so up and down, and so easily rattled.

The final clue that Christina lasts  to the end? The previews for next week set her up, showing her crying and Petrozza saying she should go home. That’s typical bait and switch, to throw us off our suspicions that she’s actually the winner, which means — she’s actually the winner?