Top Chef Season Eight premieres tonight with a cast of all-stars (contestants from previous seasons who didn't take the title) and it sounds like we may be in for a treat. It really won't take much for this season to outshine Top Chef: Washington, D.C. -- likely the worst season of the show -- but this season seems to have a few good things going for it.

For one, a lot of favorite past contestants are back. I'm looking

forward to watching Spike Mendelsohn, Richard Blais (season four) and

Dale Levitski (season three) again. And Anthony Bourdain will surely

make a good addition to the judge's table. As long as the challenges are

interesting, it has to be good.

The show's remaining cast

includes: Stephen Asprinio and Tiffani Faison (season one); Elia

Aboumrad and Marcel Vigneron (season two); Casey Thompson and Tre Wilcox

(season three); Antonia Lofaso and Dale Talde (season four); Jamie

Lauren, Carla Hall and Fabio Viviani (season five); Jennifer Carroll and

Mike Isabella (season six); and Tiffani Derry and Angelo Sosa (season

seven).

Who will be the first to go?

Top Chef All-Stars premieres on Wednesday, December 1 at 10 p.m. on Bravo.

• Film and TV