Past Shows: Aired in 2013 or Earlier, But We Can't Forget Them

[schnauzergirl]

I'm Bella, and I'm editing this to be the first post in a merged thread.

[Bella]

Does a particular show stick in your brain? Would you like to see it again? Or not? Discuss it here.

[Bella]

Here at PTV, we prefer to have separate episode threads in the forums. If that doesn't work, we like to have separate threads for each season. 

 

So, in order to be a good mod and do things "right," I went here http://www.thetvdb.c...&id=85019&lid=7 to see what seasons were recently or currently airing.

The silly show airs up to three new "seasons" simultaneously!!! That's not to mention repeats from prior seasons.
 

So we're going to be different, otherwise it's just going to be too confusing for everyone. 

 

I've set up a thread for shows airing 2014.

I also set up a thread for discussion of past shows that, to our best guess, have not aired this year.

In 2015, I'll start a new thread for that year. Etc., etc.

And I set up a thread for special groups, like all stars, firefighters, grandmas, etc.

If you're confused, just post where it makes the most sense and don't worry about it. We do not penalize honest mistakes here.

And if you have any questions or want to propose a different way to organize this forum, drop me a PM with your idea.

[cooksdelight]

My favorite is Lance giving some of his prize money to buy Johanna (sp?) a trip to see her grandmother. After she burned her leg. That episode never ceases to make me cry.

Least favorite was the two featuring the bitchy Lauren van der Snot. I have never seen a more pretentious person on the show. Well, Tryg is up there, Christopher Coombs with all his stars and great restaurants, Penny Davidi. Cara whatshername, the blonde who won her redemption episode.

My favorite chef is Kent Rollins. Another chef I've gotten to know personally, and he is an absolute down-to-earth good guy. I am going to try to go out to Oklahoma and take one of his chuck wagon cooking classes.

Edited May 28, 2014 by cooksdelight

[ramble]

My favorite is Lance giving some of his prize money to buy Johanna (sp?) a trip to see her grandmother. After she burned her leg. That episode never ceases to make me cry.

I totally agree. I cry every time. It's Chopped Hall of Fame IMO.

Tryg was rerunning tonight. I watched for a few minutes but turned it off when I realized I was fantasizing about punching him.

[muddywaters]

I saw the Redemption episode with LAUREN a while back, and was about to come ask if there was somewhere I could watch her original episode because whoa, is she a piece of work or what?!  Then lo and behold, there it was, re-running on my TV.  And... yeah.  Wow.

 

She promised during her exit that we'd be seeing her on TV again soon.  Anybody seen her?

[cooksdelight]

No, thank god!

[Julia]

She's got a guest column on Marcus Samuelsson's blog, although I have no idea why. I guess if you haven't encountered her unique personal impact her story is pretty impressive.

[PrincessLuceval]

Chris Jerk, er, Burke, getting the smackdown on his episodes was golden.

[DownTheShore]

Oh yeah, those Chris Burke episodes.  What an obnoxious guy!  Loved when Ted stomped on him for trying to announce the products in the basket first.

[Julia]

I don't know if everyone saw the Serious Eats thread on the first Chris Burke episode. A number of first-time posters who never posted on any other subject seem to be huge Chris Burke fans...

[joanne3482]

Yesterday they reran all the Chopped Grill episodes. I'm still flummoxed that Sam Choy went out in the 2nd round of the finals. I don't know why I love him so, but I do. I was fairly surprised that Ernest won it. I was not expecting that at all. 

[cooksdelight]

Yeah, I'm still bummed Cowboy Kent didn't win it. Amanda totally broke down, didn't she?

[Wordsworth]

Thank you!  It is so confusing the way they air episodes that I never know if the episode I'm watching is from the current season or a new episode I've not seen.

[Wordsworth]

Chef Kent was wonderful.  If I wasn't already married, his purty wife, Shannon, would have some serious competition.

 

I finally caught the Tryg episode....ugh!  Oh, and Cara winning her redemption episode was sad, sad, sad.  I was seriously yelling at her competitor, "Don't you DARE fall for the grits bait!" and she did it, anyway.  I was so unhappy to see Lauren back so soon after she dissed her competitor on her original appearance that I laughed when she started chopping raw red onions with Scott Conant on the panel.

 

Thankfully, I was able to see a marathon with Madison in it and I just loved him so much.  I can finally see why his fans like him so much.

 

 

 

 

[Lola16]

I loved Chopped the first couple hundred seasons.  It was must see TV for me and my friends.  We'd grab a big glass of red wine and watch together -- sometimes we had to 'meet' over the phone.  Now, I just don't get as excited.  Don't know if I am Chopped Out or if it's becoming boring.

[fliptopbox]

I loved Chopped up until just recently. It's become more a game of personal theatrics than an actual cooking competition. It almost seems like the food part is irrelevant. It's all about who has the saddest sob story. To me, that is not compelling tv. At least not on the Food Network.

[picklesprite]

I just started watching Chopped a few months ago, so I'm still at the stage at which I hope it goes on forever. ;)

[cooksdelight]

Kent Rollins was in NYC yesterday, having dinner with Amanda. It's nice to know they have maintained a friendship as I know how much she liked him when he was on the first time. He was wearing a white hat this time. I do wish FN would give him a show so we could follow him, Shannon and the dogs as they make their way across the midwest in their chuckwagon.

He sent me a video of his dogs eating a Push-Up ice cream treat. I love that man!

[mlp]

 

Kent Rollins was in NYC yesterday, having dinner with Amanda.

 

Aw.  That's nice to know.  I liked Kent a lot when he did the BBQ show and I was very disappointed when he lost and then sad again when he came back and got chopped a second time.  I wonder why he was in NY.  It would be neat if FN is working up some kind of western cooking show with Kent and Lenny.  I'd watch that.

[cooksdelight]

He told me he was there for cookbook business. Which is a good thing, because I'll be the first in line to buy it.

[LazyToaster]

Me too, love Kent. He's so unique, the FN would be crazy not to get him on board

[suedehead]

Don't worry, it does. By the end of the summer you'll find yourself saying "oh, I've seen this one."   

[cooksdelight]

The original seasons were the best, in my opinion. Some of the chefs who were on went on to open their own places and do very well. Ric Orlando, who made it to the finals of the Chopped Champions series (first one, which Madison won) is doing great. Even people who came in second are flourishing because of the exposure they got on this show.

Nowadays, however, the themed shows have taken over and I forget who's who. Only if someone is really obnoxious do I remember anything about them, because the food just isn't the main star it used to be, for me.

[novhappy]

Frankly, I think this show is ruined, completely.  It's just totally about the chef's personal stories now, as we have all lamented many times. As Cooksdelight points out the food is not the star anymore.  The last one I saw was chef with tough military father, woman from multiple foster homes, some other guy and an Asian lady who, hilariously, tried to make the fact that her parents loved her into a cry-worthy sob story.  I have deleted the whole show from my DVR.  RIP, Chopped, you were once young and beautiful!

[cooksdelight]

I wonder how much influence Ted Allen has in the contestants chosen, the sob stories, etc.? He seems to be the one always trying to draw out the pity parties.

[Bella]

That could be because his bosses, the producers, tell him to do that, however.

 

I'm not fond of the sob stories, but when they're telling the judges or in the back room, it's pretty easy to FF through them. I still like the challenges.

[LazyToaster]

I love the moment when they open the basket the best. Recently, there were pickled pig lips. Whoa! As much as it about gagged me, I still got a huge kick out of it.

[cooksdelight]

In honor of Father's Day... a tribute from Chef Kent Rollins...

 

https://kentrollins.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/horseshoes-in-heaven/

[cooksdelight]

Oh hell.... they are advertising a Chopped Teen Tournament coming in July. FIVE episodes! ACK!

[cooksdelight]

I thought some of you who are Kent's fans would enjoy reading his blog

http://kentrollins.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/urban-cowboy/

[rujasu]

Oh hell.... they are advertising a Chopped Teen Tournament coming in July. FIVE episodes! ACK!

 

Oh great.

 

"Contestants, open your baskets!  You'll be making an entree from... Canned Spaghetti and Meatballs!  Rollable Fruit Snacks!  Chocolate Marshmallow Cereal!  And... Asparagus!  You have 30 minutes, good luck!"

 

"I want to win because my parents both died when I was 11, and I'm raising my 7 younger brothers and sisters and cooking for them.  The $10,000 would help us out a lot.  Also, 23 of my 461 Facebook friends have already won Chopped so I have something to prove."

 

"I want to win the $10,000 so that after I graduate high school, I can go to culinary school and help out underprivileged kids while making gourmet meals for homeless cancer patients."

 

"I want to win Chopped because I Am Very Competitive."

[Bella]

And "I want to show that teenagers are just as good in the kitchen as adults!"

 

Blecch.

[cooksdelight]

The prelim winners get nothing except to go to the finale. Then the four finalists play to win $25,000 and some type of scholarship to a culinary school. For once, FN ponied up some money and something nice as a prize.

[GaT]

I don't really have any interest in teenage cooks.

[cooksdelight]

Me either, they throw them softballs and someone always cries.

[Julia]

Isn't ICE a big Food Network sponsor? I suspect the prize and the scholarship are probably somewhere on their advertising budget. 

[mlp]

I'll be OK with this as long as they haven't brought Hunter back.  I keep catching a glimpse of him in a FN commercial but it goes by so fast that I can't tell what show he will be on.  I have no interest in putting up with him again.

[cooksdelight]

They might bring back some of the kids he beat, maybe, but I agree with you. One Hunter was enough.

[Julia]

Maybe they can put Hunter in Junior Throwdown and have him get whupped by the children of first responders every week. It seems to be a tested redemption arc :)

[LazyToaster]

Awesome, thanks for sharing that on Kent!

[mlp]

I saw the commercial with Hunter again tonight and looked more closely.  The other kids with him looked like kids from the Rachael vs. Guy show he was on so maybe it's just an old picture and we'll be spared seeing him again.

[rujasu]

The prelim winners get nothing except to go to the finale. Then the four finalists play to win $25,000 and some type of scholarship to a culinary school. For once, FN ponied up some money and something nice as a prize.

 

So wait, instead of $10K for a 4-person tournament, they're putting up $25K and a scholarship for a 16-person tournament?  That doesn't sound like an increased investment.

[cooksdelight]

That's the problem I have with these 4 round tournaments. The prelim winners get nothing. But the glory of being in the finale.

They might surprise us and give the kids something, throw them a bone. Remains to be seen.

[Bella]

Let's take any further teen challenge discussion to the "Special Contestants" thread.

[backformore]

Great title!   This show HAS become sad!  It's always about overcoming illness, honoring dead relatives, or proving to the doubters that you are not a loser.  What I've never understood though, is how many parents are supposedly so disappointed when thier kids decide to cook for a living.   REALLY?   I'd be disappointed if my kids grew up to be drug dealers, pimps, bank robbers, prostitutes.  I honeslty don't think that cooking for a living is something to be ashamed of. 

[Maverick]

 The tournament shows usually have a $50,000 prize which makes sense They basically takes the normal $10k from each round and make it winner-take-all.  It sucks the preliminary winners get nothing, but they are getting a crack at a much larger prize.  I guess the teen tournament it lower because it also includes the scholarship, but it still seems kinda cheap since I'm sure the CIA is kicking in a lot (or all) of the cost of the scholarship.  

[cooksdelight]

"Sweet Surprises" is re-airing. Where only the pastry chef pronounces macarons correctly. Everyone else, Ted, Alex, Scott, Marcus, and the other two entree contestants call them macaROONs.

[cooksdelight]

Some news about Cowboy chef Kent Rollins, he's going to appear on a new cooking competition.

http://www.westernhorseman.com/articles/2549-cowboy-chef-to-appear-on-new-nbc-food-series

[Julia]

Oh, my. Ted's face when chef PS, I Love Me talked about how traumatic it was when people called him the sexiest chef...