Food Network Challenge - General Discussion

[Spunkygal]

Food Network is re-booting this series with six episodes beginning December 23. The challenges will have pop culture themes, starting with the iconic holiday film, A Christmas Story. There are four competitors vying for $10,000, and “the new contestants are award-winners,” so I am presuming there will be fresh, new faces and not the regurgitation of contestants as many of FN’s seasonal shows offer. As stated in the press release, the new season will focus on cakes, bakers and sugar artists. Keegan Gerhard, who was the original host, will be one of the judges, and for some reason, FN thinks it’s a good idea to have Ian Ziering of 90210 fame as host. 

[trudysmom]

Looking forward to this.  I liked Keegan, wasn't he also a judge on Duff vs. Buddy this summer?  

[Spunkygal]

1 hour ago, trudysmom said:

Looking forward to this.  I liked Keegan, wasn't he also a judge on Duff vs. Buddy this summer?  

Sorry,  I didn’t watch that show. I am not a huge fan of Buddy.

[suebee12]

Exactly what was that? I have never seen such messy work on a show before!! The winner was really good and the guy from Holiday Wars(was his helper on HW's also?) was sorta' ok but the other two were disasters! Hopefully next week will be better.

[mlp]

I've always liked Keegan Gerhard so I'm happy to see him back on FN.  I don't know the other male judge but I rather liked him.  He seemed to know what he was was talking about and he wasn't afraid to be candid.  I would have loved to hear Kerry Vincent's comments on the shoddy displays.

Why in the heck is Claudia a judge and why is FN trying to make her happen?  First Chopped and now this.  Her niche is Mexican cooking.  AFAIK She has no baking expertise to speak of.  

Those leg lamp pieces were some of the worst things I've ever seen on any baking show.  I'm sure heat and gravity worked against them but still...............  I wish Keegan had suggested ways they could have done those vertical surfaces successfully when he made his comments.  

FN spoiled their own "cliffhanger" once again.  There were two obvious candidates for elimination at the end of round 1.  They broke for commercials and there was Leromie in the preview shots of round 2.  It was obvious who got sent home.

[LittleIggy]

I liked the British judge and his use of the word “brief.” 🧐

OMG, the clusterfuckage of those falling apart sculpts! 🤦‍♀️ Maybe they should turn the AC waaaay down low! 

[MerBearHou]

I’ve seen the British judge, Matt, before on Christmas Cookie Challenge.  He’s got a great personality and is very knowledgeable.  I read about him and he’s famous for baking without a shirt on!  
 

I enjoyed seeing  Keegan again. Claudia as a judge — why??? 
 

The good was quite good tonight; the bad was soooo bad. 

[Maverick]

 What. A. Shitshow. 

 This is not Food Network Challenge.  The contestants are the second coming of Stevie and there should be no elimination round.  There's no time to see the actual show piece being built.   Since they're apparently going to do all cake, then this is really just Cake Wars redux.  The set is awful and I disliked both judges.   From the previews, it's being setup to provide constant disasters, which is another Cake Wars staple. 

[Darian]

This made me sad. 

[joanne3482]

I agree with everyone. That was a disaster. I LOVED Food Network Challenge back in its day. The challenges were all so interesting and some so different.  This was a mess and if those are 'the best of the best' that's just sad. 

I didn't mind Ian as host, but I was bothered by his sabotage comment. That's not what Food Network Challenge is about. If that's what the producers are looking for, that's just sad. I'll watch one more but probably am out after that if the quality doesn't improve. 

[Spunkygal]

4 hours ago, Darian said:

This made me sad. 

My thought exactly! I was so excited to see this was being revived and just KNEW it would be a similar high-quality competition. I guess when I saw that Kerry Vincent was not a judge I should have known better. Just do away with that first elimination segment and let them try to make one good piece. Whoever is in charge of FN just has to ruin these competition shows with a surprise mystery ingredient or a ridiculous time limitation or some other stupid twist. I hate it when a piece has to be X feet tall.  I like Matt as a judge and I’m glad that the 9th teacher won. But this show was a terrible Christmas Eve Eve gift. Bah humbug.

[Spunkygal]

Adding to my previous post....

I am insulted that the FN PTB insults us viewers with the dumbed down version of this show and other recent shows. Cake Wars used to be good. All of the seasonal “Wars” shows used to be good. And the grandpappy of them all, Food Network Challenge, was so entertaining. But not any longer. They’ve dumbed it down to the most common denominator and you have people like me who will still sit there and suffer through this craptastic pablum. I hate myself sometime!

[mlp]

1 hour ago, Spunkygal said:

you have people like me who will still sit there and suffer through this craptastic pablum.

LOL  Me too.  With a couple exceptions like Face Off and Alone, I think everything I ever watch is a food competition of some sort.  

IMO The dumbing down started in earnest when they replaced Bob Tuchman with the woman who thinks the way to attract viewers is to have D-list celebrities judge on Chopped and so on.  I'm sure there are many people out here in TV land who enjoy watching shows like Best Baker with skilled contestants and no stupid twists and hijinks.

I wonder if Keegan was aware of the changes when he agreed to be a judge.  If the quality doesn't improve, I doubt he'll do another season.  Actually, there won't be another season.

[Rammchick]

13 hours ago, Maverick said:

 What. A. Shitshow. 

 This is not Food Network Challenge.  

Every time they did a reveal, I yelled, "Nailed it!", because that's the show this crap belonged on!

[CoderLady]

2 hours ago, Rammchick said:

Every time they did a reveal, I yelled, "Nailed it!", because that's the show this crap belonged on!

This was so awful. Only Kayla seemed to actually have any skill for the kind of work required. Jeromie should have been eliminated in the first round for the lumpy abomination he did in the leg lamp challenge. I have no words to describe the malformed heap of pink and green buttercream he submitted for the second challenge, but it was definitely Nailed It! quality.

Overconfidence and incompetence is only fun to watch when everyone is in on the joke. This was sad.

[Pepper the Cat]

That one cake was a hot mess. I did like the winning cake.

[Pepper the Cat]

Are there going to be more episodes or was this a one time only thing?

[Spunkygal]

41 minutes ago, Pepper the Cat said:

Are there going to be more episodes or was this a one time only thing?

Here’s the link to the FN site with upcoming episodes.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/food-network-challenge

[Pepper the Cat]

Thanks but unfortunately Food Network Canada is not showing them according to this schedule. I tried to look on the Food Network Canadian site but no luck. 

[Spunkygal]

15 minutes ago, Pepper the Cat said:

Thanks but unfortunately Food Network Canada is not showing them according to this schedule. I tried to look on the Food Network Canadian site but no luck. 

Based on the dumpster fire that the first episode proved to be, consider yourself lucky!

[mlp]

The second episode was a lot better.  (It couldn't have been much worse.)  I didn't understand why the one woman spent so much time modeling a face then covered most of it up with a beard and goggles.  She was great at sculpting faces and her little skier in round 2 was excellent but the rest of her main figure and her display were a mess.  I thought the right team won.  I like that they show them working and that they give them the "twist" right upfront so they can incorporate it into their design rather than try to throw something together at the last minute.

I am unreasonably irritated by Claudia as a judge.  She's not a chef and certainly not a pastry chef.  I don't understand what she's doing there next to two accomplished experts.

[Rammchick]

This past week's episode showed promise of this iteration being like the old Challenge we all knew and loved.  Three very good efforts -- although the winner was clear (to me), one of the others could've also taken it.

[mlp]

I recognized Al immediately from his appearances on Halloween Wars.  I remembered him as being a bit arrogant but good at what he does so I was glad he won.  I was surprised the other two even finished much less had presentable displays.  The one with the tree looked a lot less polished than the other two and had no figures on it.  I doubt that it had any chance of winning.  The totem pole was very nice but cartoon-y and the shoes weren't good.  I think the judges made the right decision.

[Emkat]

You have got to be kidding me with this Pokemon episode.

This is more like "Nailed It". 

 

[mlp]

The only thing about this show that really reminds me of the old Challenge is Keegan Gerhard.  They certainly haven't attracted contestants with the talents of people like Richard Ruskell, Bronwen Weber and so on.  I don't mind Ian as host (except for the way he pronounces his name).  

I wonder what the woman with the ridiculous blue hair did in the Air Force.  I don't usually associate baby talk with the military.

So far I've agreed with the judges' decision each time.  I thought the woman who made the big yellow character was going to win until I saw the finished displays.  She definitely had more flaws than the guys did.

 

[joanne3482]

I think I'm out on this one. One of the fun things on the OG version was that it wasn't just cake. They had all sorts of challenges that were often amazing. When they did have cake, there were requirements about how much had to be real cake as opposed to rice cereal treats. It seems like they don't have that rule anymore. It's just a retread of so many of their other cake shows. 

[Darian]

So bad. The only reason I watched this to the end is because Ray was on it. I liked him on the Halloween Baking Championship. I have a terrible memory). He and his husband are adorable and I sure know adoption is expensive, so I was pulling hard for them. But I basically let it play in the background and glanced up every so often, then watched the judging. So happy they won! 

Such a shame because the original show was wonderful and I like the judges. I know Claudia bugs some, but I don't mind her, and the other judges are great. 

[Ms Lark]

On 1/14/2020 at 2:24 AM, mlp said:

I wonder what the woman with the ridiculous blue hair did in the Air Force.  I don't usually associate baby talk with the military.

My big question, too. And she was in for 7 years? Yeah, there's something odd going on with that one!

[Rammchick]

6 hours ago, Ms Lark said:

My big question, too. And she was in for 7 years? Yeah, there's something odd going on with that one!

She was on the Gingerbread Showdown as well, and she had just as big of a disaster.

[mlp]

2 hours ago, Rammchick said:

She was on the Gingerbread Showdown as well, and she had just as big of a disaster.

Oh, wow!  I remember that episode but I sure didn't realize both women were the same person.  I also don't recall the Air Force being mentioned during the gingerbread show.  She needs to stick with stacked cakes.

[Brookside]

On 12/31/2019 at 12:04 PM, mlp said:

The second episode was a lot better.  (It couldn't have been much worse.)  I didn't understand why the one woman spent so much time modeling a face then covered most of it up with a beard and goggles.  She was great at sculpting faces and her little skier in round 2 was excellent but the rest of her main figure and her display were a mess.  

 

The little skier was good but I'm surprised the weren't dinged for how out of proportion it was with the main guy, which I felt was really clunky.  Also, they didn't fix the coat, and their mountain was a disaster.

[Rammchick]

I'm not sure who was more stupid on this show, the judges or the contestants.  Glad this is over, what a sad approximation of a once great show.

And btw, Monopoly is Atlantic City, not Coney Island.

[Ms Lark]

Like someone said, this season was more like "Nailed It" than previous Challenge shows. They should never have shown clips from earlier seasons in the intro, it suffered in comparison.

[qtpye]

2 hours ago, Ms Lark said:

Like someone said, this season was more like "Nailed It" than previous Challenge shows. They should never have shown clips from earlier seasons in the intro, it suffered in comparison.

Food Network Challenge was one of my favorite shows because it showcased amazing talent and skill. It also had amazing challenges like fruit carving and sugar sculptures...not just cake.

This is like a bizarro world version of the show were everything is cake and looks like total crap.

[Rammchick]

2 hours ago, Ms Lark said:

Like someone said, this season was more like "Nailed It" than previous Challenge shows. They should never have shown clips from earlier seasons in the intro, it suffered in comparison.

Even better, just show reruns of the old shows!

[mlp]

I doubt this show will get another season but, if Claudia is a judge again, I'm not going to bother with it.  She has no business critiquing bakers and she's rude.  The way she talked to the one fellow was obnoxious and, in fact, she was doing more talking than he was.  He wasn't impolite.  He was just trying to explain what he was doing.  

I've always liked Keegan.  I wonder if he regrets getting involved with this poor imitation of a great show.

[Maverick]

Discovery Family has been airing an episode of this show Sunday afternoons.   I assume it's just for October/Halloween.   Reminds me how much I miss it.  Today's episode from from toward the end of the series with Claire as host, mostly newbie contestants and gimmicks twists thrown in.  Still, it's better than a lot of what they do now.