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It was marketed around her. That doesn't mean she had a major say in things. This discussion brings up a good point about voice and tone of the show. While we may not truly know if she had a major say in production choices, the show changed the way the host spoke about everything going on. The entire script of the show was changed. As Cheyanne11 points out. Previously, Clinton would announce challenges using using this style of language (I think it's called imperative): "Each of you will have a different graduation theme... Create two special dessert items for..." That's the way it's been for years. 2nd person. We/You This season it's "I would like you to create a palette knife cake about MY farm." 1st person. Me/You If I'm a host and the writers are putting "me" and "I" words in my mouth, I sure as heck need approval of those words. I'm sure she had script approval. Even for meh influencers script approval is pretty standard for video work, even more so when it's 1st person. Seemingly little things like this actually make a huge impact. Especially over the course of 10+ hours of TV. Sticking with the old way probably wouldn't have solved all the issues this season had for sure, but it might've made it a little less bad. Like a percent or two less bad.

What a steaming pile that was. Congrats to Jaleesa. I guess? Ugh. This sucks. I did like HER. It sucks that a Black woman can’t just have a “clean win” on this show, that it’s now tainted by this BS. It’s not her fault she’s the chosen one. But now any presumed benefit she might have from winning is obscured by the favoritism. Whatever the reason behind it was. I wish I could say that she managed to pull it together at just the right times, but that’s not really true. You can tell she’s a good baker but she messed up a LOT. Too much for us not to notice. Other random stuff: - I wasn’t spoiled but I knew something was up when Romy was wearing a coconut shirt during his ITM interviews and a comic book shirt during the competition. - Dennis made an apple pie potsticker. Potstickers are not deep fried, Duff. (You can I guess but then it’s a deep fried potsticker. Not the same thing.) They are also not wontons, Nancy. Wonton wrapper yes, wonton, no. - Good for Romy. The timing of the family recipe challenge was emotionally manipulative. And then! To be followed up by a face-off with sprinkles. To someone like Romy that is stab and twist of the knife. I don’t blame him one bit. - Hey Molly maybe when delivering tough news, like say, about a contestants mental health/stress don’t smile and grin. Even if the content is lies.

I don’t hate Tom as much as you all do, but it was definitely his time to go home. His cake was baffling. first the decoration. People know you can blend food coloring colors right? You don’t have to use all the bright green all at once. A tiny drop of yellow or even just LESS GREEN… would’ve been much more pretty. There’s a phrase they use on project runway a lot, and that’s “taste level”. His visual taste is not elevated. I think the edit of his actual taste critique was kind. You could see the layers fell apart on the plate which is going to make the textures very odd. A crunchy layer with a jelly layer, the cheese and then that weird sticky mirror glaze and then buttercream noodles? WTF. Kardea wanted to spread it on crackers, which to me means it was too savory. That’s what I heard. Jaleesa makes errors, a lot of them, but her ideas and flavors are good. All things being equal that counts for something. Looking forward to seeing what Romi and Carolyn do in the finale.

I came back to hear just this. Totally agree. Molly screwed up by touching Carolyns timer and effected the game. Her return was a fix for that. Plus Carolyn works for Disney (Resorts) and you don’t wanna piss them off if you’re FN. The fakey judges ask was slice and stitch b-roll. I like all the bakers. The only ones I didn’t like was that replacement guy who lasted a day and little miss ageist first eliminated. Most of the challenges I have liked but the others have been baaaaaaaad. I was ok with the palette knife cake challenge. It’s a look that’s popular now. I just wish it was more open subject matter than Molly’s farm. That make it boring for us, as viewers and makes it lean more juvenile in nature. How many adults that aren’t farmers want a farm-themed cake? BM (before Molly) I think overall the challenges were worse but this version has high highs and low lows.

I’m watching this show now mostly to see Edgar squirm. I’m not proud of it. But he’s a kid and I think it’s dumb to go on this show with your first love. Especially if you cheated on her. They should’ve broken up then. What did he expect from this? I think he thought it would make him feel less guilty of his past behavior or something? Eh. Hania’s logic about being with one girl in the house helping him prove to Ash that he can be with one woman is so deeply deeply flawed. I think he actually believes it, too. I…. Just… um….No.

GBBO is much more civilized. They actually want bakers to do well. The gall! I think the production is a bit different on these shows. FN has that huge studio and pantry. They feel vastly different to me. I don't know. On one hand, if they knew ahead of time wouldn't they do better? And if they don't know ahead of time, like you said, how on earth could someone just make a Japanese cheesecake for the first time without at least a basic ratio and instructions? Fer damn sure none of these people has made cookie salad. It's cookies in pudding and whipped cream? Diplomat cream? I'm mildly embarassed for Diego and the French guy that they will have to make it. But as the saying goes, This is America.

"Facially disadvantaged" - ha! The OG version of the show, the men were really attractive. Hot. It was why I chose to watch it over all of the other buckets of trash on tv. The reboot has less eye candy for sure. Ash is dramatic, I agree. But I like her. She's well spoken. Using words in a very considered way which I appreciate. It's a change of pace from the like, like, like that we suffer through of Love Island and Bach. If she ever says "Taylor and my's relationship..." I will retract my statement. Great Value Lance Bass. Now with more paste.

She ate her cake, too! I've never seen a baker ask to taste their stuff and I would wanna know, too! Loved this. They should do this more often. Let the bakers taste what they made! Have a discussion about it! They're coming up with these creations on the fly and while they might have basic recipes they're working from that is very different than the challenge final product. There aren't many ways to taste in progress while baking. I wonder if they have historically gotten to taste it but the show didn't show that. Not to generalize, but bakers tend to be perfectionists and critical of their own work. I've certainly made things where everyone loved it but I thought it was dry and too sweet.

If they would’ve let the bakers know before the preheat challenge, that the lowest would get an advantage, that could’ve been interesting game play. Do you screw up just to pick? I doubt any would do that on purpose. The advantages are helpful sometimes but other times, eh. Clinton has been my favorite host of this show. I was not a fan of Jesse his first season but he got better and loosened up. I could’ve done without the feeding by Nancy but that’s more on them and the Food Network HR department. If they were my coworkers I’d be like, do I have to watch this? Really? (Fwiw I also watch Bachelor. Jesse did ok. His tone sometimes doesn’t match the appropriate emotion. But I think that’s just nerves. ) I remember Jesse being kinda robotic and weird the first season of SBC too.

The first challenge this week seemed more like cookie cakes than giant stuffed cookies. Nothing wrong with either but it wasn’t what I was expecting to see. Challenging creativity is the show, but when your challenge and ingredients are brown on brown on tan, like the coffee challenge, Nancy needs to stop with the Springy requirement. I don’t want buttercream frosting on a cookie just to bring in pastel colors. Ick. I liked the tea challenge. The Hawaiian set was great. I would eat all of those passion fruit cups. I love passion fruit so much.

Me too. Alexis starts out by saying she’s the youngest so she has more energy? Eyeroll. No one this season is old by any stretch so she can just shut it. Experience in pastry is usually a plus. Then she makes the rookie mistake of using the attached cake cans. Everyone can have a bad day and that sucks but I won’t miss her. Molly’s FN persona is hyper-perky. It’s a lot. Too much. She’s a good home baker and knows a lot but after the first season of her show she became this other thing. My opinion is they dumbed her down into perky Midwest mom. On her show almost all the sweet thing have sprinkles or food coloring. You occasionally get a glimmer of her more sarcastic personality when she’s joking with her husband. I haven’t lost all hope with her but I hope she tones it down. Not loving the new graphics. The challenges have been good so far, not contrived.

Yeah, I still don't get who that family was. Halfway through the date I thought Clayton was going to say, this is my family and I was testing you around them. The family, well at least the guys cooking the meat, are the chefs/owners of Blood Bros BBQ in Houston area. (Two of them are brothers.) Which I don’t think they ever mentioned. I wouldn’t know this except they were JUST on an episode of Samantha Brown’s Places to Love on PBS that aired this weekend.

I’m bored too. Actually fell asleep during the runway show. It’s funny that many of us are bored but Nina isn’t. “Don’t bore Nina!” -Tim Gunn How is that possible?

Even before the remodel, that “Tudor” house was mid century with Tudor decoration on the exterior. Really, if the inside doesn’t make you think of a Renn Faire, goblets and Queen Elizabeth’s forehead, is it really a Tudor? I think the Marrs’s used that same white/gold floor tile (in the family closet) in another design last year. As a back splash? Maybe was on a different show but I recognize it. The new design was fine. Not a favorite but fine. Not to get too OT but to clean fixed wood or cutting boards, you scape it / scrub it / clean it with soap THEN you sanitize with a kitchen sanitizer (chemical or homemade solution using vinegar or bleach etc). Generally letting the sanitzer air dry completely or dry for at least 10-15 min. I worked in a few professional kitchens that had butcher blocks and that was the cleaning protocol. It’s also on the food safety certificate test FWIW. But to your point, if I’m working with meat at home, I would use a smaller cutting board on top so I could sanitize with heat in a dishwasher. Life’s too short!

Ha! I was going to say something similar. The 200k might have been a surplus from Katie’s lame season. It sure wasn’t spent on Katie’s wardrobe or dates. I mean, it’s totally a thing that companies try to spend a full budget by EOY so they get the same amount the next year. It’s just a very public way to do this! The end of year surplus might actually be possible. Hard to know. I also wonder/worry if there are strings attached. (Like TPTB own 30% of your home, lol.) Depending on Michelle’s formal relationship with them it could be considered income or a bonus? Interesting. Regardless, I’m really happy for them, Michelle is a class act. I can’t remember liking a Bachelorette this much since Meredith.