Today's Entertainment

Thanksgiving dinner at Plimoth Plantation, ballpark eats at Fenway Park and bar comestibles at "Cheers." It's little wonder, then, why host Padma Lakshmi calls Season 12 of "Top Chef " "the most American of seasons." The new season of the Bravo culinary competition series, which opens Wednesday, Oct. 15, touches down in Boston as chef 'testants battle it out at various locales in and around the city under the watchful eyes of returning judges Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons and Hugh Acheson and recurring judge Richard Blais. A highlight of the season for Lakshmi was a challenge in which the chefs had to create an authentic Thanksgiving dinner using only ingredients and equipment that were available at the first celebration in 1621. "We wanted to stay as true as possible to the experience of the pilgrims," Lakshmi explains. "We wanted to replicate that for our chefs, so they wound up spending the night there. They had nuts, they had cranberries. They had certain things like salt ... . They did have squash, they had pumpkin seeds, they had lobster, they had rabbit, they had zucchini, they had corn. They had all of the things that would traditionally grow there at that time. "We helped them out a little bit but really they had to build their own fires, they had to tend to them, they had to regulate the heat on those fires ... . They were stripped of any modern convenience or any exotic ingredients that weren't typically indigenous to that part of the world or could have been brought from England. ... And we did have a lot of historians on hand to help us with that." The result, Lakshmi says, was food she couldn't stop eating – not unlike a modern Thanksgiving. "It was different, it was fresh, it was flavorful, it had a lot of savoriness," she says. "And left to their bare-bones equipment and ingredients, I think the chefs really dug deep and found their inner voice, their inner identity as chefs." 'Top Chef' heads to Boston for wicked good eats in Season 12 What are you currently reading? "I am currently reading, again, 'A Moveable Feast' by Ernest Hemingway. It was on my bookshelf and I just felt like reading something by Hemingway and it was staring me in the face. So I thought this was a good short book for me to devour again. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about Paris so it seemed like a nice book to read." What is your next project? "My next project is to finish this book I'm writing (laughs) but I don't want to talk about it until it's written." When was the last vacation you took – where and why? "I took a vacation in July to Mexico with my 4-year-old daughter and my parents as a present to my mother, who turned 70 this year." Padma Lakshmi BY GEORGE DICKIE BEST TV SITCOM MARRIAGES Lucy and Ricky Ricardo ("I Love Lucy," CBS, 1951-57) Lucy's endless schemes to insinuate her way into husband Ricky's show-business world may have frustrated him frequently – leaving her with "some splainin' to do" – but in the end, he was virtually always bemused. Rob and Laura Petrie ("The Dick Van Dyke Show," CBS, 1961-66) At the time, the union of comedy writer Rob and capri-wearing wife Laura was one of the most modern depictions of marriage yet. Mike and Carol Brady ("The Brady Bunch," ABC, 1969-74) The squeaky-clean marriage of the Bradys also gave many viewers – adults and children alike – role models to look to. Bob and Emily Hartley ("The Bob Newhart Show," CBS, 1972-78) This Chicago psychologist and schoolteacher had a witty marriage of equals. Cliff and Clair Huxtable ("The Cosby Show," NBC, 1984-92) Lessons were learned constantly in the Huxtable household, between the heads of it as well as among the youngsters. Al and Peg Bundy ("Married ... With Children," Fox, 1987-97) One of its network's founding shows offered one of the spiciest TV couples yet featured. Roseanne and Dan Conner ("Roseanne," ABC, 1988-97) The very definition of a blue-collar marriage, this couple saw each other through matters ranging from finances to health. Paul and Jamie Buchman ("Mad About You," NBC, 1992-99) So authentic-feeling was this New York couple's marriage, the possibility they might break up toward the end of the show's run was devastating for fans. Ray and Debra Barone ("Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 1996-2005) Another reality-grounded TV marriage, this union was a perfect blend of a worrier and a realist. Claire and Phil Dunphy, and Gloria and Jay Pritchett ("Modern Family," ABC, 2009-present) Both of these couples have been so much parts of the fiber of this show from the start, it's hard to think of one without the other. BY JAY BOBBIN "Modern Family" "The Bob Newhart Show" "The Dick Van Dyke Show" 8 The Goshen News • TV Spotlight • October 13 - 19, 2014

• Cover