TV TONIGHT
It’s a tale as old as time: Purveyor of West Coast rap meets purveyor of Egyptian cotton sheets. Sparks fly, and TV network execs see dollar signs. That’s the beauty of Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner
Party, returning tonight with two new episodes. The series starring Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg got big buzz when it debuted in November. There were so many questions: What could these two have in common? Will Martha drop it like it’s hot? And will they be pulling weeds or smoking it? The result has been a pop culture mash-up that’s both quirky and entertaining, if sometimes predictable. In each episode, the two prepare food in their own styles, with the help of celebrity guests who join them for a dinner party at the end. There are plenty of pot jokes, and jokes delivered while stirring pots. The two seem genuinely intrigued by each other’s backgrounds, and have a sense of humour about themselves. Even the set celebrates their oddcouple charm. You have Stewart’s French vanilla kitchen on the right and Snoop’s blinged-out kitchen on the left. (One high point: His fridge glows green every time someone opens it.) It’s educational, too. So far, we’ve learned that Stewart gives her turkeys vodka before she slaughters them, that she’s been struck by lightning multiple times and that Snoop cooks a mean fried chicken with a potato-chip crust. Fans of the unlikely pairing know that the highest-rated episode of Stewart’s now-defunct talk show
Martha came when she and Snoop baked special Christmas brownies together in 2009. The next year, Snoop tweeted Stewart for help planning Prince William’s bachelor party, and in 2014 he cited her as the inspiration for a limitededition candle he sold with his family. The gods of fate intervened again in 2015 during the Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber, which sat the entrepreneurs beside each other. And last year, they competed together on ABC’s reboot of $100,000 Pyramid.
Season 1 of Martha & Snoop’s
Potluck Dinner Party has proven such a hit with fans that U.S. broadcaster VH1 has already ordered a second go-round. In the first of tonight’s new episodes, the pair make sushi — the special guests are comedians Kathy Griffin and Mike Epps, and Japanese chefs Abe Hiroki and Masaharu Morimoto of Iron Chef. D.R.A.M. is the musical guest. (Gusto)