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Fully inside Season 24.
Season 25 never runs on its own — Season 24 is airing for the whole of it, and Season 26 joins in for its own back half. It's the most fully nested single season in this stretch, contained rather than sprawling.
A rhythm worth tracking.
Thirteen episodes run from August into December 2015, airing entirely within Season 24's own window and overlapping most of Season 26's short run alongside it. The format doesn't register the crowding: the locked basket, three-round elimination, and Ted Allen's hosting all play out exactly as designed. It's the most fully nested season of the stretch — contained, rather than sprawling across a long calendar of its own.
The #27 slot.
Slot #27 of 36 in the Chopped Editor's Canon. Season 25 never runs on its own. Season 24 is airing for the entirety of its run, start to finish, and Season 26 joins in for the back half on top of that. That's total containment inside one season plus a real second overlap — worse than Season 23's single-plus-partial tangle, but still short of the four-season pileups that define this stretch's worst entries. The format itself is untouched by any of it: the locked basket, three-round structure, and Ted Allen's hosting all run exactly as they have since Season 4 fixed the rules. What keeps this season from ranking any higher is simple — a viewer can't watch it without two other seasons also technically airing.
4 moments, no spoilers.
- Every episode · never running alone
Season 25 airs entirely within Season 24's own window, with Season 26 joining in for the back half too. Watch it as the most fully contained overlap this stretch produces.
- Basket reveal · the standard rule, unbothered
The four-ingredient basket holds exactly as it has since Season 4, whatever else is sharing the release calendar. Watch the reveal for that same steady constraint.
- Judges' table · sharp, nested or not
The rotating panel's critique runs at full strength even nested inside two other seasons' windows. Watch the judges argue with the same specificity as any standalone run.
- Season close · December 2015
Season 25 closes out in early December 2015, just as Season 26 wraps alongside it. Watch this run as a contained, fully nested entry rather than a sprawling one.