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A tournament opens the new year.
Season 36 folds a five-episode tournament right into its opening stretch, then stretches the rest of its run out with a wide gap before the finale. It also shares nearly three months of calendar with Season 35 on the way in.
A rhythm worth tracking.
Thirteen episodes open with one standard hour, then a five-part Gold Medal Games tournament runs through January, before the season settles into regular episodes with a wide gap ahead of its June finale. Season 36 premieres while Season 35 still has nearly three months left on air, overlapping its predecessor's tail. The locked basket, three-round structure, and Ted Allen's hosting hold steady across both the tournament stretch and the standard hours around it.
The #08 slot.
Slot #08 of 36 in the Chopped Editor's Canon. Season 36 closes out this stretch's run of successful tournament swings, and it's a solid entry in that company — a themed, games-style block folded neatly into the season's front stretch, distinct enough from both the returning-champions and guest-architect ideas above it to earn its own place. What holds it just below Season 34 is the calendar: Season 36 premieres while Season 35 still has nearly three months left to air, tangling with the deepest, most entangled season this canon has ranked. The tournament itself works fine, and the format's core mechanics — the locked basket, the three rounds, Ted Allen's hosting — never waver. It's the overlap, not the swing, that costs this one a notch.
5 moments, no spoilers.
- Episode 1 · the standard opener
Season 36 opens with one ordinary hour before the tournament stretch begins. Watch it as the format's usual baseline, set just ahead of a real structural swing.
- Gold Medal Games · a five-part January run
A themed tournament block runs weekly through January, folding a games-style concept into the standard elimination structure. Watch how the format bends around the theme without losing its closed-door core.
- The spring gap · a long pause before the finale
After the tournament and a handful of regular episodes, Season 36 goes quiet for close to two months before its June finale. Watch the season's pacing stretch out unusually wide.
- Every episode · overlapping Season 35
Season 36 premieres while Season 35 still has nearly three months left to air. Watch this run open directly into an already-crowded calendar.
- Season close · June 2018
Season 36 closes out in early June 2018, nearly six months after it began. Watch this run as a season that opens with a swing and ends on a long, quiet stretch.