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The batch's deepest tangle.
Season 22 touches four other seasons on the release calendar, more than any other entry in this stretch. The format underneath never wavers, but a canon that rewards clean scheduling has to mark this as the busiest, most crowded run the show has aired.
A rhythm worth tracking.
Thirteen episodes run from October 2014 into June 2015, the longest and most tangled span in this stretch — overlapping the tail of Season 20, nearly all of Season 21, and both Season 23 and Season 24 at its far end. Nothing on screen changes: the locked basket, three rounds, and Ted Allen's hosting run exactly as designed. But four overlapping seasons is more than any other entry here can claim.
The #28 slot.
Slot #28 of 36 in the Chopped Editor's Canon. Season 22 is where this stretch's overlap problem peaks. It opens catching the tail of Season 20, runs alongside nearly the whole of Season 21, and stretches so long — nine months, into June 2015 — that it also overlaps both Season 23 and Season 24 at its far end. Four other seasons touched is more than any other entry in this run can claim, tied only by Season 24 further down the list. None of that changes what airs week to week: the locked basket, the three-round structure, and Ted Allen's hosting are exactly what they've always been. But a canon that rewards clean scheduling has to rank this busy a run near the bottom of the batch.
4 moments, no spoilers.
- Every episode · four seasons touched
Season 22 overlaps Season 20's tail, nearly all of Season 21, and both Season 23 and Season 24 at its far end. Watch it as the most tangled release schedule the format has aired.
- Basket reveal · unaffected by the crowding
The four-ingredient basket runs exactly as it has since Season 4, no matter how many other seasons share its release window. Watch the reveal for that same steady constraint.
- Judges' table · full strength, busiest stretch
The rotating panel's critique doesn't dilute just because the calendar is this crowded. Watch the judges argue with the same sharpness as any cleanly-scheduled season.
- Season close · June 2015
Season 22 closes out in late June 2015, nine months after it began. Watch this run as the longest single season of the entire overlap stretch.