The Shows of 2016: New Year, New Chefs, Same Sob Stories

[spiderpig]

15 hours ago, backformore said:

The most recent episode, Kaley, with the blonde hair, who was chopped in the last round - it was driving me crazy who she reminded me of.  then it hit me -  she looks a lot like Carly, who was on Bachelor and is currently on Bachelor in Paradise. 

I kept thinking Alicia Silverstone

[Wings]

wrong show!  

Edited August 15, 2016 by wings707

[spiderpig]

Coming up August 23rd - 5 weeks of Teen Tournament.

Groan.  At least it frees up my DVR so we can record something interesting like paint drying.

[spiderpig]

dupe - deleting

Edited August 22, 2016 by spiderpig
dupe

[spiderpig]

The showrunners are really stretching it in an effort to update the show.  App/Entree/Dessert featuring chili???  The only variation I've liked has been making the 3 challenges Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner (eliminating the boring bread pudding round).  That might have worked with chili.  But a chili dessert???

Edited August 22, 2016 by spiderpig
undeleting to keep like from wings. deleting other one.

[nitrofishblue]

This really wasn't that bad of a show. Some of the dishes looked rather interesting. Not looking forward to the teen shows. Guess I will find something else to do at that time. I hate those "OH I am so great" teens prattle on about themselves.

[TDT]

On 8/22/2016 at 1:25 PM, nitrofishblue said:

This really wasn't that bad of a show. Some of the dishes looked rather interesting. Not looking forward to the teen shows. Guess I will find something else to do at that time. I hate those "OH I am so great" teens prattle on about themselves.

Seeing those previews i bet the blonde girl with the glasses who does the"arrogant shoulder brushing" gesture(as i call it lol) will go all the way to the finals..

[iggysaurus]

On the "hot dog" episode (ugh), Amanda said that the idea of poutine with cheese that isn't melted is "unthinkable" or something like that.  I'm confused - doesn't classic poutine have cheese curds, which are not melted? The chef who was making her version of it said she uses curds in her restaurant but since they didn't have that available at Chopped, she used fresh mozzarella, which seems like a decent enough substitution to me (although softer and more bland than cheese curds).  I just don't think Amanda is right that poutine normally has melted cheese, but maybe I'm misinformed.

BTW, mmm cheese curds. :) 

[Beamish]

Hot Dog episode: dude forgot basket ingredient in Appetizer round, but they cut the guy that works in a 'gentleman's club' who tried to elevate the food more so than the other chefs. Methinks the judges didn't care for his job site.

Just saw an episode with a new father (left pin bones in the fish) and Filipino lesbian (doesn't cook a lot of flank steak). Another contestant kept plating after time was called, two judges refused to eat his food, yet he makes it to the next round. This show and it's inconsistent judging drives me nuts!

[TDT]

2 hours ago, Beamish said:

 

Just saw an episode with a new father (left pin bones in the fish) and Filipino lesbian (doesn't cook a lot of flank steak). Another contestant kept plating after time was called, two judges refused to eat his food, yet he makes it to the next round. This show and it's inconsistent judging drives me nuts!

Did he cut himself? That probably was the reason why they didnt eat it

[Beamish]

Nope. He kept plating after time was called.technically he only finished one plate, which that judge ate. The other two judges refused to eat his food since he went over time.

3 hours ago, TDT said:

Did he cut himself? That probably was the reason why they didnt eat it

[beverlyoc]

Mr. OC and I figured out a long time ago the best way to watch this show.  We pause it after the intro stories and place a quarter bet on who will win the whole thing.  After each round, we bet another quarter on who will go home.  The winner of each round gets to keep the quarter s/he bet, and the losing quarter goes in a can.  It actually makes it interesting and fun to watch -- and the can of quarters eventually gets converted to dollars that we use on vacations to pay for meals (seems appropriate).  More often than not the two people we pegged to win are the final two.  And we still snark all the way through.

[justjen]

I just saw the cheese episode that was on before the Teen episode and I'm trying to understand their casting decisions. The first guy chopped was from Vietnam and therefore wasn't really a "cheese guy" and the second guy chopped initially said that even though he is a big guy, he's not really into cheese (that could have been a joke). Why would they put at least 1 chef who doesn't really "do cheese" in a Cheese Themed episode? Why didn't they just go ahead and make sure to cast lactose intolerant chefs in the other spots?? Who were the 2 judges who weren't Amanda?

[jcbrown]

Plus the "cheese guy" judge on the cheese episode was a real asshat. It made me happy to hear the pretentious jerk mispronounce haricot verts as "Hairy Cots Vurt."

[spiderpig]

On 9/2/2016 at 6:04 PM, jcbrown said:

Plus the "cheese guy" judge on the cheese episode was a real asshat. It made me happy to hear the pretentious jerk mispronounce haricot verts as "Hairy Cots Vurt."

Mercy buckups for your post.

[cooksdelight]

"Hairy Cots Vurt" is right up there with chefs who cannot pronounce mascarpone correctly. Now I have two words to watch for.

[AZChristian]

I was at a restaurant last Thursday that featured mascarpone cheesecake.  EVERY staff member we talked to mispronounced it.  I, of course, did not - but I doubt that anyone took the hint and started putting the "r" in the right place.

[mlp]

I don't know the cheese guy's name (and don't care) but he was really, really impressed with himself.

I noticed while watching the GBBS that, when mascarpone came up, every single person pronounced it correctly.

[Rammchick]

Twins?!  What's next?  Circus freaks??

[Maverick]

 Chimps.

[mlp]

I enjoyed the show with twins.  They all seemed nice and I thought they were eliminated in the correct order.  I wonder why they had Aaron's brother on for a nanosecond.  They could have accomplished the same thing with a photo.  He looked like the academic type.  I wonder what he does for a living.

[LexieLily]

I didn't even know Aaron had a twin. Those Cheese Twins brothers are on this season of The Great Food Truck Race.

[JunebugWA]

On 9/9/2016 at 10:42 AM, mlp said:

I enjoyed the show with twins.  They all seemed nice and I thought they were eliminated in the correct order.  I wonder why they had Aaron's brother on for a nanosecond.  They could have accomplished the same thing with a photo.  He looked like the academic type.  I wonder what he does for a living.

According to Wikipedia, Rodrigo is an attorney in NYC. 

[justjen]

The blond teen contestant, who I hated just from the commercials, turned out to be the less annoying of the 2 final contestants. The Overachiever Teen was the most...ugh!!! The first teen out after the appetizer round was a pain, too. You know who was awesome though? Alex. The little wink she gave the blond made my heart grow at least 1.25 sizes.

[AZChristian]

My granddaughter just posted this on Facebook, and I thought you folks would like it.

 

[Maverick]

 I think that's a gross oversimplification.   There's far more complexity to it than that:  My [mother, father, brother, sister, grandfather, grandmother, dog, cat, high school teacher, Tiger Beat imaginary boy/girl friend] never [loved, understood, supported, encouraged, coddled, touched, spoke to, looked at] me and I glazed the pastry so that I can win for [him, her, them, it] and [gain respect, finally be loved, prove I'm a good cook, take them on a vacation, bury them, buy them jewelry/eye wear/dentures/surgery/fake boobs, tell them to fuck off]

[mlp]

I think you covered almost everything, Maverick, including buying new teeth for one's sibling.  The only thing you left out was making dead parents or grandparents proud because they, you know, watch Chopped from wherever they are now.

[Maverick]

 True I did miss the dead ones.   I think they need to dust off that slot machine from Kitchen Casino and turn it into the Sob-O-Matic so we can just watch them spin that instead of spend time on their intro packages.

[TDT]

14 hours ago, justjen said:

The blond teen contestant, who I hated just from the commercials, turned out to be the less annoying of the 2 final contestants. The Overachiever Teen was the most...ugh!!! The first teen out after the appetizer round was a pain, too. You know who was awesome though? Alex. The little wink she gave the blond made my heart grow at least 1.25 sizes.

What was that the girl with the glasses had said to the girl who won as she was about to do the Walk Of Shame..? sounded like"..it was a pleasure to lose to you.."

[GaT]

As if there was a chance in hell that the chef who was there on the anniversary of his son's death wasn't going to win.

[backformore]

I don't want to sound mean and unfeeling.  But when a contestant is playing to honor a dead parent/grandparent/mentor, especially when it's someone who died a while ago, and then the judges get all sympathetic, I laugh. 

  "I'm playing for my great-grandmother who passed away 6 years ago, she used to cook food."     

"AWWWWW, I'm sorry. I'm sure she's very proud of you today" 

Why? -  we ALL have dead relatives -  they're called ancestors.  There's nobody on the show, or in life, who doesn't have a relative who died.  You're not special because you're in a cooking contest and someone in your family died.   

It sounds cold when I read what I wrote.  I'm not an unfeeling person.   I just don't get the connection between "I'm trying to win money on Chopped"  and "someone in my family died."  And - the show should be more FUN, not somber. And it's just preparing food, something people  all over the world do every single day. nobody's doing anything noble here, it's just putting together foods that don't go together and trying to make it taste good.  Sometimes they all (contestants and judges) take it so seriously. 

[nonnybaby]

You're right, backformore. Everyone has had painful life experiences. But this episode with the young son dying is a different level of grief (I cannot fathom), and more likely to influence the judges. It is like all the chefs that come on this show are trying to trump each other with their life stories. No matter what, it's manipulative. And it makes the contestants who come on and say, "I'm just here to push myself, have fun, and win money to redecorate my bathroom" seem shallow and petty. When they're not. They just choose not to use their negative stories on the show and let their cooking speak for itself.  

[backformore]

I wasn't referring to any specific episode, I haven't even seen the one where a chef had a dying son. 

My post was about the preponderance of sob stories and bringing up a parent, grandparent, mentor, who had passed away.  I was not referring to the post which immediately preceded mine, I hadn't even read it, I think it was posted at the same time I was posting.

[cooksdelight]

No one's going to beat me playing for my dead cat, I'll have a big button with his photo on it, wearing it proudly as I tell my sob story.

[spiderpig]

17 hours ago, backformore said:

I wasn't referring to any specific episode, I haven't even seen the one where a chef had a dying son. 

My post was about the preponderance of sob stories and bringing up a parent, grandparent, mentor, who had passed away.  I was not referring to the post which immediately preceded mine, I hadn't even read it, I think it was posted at the same time I was posting.

It's OK, backformore.  The last ep was more shameless pandering. I'm sorry the chef's son died and know it was a horrible, life-changing ordeal, but these damned Chopped producers exploited it for all it was worth.  I think it's shameful.

I'm with cooksdelight and look forward to seeing her proudly wearing her (sadly deceased) cat's badge of honor.  If I could appear on the show, I'd have my beloved kitty's ashes prominently displayed (in koa casket) on my workstation.

Food Network used to be my default cable station, but lately I've switched to news channels for overwrought drama.

[AZChristian]

4 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

No one's going to beat me playing for my dead cat, I'll have a big button with his photo on it, wearing it proudly as I tell my sob story.

You know, the story would be better if you had a female cat that died in childbirth, and you had to feed the 8 kittens with a doll bottle every 2 hours, 24 hours a day, for 3-4 weeks.

[Brookside]

On ‎9‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 2:33 PM, AZChristian said:

You know, the story would be better if you had a female cat that died in childbirth, and you had to feed the 8 kittens with a doll bottle every 2 hours, 24 hours a day, for 3-4 weeks.

But they all died anyway.

[MajorWoody]

Just got around to watching the Twins Episode.

How in the world did the Cheese Twins from Food Truck Race not get chopped in the entree round? Their pork was completely raw, as in looked like it just came out of the meat display case raw. Granted, it cost them at the end, but there is no way they should have survived that round. The African girls might have overcooked the pork, but at least it was edible, unlike the Cheese guys pork. 

Seems to me that the producers wanted them to stick around since they are on their other show and wanted to get them some publicity. I found them a bit weird on Food Truck, can't put my finger on it, but something seems off with them. Not to mention, their grilled cheese sandwiches on Food Truck always look awful, worse than a drunken frat boy's 3am grilled cheese.

[cattykit]

17 hours ago, Brookside said:

But they all died anyway.

No, I would cry too hard and I would have to change the channel.  No more dead cats, please.  Which are about the only animals that don't show up in the Chopped baskets, BTW.

12 hours ago, MajorWoody said:

Seems to me that the producers wanted them to stick around since they are on their other show and wanted to get them some publicity. I found them a bit weird on Food Truck, can't put my finger on it, but something seems off with them. Not to mention, their grilled cheese sandwiches on Food Truck always look awful, worse than a drunken frat boy's 3am grilled cheese.

I didn't even make the connection to the food truck show.  Their gimmick on TGFTR is grilling shitty looking sandwiches in a waffle iron; amazing they've made it to the finale except that the winnings are based on sales and not on quality. 

[TDT]

On 9/16/2016 at 11:42 PM, backformore said:

I don't want to sound mean and unfeeling.  But when a contestant is playing to honor a dead parent/grandparent/mentor, especially when it's someone who died a while ago, and then the judges get all sympathetic, I laugh. 

  "I'm playing for my great-grandmother who passed away 6 years ago, she used to cook food."     

"AWWWWW, I'm sorry. I'm sure she's very proud of you today"

*cue sad piano music  note* its usually the last contestant that does this

[backformore]

17 hours ago, MajorWoody said:

Seems to me that the producers wanted them to stick around since they are on their other show and wanted to get them some publicity. I found them a bit weird on Food Truck, can't put my finger on it, but something seems off with them. Not to mention, their grilled cheese sandwiches on Food Truck always look awful, worse than a drunken frat boy's 3am grilled cheese.

The Grilled Cheese twins - They seem to be more into the "show biz" aspect, than actual cooking.  

Are we going to see them on "Food Network Stars"  next?  Because I get the sense that's what they're looking to do.

[MajorWoody]

Good point regarding the Grilled Cheese dudes.

They are just reality tv fame whores. Their food looks awful, regularly burning the outside of their grilled cheese sandwiches. The topper for me was a couple of weeks ago on Food Truck Race they actually used some low grade packaged boiled ham in their sandwiches, a measly single slice per sandwich, and actually charged $15 for that horrible sandwich. What decent chef would ever use Oscar Mayer packaged boiled ham in a dish, or even worse,in a competition? 

They should have been cut on Chopped after presenting raw pork chops. I am totally baffled as to how a dish that is inedible allows a pass to the next round, over a dish that is overcooked but still edible.

 

Also, are those guys incredibly tall, or were the females incredibly short? There seemed to be an almost two foot difference when they stood side by side.

[mlp]

Quote

Also, are those guys incredibly tall..................

They said they're 6'5."

[spiderpig]

10 hours ago, MajorWoody said:

Good point regarding the Grilled Cheese dudes.

They are just reality tv fame whores. Their food looks awful, regularly burning the outside of their grilled cheese sandwiches. The topper for me was a couple of weeks ago on Food Truck Race they actually used some low grade packaged boiled ham in their sandwiches, a measly single slice per sandwich, and actually charged $15 for that horrible sandwich. What decent chef would ever use Oscar Mayer packaged boiled ham in a dish, or even worse,in a competition? 

That's been my thought MWoody.  I risk repeating myself, but I've been making grilled cheese sandwiches from the age of 4 or so, and the ingredients at today's prices run about 50 cents.  There are famed grilled cheese sandwich places in the Cleveland area called Melt.  They make massive, creative, innovative wiches (http://meltbarandgrilled.com/menu/melt-menu) for less than these guys.

[TDT]

On 9/20/2016 at 11:14 PM, backformore said:

The Grilled Cheese twins - They seem to be more into the "show biz" aspect, than actual cooking.  

Are we going to see them on "Food Network Stars"  next?  Because I get the sense that's what they're looking to do.

I get the feeling we will..

alongside Andrea and possibly even Nathan from the just-concluded Masterchef season lol

[spiderpig]

14 hours ago, TDT said:

 

Edited September 22, 2016 by spiderpig
Delete. Dupe. I hate this Chromebook.

[spiderpig]

14 hours ago, TDT said:

I get the feeling we will..

alongside Andrea and possibly even Nathan from the just-concluded Masterchef season lol

Another website, DVD Talk - TV forum, posted a subject TV in Hell.

You're in Hell and there's only one TV channel.  My selection was PBS's offering Sit and Be Fit.

I'm having second thoughts.

[justjen]

I'm still a relatively new viewer, so I really like when they show older episodes that show that the judges actually talk about the food (kinda) when the contestants are done presenting. Bring that back, there is nothing useful gained from watching the contestants mumble about how anyone can leave and I'm just glad to be here and blahblahblah.

I was amused by the guy's accent who was born in Italy but has cooked all over the world. At first it sounded like he was just putting on a Madonna-like fake accent, but then I remembered that my fake accent is more Dick van Dyke from Mary Poppins and Italian guy's accent was not the worst thing about him. Less is more sometimes, BUT NOT ON CHOPPED!!!!!

[cattykit]

Dead grandma vs plucky pigtailed ex-con... so easy to predict who would win from that alone.  Fuck the food--hell, they had dueling bread puddings.

[GaT]

I just watched the Worst Cooks in America episode. Amazing how people who couldn't boil water without setting the kitchen on fire on one show, are suddenly good enough cooks that they can go on Chopped & make decent food from a surprise basket of food that doesn't go together. Hmm, it's almost as if....as if they were faking not being able to cook on Worst Cooks, but who would do that? I'm sure it's because they learned so much from Anne Burrell while on Worst Cooks that they are now all good cooks who can cook anything they need to. Yes, it must be Anne Burrell's teachings that did it.