letusprocrastinate

Yes, it should be worrisome that FN's long-established stars are losing ratings, particularly since they're having trouble launching new shows with new hosts that actually have staying power. Seems to me they're getting into a situation where they have to keep going with some of the long-running shows because what is there waiting in the wings to replace them? I think, though, that besides the glut of programs featuring the same people, and the fact that some of the new episodes that are getting lower ratings are after hours upon hours of reruns (not everyone is going to bother to see if the 9 p.m. show on a given night is new), there's also the holiday factor and the cord-cutting factor as people cut their cable and move to other (and often cheaper) ways to watch TV. I'm sure there are ways to count those viewers, but they're just not as readily available as the Nielsen ratings. I would also think that the ratings improve a bit if you add the 50+ demos. Of course 18-49 is the bread and butter for advertisers. But still, the trends are not good for FN.

Looks like we have officially reached Guy Overload. With GGG's taking over Wednesday afternoons and evenings, DDD running for 14 hours on Friday afternoon into Saturday morning (and also popping up on various weekends), plus his cooking shows and other special series, I don't think it's too much of a wonder that his ratings are slipping. And I think it's pretty obvious he's trying to get his eldest son into the FN fold, perhaps with a show of his own eventually.

Just throwing this out there, since I haven't seen the episode in question: How long was the list of must-haves, and was that the only whackadoodle one? Perhaps their original list wasn't that long and the producers told them just to make up stuff. Addendum: The Monday afternoon/early evening reruns seem to be the same shows on rotation.

@BigBingerBro, I think this show is Chris' attempt to not be America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Country but not change so much that it would be off-putting to loyal ATK types. I also think that in order to differentiate it from ATK/CC, which IMO is primarily focused on food found throughout America with some well-known international dishes thrown in that wouldn't be overly shocking to many viewers/readers, he went with a concept of international cuisine. It's almost like a "Let's appeal to the broadest audience possible (ATK)" vs. "OK, if I can't do that I'll do this instead (Milk Street)" But as others have mentioned this hasn't prevented a lawsuit that alleges Milk Street copies ATK/CC too much both on air and in print. Plus it's interesting since Chris is not known for being a fan of spicy dishes. As for the travel: he gets to travel around the world and it's written off as a business expense. Personally, I find the "Go overseas and visit someone to demonstrate some dishes that we'll rip off during the rest of the show" concept a bit off-putting. Finally, this is obviously Chris' baby. At ATC/CC he wasn't the big boss. If I recall from articles about the lawsuit, Jack the tasting guy is either at the top of the management chain or pretty close, and Chris was lower than that.

I agree that it seems that "Act nuts" is being encouraged more and more. On occasion, though, a contestant will act really nuts and you can tell by Drew's facial expression and body language that he is uncomfortable with the person. There was a show a week or two ago when he looked at the camera with an expression of, "Is someone going to need to intervene here?" as a male contestant was going bonkers next to him. I wonder how many contestants see themselves when their show finally goes to air and think, "I made a fool of myself on international television." I'm sure there are more than a few.

Julia just wrapped up a live guest appearance on QVC's In the Kitchen With David. She was hawking ATK's dutch oven cookbook. Her hair was the same length all the way around, going just past her shoulders (no short bangs). I've had both kinds of hairstyles and it looks to me she simply grew out the shorter cut. I thought it looked good. The advantage of the shorter cut that she had is that it naturally gives more volume, especially if your hair is fine.

Anyone else notice that the entire month of October has Halloween shows here, there, and everywhere, but on October 31 there is zilch, zip, nada?

James is still around. The new guy used to play in the NFL.

Um, why have another edition of Food Network Star when you're barely, if any, making use of the previous winners, Guy Fieri excepted?