PASADENA, Calif. — Chef Christopher Galarza, founder of Verona-based Forward Dining Solutions, is quick to point out one of the key benefits of a fully electric kitchen in PBS’s latest “NOVA” episode, “Chasing Carbon Zero” (9 p.m. April 26, WQED-TV): These kitchens are much cooler than a gas-powered kitchen with an open flame.

“Chasing Carbon Zero” explores the technological innovations that could get society to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Reporter/producer/director Miles O’Brien interviewed Galarza at Chatham University’s Eden Hall campus last fall in a kitchen the chef designed and opened in 2016.

“We did a study where the [outdoor] temperature was between 85 and 90 [for a] whole week and the kitchen never hit 74 degrees,” Galarza told me prior to a “NOVA” press conference during January’s Television Critics Association winter 2023 press tour. “So we went from 130 degrees [in a gas kitchen on a similarly hot summer day] to 70. That’s when the scales came down and I was like, ‘There’s a better way.’”

Galarza sees that better way in an electric induction cooktop. He says fights over moving away from gas today echo fights in the early 1900s over moving from coal- and wood-fired kitchens to gas.

“For thousands of years, we cooked on coal and wood. If folks are really worried about traditionalism, why are we cooking on gas?” Galarza noted. “Cooking has everything to do with technique and fundamentals and has nothing to do with your fuel source.”

Induction cooktops also cook faster and clean up faster, Galarza said, allowing commercial kitchens to work more efficiently, reducing per hour labor costs.

“We are at a moment now in our history where we’ve talked a lot about what the problems are,” he said. “This is capitalism finding a solution. … We just have to implement it.”

CMU’s ‘Idol’ eliminated

Carnegie Mellon University freshman Tripp Taylor, who made it to Hollywood Week on ABC’s “American Idol” and hasn’t really been seen much since, did not make the Top 26.

“The judges liked all of my performances,” Taylor said via email. “Their ultimate decision for cutting me was that I had less experience, but I’m extremely happy with how far I got, and maybe I’ll get another shot in the future!”

‘Mrs. Davis’

“Poker Face” became a hit for streaming service Peacock because despite the high-gloss cinematic look, big-name guest stars and light serialization, at heart “Poker Face” is a gussied-up old format: “Columbo” by another name.

Peacock’s latest, “Mrs. Davis,” is anything but familiar. A true original that’s completely strange, “Mrs. Davis” is a breath of fresh air in a reboot-happy medium.

Now streaming, “Mrs. Davis” comes from writers Damon Lindelof (“Watchmen,” “Lost”) and Tara Hernandez (“Young Sheldon”). The show’s stated premise is that Simone (Betty Gilpin, excellent as always), a present-day nun, squares off against an artificial intelligence called Mrs. Davis. But that’s a gross simplification of the story in this eight-episode limited series that premieres with four episodes this week followed by weekly releases on Thursdays.

Early episodes are overly-long with occasional dull stretches, but once “Mrs. Davis” starts showing its cards in episode four and especially five, the show becomes a hoot. (Episode four ends with Simone exclaiming, “What the f—-!,” which may also be the response of some viewers.)

Plot points include a secret society, the Holy Grail, modern advertising, vaccines, faith and a whale. Saying this in no way gives anything away because you’d never be able to guess how they all connect — “Mrs. Davis” is just that gonzo.

“Mrs. Davis” conjures the weirdness of AMC’s “Dispatches from Elsewhere,” albeit less twee. “Mrs. Davis” ultimately proves more satisfying than “Dispatches” as it starts to make more sense. It’s funnier, less self-serious and offers emotional and relationship payoffs.

As for that logline – nun fights A.I. – it largely takes a backseat for much of the show’s running time. Destroying Mrs. Davis is Simone’s stated goal throughout, but there are a lot of hoops Simone jumps through to even begin to pull together a cogent plan. The series largely waves a hand in the general direction of the potential dangers of A.I. more than it gets into nitty-gritty details.

But for fans of weird, out-there TV series (think: “Max Headroom,” “Twin Peaks,” “Legion,” “Mr. Robot,” “Severance”) and viewers who complain vociferously about a lack of original ideas to come out of Hollywood, “Mrs. Davis” is a bonkers series worth watching.

‘Star Trek: Picard’

Darn you, “Star Trek: Picard” season three showrunner, Terry Matalas, you’ve made me tear up watching “Star Trek,” something that hasn’t happened in decades, probably since the end of “Deep Space Nine” in 1999.

From the return of Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) to the reappearance of a famous starship, “Star Trek: Picard” offered a worthy final (?) adventure for the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” crew through creative storytelling, nods to “Treks” past and, yes, fan service but in a way that felt earned. It didn’t pander.

After two lackluster seasons of “Picard,” this last entry – with the finale now available on Paramount+ — is easily the best “Trek” of the streaming era. Give Matalas the keys to the “Trek” kingdom. He’s worthy.

Kept/spun off

Hulu renewed “Reasonable Doubt” for a second season.

ABC renewed “The Rookie” for a sixth season and “Will Trent” for a second.

That long-gestating “Star Trek: Section 31” series, a spin-off of “Star Trek: Discovery” starring Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh as Emperor Philippa Georgiou, will now be a movie for Paramount+.

Peacock ordered “Love Island Games,” a spin-off of “Love Island.”

Channel surfing

Harry Styles and Will Ferrell will be the final guests on the last episode of CBS’s “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (12:37 a.m. April 28, KDKA-TV). … As expected, the WGA membership authorized a strike if the guild representing TV/film writers fails to reach a new agreement with Hollywood studios. The current contract ends May 1. … Amazon’s Prime Video added a “dialogue boost” feature to some of its original series (“Jack Ryan,” “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) that uses A.I. to boost dialogue volume while not increasing the sound of background music and sound effects. … Netflix will shutter its DVD-by-mail business in September.

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