Today's Evil Beet Gossip

Someone Gave Padma Lakshmi the Unfortunate Idea That She Can Act

padmalakshmi

Padma Lakshmi, the frozen, stilted, emotionless host of Top Chef, is getting a sitcom on NBC. No, I’m not kidding. It was in Variety.

Lakshmi has sealed a development deal with the Peacock and sister Universal Media Studios, which plans to create a half-hour comedy for her. Original Media, which is based at Universal, is also involved; Original’s Charlie Corwin will exec produce.

Building on her “Top Chef” credentials, the show will star Lakshmi as a woman working in the culinary world. (One possible title being mulled: “Single Serving.”)

Corwin and Lakshmi are currently talking to writers and kicking around specifics.

Is anyone else completely bowled over by this news? Like, with all the genuinely talented comediennes out there who act natural on camera, a major network is giving a sitcom to this woman? Don’t get me wrong, she seems like a perfectly nice lady, but every time I see her on Top Chef I cringe a little bit. Her robotic gestures, her forced smile, her over-enunciation of every single word? I mean, it’s funny, but not in an intentional way.

Hollywood is so weird.

17 CommentsLeave a comment

  • So last week I was flipping channels on HBO and there was Padma on a movie, “acting.” I can’t STAND her voice but I giggled a little and paused on the channel. Then I saw Mariah Carey.

    So I hit “info” and it was … GLITTER! I checked imdb and Padma plays a truly awesome character called “Sylk.”

    Well, if she has Glitter on her resume, she MUST be a great actor.

  • well, in all fairness, getting a sitcom on nbc hasn’t done anything for anybody’s acting career since friends.

  • I think I’m going to start following her when she goes out for a meal just so I can watch her eat.

  • Well this is NBC… and lord knows they like to pay for the incredibly bad and cancel the good.

    It is a pure miracle that “Chuck” is even getting its 3 season. And the show runners had to cut cut cut the budget to get that 3 season.

    Yet I bet NBC threw an obscene amount of cash at this lack of true talent, “chef”.

    I don’t get why NBC just doesn’t take that cash out back and set fire to it in the dumpster. At least they would get a interesting write up in the local paper if they did. Which would be the first good write up they would have had in 5 years. haha!

  • Lakshmi is “frozen, stilted, emotionless…” and pronounces words as though she has peanut butter stuck to the roof of her mouth! i hate the way she speaks! like Gail, i can’t stand her voice either. if she’s onscreen, i mute and change the channel. hear that, NBC?

  • oh noes! i assumed they KNEW she was terrible but nice to look at so they kept shoving her in there. but even worse than her, than new kelly choi on the top chef masters. can we at least get nice to look at?

  • that is NO way to eat ribs.. sheesh if you’re going to eat with your hands, then get a little bit dirty! that’s why that picture looks so fake and posed.

  • I love her, she is gorgeous, but her acting skills leave a bit to be desired.

    I watched her on an episode of Enterprise, and of course she had to showcase those lovely long legs of hers. and of course she had a love scene as well.

    So yes, I will watch her, but for the same reason I watched Charmed after a while… Hot chicks, well dressed, showing loads of skin.

  • She looks like a porn star enjoying some catered food during a break in production. What is the message this stupid pic is supposed impart. Her only talent is being able to look vacuous while sucking the meat off a rib bone?

  • She is the least animated person I have ever seen on tv. Her voice sounds as if her batteries will run out any second. Truly she sounds and appears at times as if she will just fall over.

    She is, however, extremely photogentic, and that’s got to be the number one reason she gets jobs, period. Work it, Padma.

  • Finally, some people who think the same way as me! Padma is the most boring, nasally, annoying person on TV. I love Top Chef but every season I pray for a new host. Her voice is lifeless, slow and beyond boring. If you put a sack over her face and heard her voice you would never hire her. Please Top Chef hire someone more interesting.

  • Totally agree. I am an Indian and I think she has a disgusting accent that is put-on. She comes from a family of vegetarians and is again putting on an act like she enjoys meat. I bet she does not.

  • Padma is the worst tv personality ever…I’m surprised that the people from Bravo don’t see how bland and boring and fake she is…she looks plastic and mean…and who said she has a good palette…errr…she makes me want to not watch that show….I really can’t stand her…

  • So happy to know that this sitcom never came to life. Padma is SO fake, she’s almost as bad as Katie Joel. Top Chef really needs a better host. She’s awful.

  • I couldn’t agree more. She is one of the reasons that “Top Chef” has become nearly unwatchable. The judges are all so smug (except for Gail) Who is the new douchebag with the stupid white frames? He’s supposed to be another “celebrity” chef? Blech. I don’t think that I can watch this season. They seek out the most annoying, needy, unlikable contestants, each one with some “broken” back story, and they all cook for their grandmothers, who were all the very best cooks in the world, ever. Sheesh. I wish someone would just say, one time, “yeah, this dish is for my grandma, who really was a pretty bad cook. I loved her though.”