Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Tuesday, March 4th, 2025

I spent State Of The Union night watching "Chopped" in a restaurant.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, March 4th, 2025:

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
Generally when I make a mistake, it's a dumb one. I wanted to apologize to The Ankler's Lesley Goldberg for misspelling her first name. If she ever needs to mention me in a story, she has my permission to call me "Rich Ellis."

I SPENT STATE OF THE UNION NIGHT WATCHING 'CHOPPED' IN A RESTAURANT
Even in the best of circumstances, I'm not a big fan of watching the State of the Union address. I am a big political junkie, but the speech always feels so performative and pointless. And to be honest, this year I just wasn't in the mood. I assumed it was going to be contentious and annoying and I need a bit of a mental palate cleanse right now.

So I spent the evening with my wife and son dining at a Chopped watch party.

Chef Soleil Ramirez came to the U.S. in 2016 as a political refugee from Venezuela with just $300 to her name. After working at various restaurants around the Twin Cities, she opened up the Venezuelan street food diner Arepa Bar. And in August 2023, she opened Crasqui Restaurant in St. Paul.

She recently appeared on an episode of the long-running Food Network series Chopped and the restaurant had a watch party for friends, family and other interested diners on Tuesday evening, when the episode premiered.

Chef Soleil came out and said a few words before the episode began, noting that she recognized a lot of familiar faces. "And that means I have some regulars after only being open 18 months."

We decided to sample the happy hour menu and it was uniformly excellent. My wife and son are gluten-free and there were plenty of options. And the drinks were perfectly balanced with just enough liquor to provide that gentle warm feeling we were looking for.

We had deep fried Yuca sticks with cilantro aioli, a chicken arepa, Papas Bravas (Russet potatoes with sweet paprika and garlic aioli) and I tried the Fosforera, which is Shrimp bisque, with white fish, mussels, calamari and shrimp. We also split an order of plantains off of the appetizer list.

It's a small restaurant, I'm guessing maybe 40 seats. But the staff was attentive and helpful, even though the chef admitted they were a bit short-staffed and in one case, it was someone's first day on the job.

It was a memorable experience watching an episode of Chopped with a crowd. There was some good-natured booing, a few rounds of applause and a combination of moans and clapping when she lost in the final round.

The one bittersweet note was that in the episode, Chef Soleil mentioned that because she was a political refugee, she cannot return to Venezuela and she was hoping to win the $10,000 so she could pay for lawyers to help get her mother to America. She hadn't seen her mom since she left that country and aside from the fact that she didn't win the money, all I could think about was how much more difficult that task is going to be under the current Administration.

But on a much happier note, eating at Crasqui was just a delightful experience and every moment of the evening was first rate. We'll definitely be back, perhaps at brunch so I can sample the Isla De Margarita, which is a fish and coconut stew.

ODDS AND SODS
* It's not for everyone, but if you miss the over-the-top antics of Psych in its prime, you should check out the quirky Japanese legal drama Inheritance Detective, which has new episodes dropping every Saturday on Netflix. You can read my review here.

* Speaking of reviews, I didn't receive screeners for the new Disney+ reboot/continuation of Daredevil, but I'll try and get it watched and review it in the next day or so.

* Kristin Cavallari is back on reality TV with Honestly Cavallari: The Headline Tour, which will premiere on E!.

* Status broke the news earlier today that ABC News plans to lay off about 500 people at the ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks units. The Wall Street Journal notes that is about just under 6 percent of the staff. And those people being laid off include the political and data-driven news site 538, which had about 15 employees.

* CBS has canceled its two FBI spinoffs. FBI: Most Wanted will be ending after six seasons, and FBI: International is wrapping up after four seasons.

* "An urgent phone call comes in to the bullet train general control center. The caller says that a bomb has been planted on the Hayabusa No. 60 bullet train heading toward Tokyo, and that it will explode as soon as its speed goes below 100 kilometers per hour. The criminal demands 100 billion yen in exchange for deactivating the bomb, forcing the railway workers into a desperate race against time as they struggle to prevent an explosion." Bullet Train Explosion premieres Wednesday, April 23rd on Netflix and here is the first look video.

* MSNBC has hired The Washington Post’s Jackie Alemany as a Washington correspondent and co-host of The Weekend. Alemany, who made the announcement this morning on Morning Joe, will be joining Jonathan Capehart and Eugene Daniels on the weekend show.

* ESPN has canceled Around the Horn after 25 years. The game-style panel show hosted by Tony Reali will air its final episode air on Friday, May 23rd.

TWEET OF THE DAY

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

TUESDAY, MARCH 4TH:
Andrew Schulz: Life (Netflix)
Body Cam: On The Scene Season Premiere (Investigation Discovery)
Daredevil: Born Again Series Premiere (Disney+)
Denise Richards And Her Wild Things Series Premiere (Bravo)
Jay & Pamela Series Premiere (TLC)
Lost Boys & Fairies Series Premiere (Britbox)
Sin City Gigolo: A Murder In Las Vegas (Paramount+)
With Love, Meghan (Netflix)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5TH:
Just One Look (Netflix)
Medusa Series Premiere (Netflix)
The Amazing Race Season Premiere (CBS)
The Leopard (Netflix)

SEE YOU ON WEDNESDAY!