Intuition

What a bunch of saps that network is. There have only been a few times in my life when I've felt as demoralized. One was when JFK was shot, the next was on Sept. 11, 2001. And now this. Seriously. I feel like the world is going to hell in a handbasket and this is just more proof. When Lenny told Bobby he hoped he'd live up to everything they want from him, I thought to myself, "He already hasn't". I dunno, I have a bad feeling about this. Something is just not right about this. The YouTube video wasn't even the worst of it - The chat board posts are still up.

He seems to be a divisive character, meaning that people have strong feelings about him pro and con. From what I have read of his history on the Ron and Fez chat board, he seems to have torn his shirt over there a while back (I don't know how specifically) and has not posted since 2012, save for one post this year where he asks anyone if they're watching FNS. No one responded! He still posts on an offshoot of the R&F chat board (which I posted here) where more people are his friends but there are still a few on that board who admit openly to disliking him or having bad correspondence with him. So my new theory is perhaps some of those haters found him and were posting crap on his page, so he shut it down to remove the posts and block them. At any rate, I still can't fathom why the FN would want anything to do with someone who inspires such love/hate. I know there were legions of people who hated Rachael Ray and there was even a board up called "RR Sucks" (which is still there but under a different name), but Lenny so far seems like he could cause more trouble than just a chat board for people to vent about him.

I searched for it myself the day you posted on not finding one under both Leonard and Lenny and couldn't find it either. It should have come up in the search on Facebook under either one (i.e., searching for Lenny would bring up Leonard too). Suddenly it is coming up under both names. Maybe he had it hidden from the search for a while for some reason? I don't get it.

He does here: https://www.facebook.com/leonard.mcnab.7?fref=nf Also, his brother has a fan page up for him.....Seems pretty confident Lenny is the winner....hmmmm: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cheflenny/ He says on one post: "How does it feel to know the next Food Network Star?". When someone asked him if he was for real or just predicting, he said "Shhhh.....It's supposed to be a secret". I don't know if I believe that he would reveal it beforehand, or that he would even know about it, though. Given this bunch, anything's possible, though. I did like the behind the scenes photos posted by Lenny, though. I liked seeing "Butcher Babe" looking like a normal person.

LOL! I guess I'm wrong then....<snerk> A research staff associate at Harvard Business School and he can't be bothered to proof his facts before he publishes. I guess that's today's arrogance for you. I check my facts before posting to this freaking BOARD never mind what I would do for an article! Yes. Probably. Speaking of that, have you seen Adam Richman lately since he stopped doing "Man vs. Food"? He's lost a significant amount of weight. I think it would be better for Guy (and us) if we saw less of him in more ways than one.

Yeah, I noticed those things too when I read the article, chessigal, and I agree it irks me. Lately Salon and several other online opinion article sites have been irking me with stuff written by people who have not checked out their "facts". I don't want to find too much fault with this one as I agree with the author's opinion, but those factors take away from its impact for sure. My own beef is that while the Cooking Channel is supposed to take up FN's slack on the real cooking shows, it has kind of been a disappointment for me. First of all, in my area we don't get it in HD (and with my TV that's an issue), and secondly, the shows themselves have left me uninspired. I think if it were a better channel people who like real cooking shows wouldn't necessarily have as much beef with FN. I get my own cooking program fix from PBS and pretty much always have. I started out as a kid over 50 years ago watching Julia Child with my mom (yes, from the 1st show!), and I'm unlikely to change any time soon!

LOL, @cooksdelight, I tried it on a ribeye 2 nights ago and it was fantastic!

You found that on the FN Facebook page? Wow, now everyone's getting into the act! Him on the toilet was bad enough, but even more disturbing for me was the vid. of him waving around a T shirt he had made of the photo of him and Fez of the Ron and Fez show that was taken when they met. That is obviously an example of some of the "stalker-ish" behavior that creeped out Fez. I think Lenny thinks he's funny, but he's just too far gone for most sane people to find funny. To this day Fez will not speak to him nor does he believe any of Lenny's ridiculous excuses for his behavior (like that there were "impostors" doing it, or that he was just a "devoted fan", or that it was all part of a "routine")....Yah, right, sher........ Thanks, I actually almost went into law enforcement a long time ago....Long story! ETA: On some of those videos I got an earful of Lenny's 'real' accent - Very Northeastern New Englandy. Pretty much the same accent as where I live now and nothing like his phony "cowboy" accent.

As I am the only person I know of who found that particular vile example (I didn't find it posted on the FNS blog or Facebook) It could be that I'm better at it than their so-called expert background checkers. Seriously. I have been known to find out some pretty obscure info. on people in the past, some of which has not been too flattering. An old HS friend I got back in touch with on Facebook sent me a link to a song he wrote on a music sharing site. I noticed his account had a very uncommon screen name - a combination of letters and numbers. Seeing how rare it was (and being suspicious about this guy because he was giving me the creeps), I googled the screen name and found it on a few innocuous music chat boards, but also on a short story site, which turned out to be pornographic. Of course, curiosity got the better of me so I joined the site and started reading his stories. Afterward, I wished I had not. They were about as disgusting and immoral as I've ever seen, and I'm no rube. Stuff involving underage kids and their humiliation. After throwing up, let's just say I "fell out of touch" with this guy after that! I found those particular Lenny posts through googling on several combinations of his name, "chuckwagon", Ron and Fez, amongst other things. Lesson learned: If you're going to be an a-hole, don't use the same obscure screen name on every site! ETA: BTW, I knew those stories were in fact written by the HS friend because he set them in places and with people's names that were straight out of his own life! So there was no coincidence about the screen name - It's similar with Lenny - He gives his identity away on the board.

FN may have one over on all of us if they just hired Lenny to play a role for FNS but never to be the winner, and he may may be in on it too. I just can't believe that he and the network would be that stupid as to think those online comments would not be found out and a deal breaker for winning the show. If he was never hired to be the winner but just a "sideshow Bob", it at least would make some sense. Otherwise, it's just ridiculous. Then again Lenny himself might just be that crazy and FN that dumb! BTW, I never believed FN could possibly be serious about Rodney Pie Style either. He was delusional and not for real either in many ways. Then again, as I've lost all faith that FN has any sense, I could be wrong about that!

Too little too late! And how is he going to clean up those board posts which are part of a public chat board? Is he going to go in and delete every post he's made since 2009? It's obvious it's him in the posts. He posts photos of himself and refers to his Food Network appearances! What a total a-hole. He may think he can cover up his foul-ness but there will always be more he can't hide, and if he does become a star with the network those things can come back to haunt him. I firmly believe that what I have found so far is only the tip of the iceberg with him.

I've had all those thoughts myself. My fall back belief is that they know they can't go with Lenny but put him in the voting just to make trouble and get attention directed at the show and the other finalists. A good scandal probably improves their ratings so they may actually know about but not give a crap about Lenny's antics. If I really want to create conspiracy theories I might even think they had something to do with the video, etc. leaking out right there on the FNS blogs. In the end, though, I would think Lenny's controversial language on the boards would bring them too much trouble if they actually picked him for the winner, and they know that by now, so my theory is still that they won't actually let him win. Again, just shoot me if they do! I also wonder if Lenny himself had crafted his own image so well that FN bought it hook line and sinker and were fooled by his earnest act and only just found out about the video and the board posts just like we have. You never know, there may be a lot of scrambling going on over at the network about him right now!

mlp - I sent a link to FN of that board page as soon as I found it.

I don't know if I agree with you, I have seen a ton of comments online from people who think Lenny is too much of a caricature and not authentic enough for them even without seeing the video. I agree with you about FN needing to protect their brand against any potential situation re: Lenny's antics, but I personally don't think they made him take down the video. I think his online friends did that as in my response above. So I have to wonder what FN has known about it until now and how well they're protecting their brand. I personally think that Lenny would likely bring them more trouble than he would ever be worth to them if they made him a part of the network (and I have written to them to tell them that and why), but hey, what do I know? I'm only the crazy prophet crying out in the wilderness (who has so far been right but fully expects to be ignored).

I think it's speculation - I thought Lenny's chat board buddies must have tipped him off about the video being posted on FB and the comments section of the FNS blog posts. I saw them posting to each other on their "Ron and Fez" chat board the day before the video was removed. They were commenting on how the video was being posted all over the place. One person commented that it was Lenny's own fault it was still online and that he should take it down. The very next morning it was deleted.

That's interesting yourpointis - I had heard those things a while ago, but I still think Guy has more sense than to post this "dirty laundry" online himself for everyone to see. Most of that is second hand information and hearsay, not coming from his mouth. Lenny seems to get off on being what he thinks is a "shock jock". Too bad it only makes him look like a sicko and a weirdo. Even after all of the above, I'd still classify Guy as a douchy idiot like I always did, but he still doesn't give me the creeps like Lenny does.

LOLOL, Aquarius, you have me dying here at the keyboard!!! I agree, Lenny does make delusional Rodney look "quaint" by comparison!! And to think last year we thought this show couldn't get any worse.....

I understand your need to clarify, but just so you know, I didn't think you meant to say they were both nice guys just because you compared their treatment on the show - I realized that. I brought it up because I don't think the similarity in how they have been presented on the show is the only factor that counts as far as who gets the job. I think Lenny showing himself to be an a-hole when he's at home and not playing that role of "nice guy" is a relevant reason why FN should not want him to "represent their brand" given their track record of picking people who are relatively stable and nice IRL. As amazingly ridiculous as FN has gotten, I just can't see them getting that ridiculous. If Lenny wins and becomes a fixture at FN, just shoot me, it's all over, LOL. I don't know, I just can't believe FN didn't know about the "real" Lenny, although like I say, they have shown themselves to be amazingly dumb in the past like with JAG, etc., so who knows? Maybe when this series was filmed they were still clueless about Lenny. I don't see how it's possible that they don't know about it now, though. BTW, someone brought up how "Pie Style" was annoying and people didn't like him. A lot of people thought at the time that he was a poser playing a role and not for real either, but who knows, in spite of all that the guy may actually be very nice IRL! ETA: I know that some of the FN stars have said and done some really stupid things in their personal lives, but a lot of that happened after they were stars on the network, not before. Or like with Paula Deen, some of the stuff occurred before she was a star, but it was found out and revealed after she became a star. And it's a matter of degree, too. I think some stars have a reputation for being annoying or douches in one way or another, like Guy, but even so, he's not showing himself to be a scuzzball when the cameras aren't rolling. He seems to be a generally decent fellow who wouldn't be under suspicion of stalking, curse and spew vile names out on chat boards and videos on a regular basis!

Could be, but if they knew about Lenny's posts online beforehand they might have hired him just for laughs on this show but not as a real contestant just to throw everyone off and creat "buzz" for the other finalists. I have noticed my fair share of people voting for Luca or Nicole "by default" too after seeing that brisket video! One woman on Justin's blog post said she wrote FN to ask if she could take her votes for Lenny back!

Hah, you never know with FN! I don't know if I agree with you that they haven't dressed up Luca for the win given all they went through to bring him back from "Star Salvation". It just seems kinda contrived to me that they would have gone through all that if they weren't very serious about him. I think the difference for me between Lenny and Jeff Mauro is that Jeff is a genuinely nice guy. In fact, I think all the winners of this show so far have been generally decent people. I think Luca is a decent person....But not Lenny. So I don't know, I just can't see them giving the win to a guy as foul as that IRL (in real life)....And few people thought Damaris would win because "Pah Stahl" seemed to everyone to be the guy they were dressing up for the win. So again, we will just have to wait and see!

Here is more proof that the "real" Lenny has not changed since the "brisket" video - Here he is as "chuckwagon" on a Ron and Fez chat board earlier this year telling his online buddies that he will be on Food Network Star - Note in the first post he has blacked out the torrent of foul language, so you'll have to highlight it to see it: WARNING: Strong language ahead, not for the faint of heart! http://ronfezv4.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2247 ETA: OMG, I just noticed he used an "f" word (not the usual one) that is very insulting to gay people in his first post.....I just can't believe this guy is a serious contender with the Food Network. They are dumb but are they out of their minds???

I saw his online buddies talking yesterday on their chat board about how they discovered that the video was posted to the FN blogs and recaps and then suddenly it was gone today, so perhaps they tipped him off about it. I think it was kind of late for him to take it down given that there were only a few hours left of voting when it disappeared, so I have to wonder why he removed it so late. Perhaps he really didn't think about it until his friends tipped him off, hence the delayed removal. The only reason I noticed it is because I had shut down a tabbed session last night and restarted it this morning only to see that the video had been removed. I don't give him the benefit of the doubt about growing up. That was only 5 years ago when he was 37. He should have known better at that age, IMO. I think he is a good actor. It also occurred to me that last season when Rodney "Pie Style" was a finalist I thought for sure he was only put up there as a shill to the voters and that votes to him would not count because the producers had already picked the winner (Damaris). Given how many times I've seen analogies between Lenny and Rodney I have to wonder if he is a shill.

Actually, I read that both of their names are "Ron" and their show used to be called the "Ron and Ron" show, so one of them figured they'd change it to a nickname I guess, LOL. I voted for Lenny because I figured he had more of a chance of winning than Nicole, and I generally like him.

FYI, the offensive Lenny video was taken down this morning. The more I read from his mouth on the "Ron and Fez" chat board (as "chuckwagon") the more offensive he becomes. He has under his screen name "I'm a fat f*ck". Ugh, nice language for a guy marketing himself towards kids on the RR show. Other posts include him calling other posters "c*ck sucker" - Oh, probably "all in fun" but still....What a potty mouth! So crass! Back in 2009 he also accused Fez of the Ron and Fez radio show of making him look like a stalker and obsessive fan (from the evidence I saw and read about, Fez had a pretty strong case of stalking). Lenny also claims that someone who called into the radio show claiming to be him was not him. It sure sounded like him to me when I listened to the recording on YouTube, and from what I can see, despite his claims of innocence on the chat board, not everyone believed him. Lenny said he was just someone who wanted to "make an impact", not "want attention", whatever that means. Lenny thought Fez should apologize to him, but I don't see any evidence to indicate that Fez ever did and ever came around to believeing that Lenny was telling the truth. It also seems as though Lenny inspired either devotion or hatred on the chat board with some people putting him down and others believing him. Reference was also made about several threads popping up on the chat board by him, which he claims he did not start. I just think it's strange that a guy can claim so many things aren't his doing when it sure looks like they are....He'd have to have a long list of really demented haters to create all this stuff he says did not come from him but from "impostors". I dunno, the more I dig into this thing, the more I can't believe Food Network let this guy get this far. Just being under such suspicion alone should be a red flag. They must really be desperate for ratings!

I agree, SusannahTaylor3, I think Luca might take this thing. Then again the "cursing" YouTube video of Lenny was suddenly removed from his channel this morning. Not sure what that means, but take that for what it's worth. It either means Food Network made him take it down because he's going to be the winner and they want to cover it up, or they disapproved of it and it disqualified him from winning and made him take it down. I despise Lenny so I hope it's the latter. Unfortunately the way this whole thing is shaping up, I don't really hold out much hope for that. I know the voting is probably close between Luca and Lenny but given everything else said in this thread, it looks like Lenny's the shoo in. Maybe it means Luca was a part of the cruise whether he won or not, meaning he was signed up for it before anyone knew who the winner would be.