The Shows of 2014: Because They've Been Pureed in a Blender

[fliptopbox]

I'm just watching last night's episode now, and heard Jeffrey start sob-storying about his uberstrict military dad. And you mean that whiny pussy who obviously still has daddy issues actually wins?! Good lord. I think Chopped has really begun scraping the bottom of the barrel, as far as contestants are concerned.

 

Seriously what happened to talented chefs who enjoy cooking and are just there to win the damn game? It's pretty depressing that this show has devolved into "who's got the most compelling sob story". It really has very little to do with the food anymore. I mean really, it feels like lately they could skip the cooking part altogether and just award the biggest crybaby with the ten grand.

Edited June 4, 2014 by fliptopbox

[Totale]

Sorry, Jeffrey, Chopped win aside, you are not good enough, not smart enough, and doggone it nobody likes you.

[Julia]

I don't think he would have gotten very far in restaurants if that was the way he really deals with life. I think the bouxhouxerie was so the audience would be OK with him getting the win he was promised for walking through the door.

[phoenix780]

Watching the episode I got a vibe that Chef Good Home and Chef Bad Dad had a little chemistry thing going on.  Probably just my mood. 

 

I took a long Chopped break so I'm not as annoyed with the sob stories as I had been.  Theming the sob stories seems new.  I still think it's incredibly strange to rattle off your childhood issues to complete strangers, on television.  I think there's some truth to it, and I think it may have become his survival strategy.  He's one of those people who makes us soft-hearted folks feel like they need to be taken care of, and I think he knows that.

 

I think a better story would have been to validate the woman who had the great parents, and have the other dude walk away commenting about how he's now learned he can be his own cheerleader, or whatever.  The way it played out was kinda sweet (again, probably my mood), but also sad.  

[ElleryAnne]

Theming the sob stories seems new.

 

 

I was wondering if that was a new thing.  I saw good parent/bad parent not long after seeing the one with the recovering alcoholic vs. the guy who thought life wasn't worth living without liquor.  I never know, though, if I'm just catching these shows out of order.  I don't mind the stories actually (and I liked Jeffrey), but if they start arranging them in themes I might go bonkers.  I'm fine with themes like Firefighters or Using Leftovers, but Vegan Suicides or Roadkill might tax even me.

 

ETA: Fixing punctuation. I get comma-happy.

Edited June 4, 2014 by ElleryAnne

[xaxat]

There was also the "You had cancer? So did I!" episode.

 

When it comes to the sob stories, I tend to give the contestants the benefit of a doubt. I've always suspected that the producers work hard to drag the most painful memories out of contestants that would probably not want the world to know their business. I wouldn't be surprised at all if one of the application questions was "Tell us about the worst thing you ever experienced."

[jcbrown]

I hope Jeffrey spent his 10K on therapy if that is his real persona. Good grief. That said, I really liked the woman (name forgotten) who came in second and how dignified and mature she was when she left. She seemed really like-able, and from all the people we've seen on this show who are anything but, I suspect that means something. But who was that first woman who was eliminated? I swear I have seen her on some other reality TV show and it was driving me nuts that I could not remember.

[CousinOliver]

Is Jeffrey's father still alive? If so (and if the story was real), how proud is dad going to be to hear his son whining and complaining on tv? Certainty, Jeffrey is about to get all the accolades. ::eye roll::

[Lola16]

Just had to same - flove your username @CousinOliver!

[Eolivet]

I thought Chef Jeffrey [sp?] used his sad tale of woe to manipulate the judges into a win he didn't earn.

His (judgmental, disapproving, military) father happened to come up nine times in casual conversation?

 

What a fascinating idea. How old is he? Granted, I've never been in his situation, but one would think that time would start to heal some of the wounds. (to me, he'd have been more believable were he in his early 20s, not pushing 40). I don't know whether I'm less or more impressed that he might've been exagerrating his issues for dramatic effect to win the show. With all the "My family means the world to me!" contestants, maybe the show figured they needed to even the score.

[anonymiss]

Watching the episode I got a vibe that Chef Good Home and Chef Bad Dad had a little chemistry thing going on.

 

Me too, or at least, she was her nice self and he was charmed (as were most of us).

 

How refreshing to have the Korean chef be talented but also happy about her life instead of plying us with why we should feel sorry for her. That said, I could not identify more with Abused Chef when he said he gets, "Wait till father gets home feeling" in the pit of his stomach. I felt for him but this is exasperating. We don't tune into Chopped for a Lifetime drama; we tune in for the cooking. 

[SecretHaze]

I can't hate Jeffrey (daddy issues guy) too much because I assume that the constant mentions of his dad and his low self esteem were thanks to the editors, not necessarily him. As we all know, they seem to hone in on one single characteristic or "theme" with each contestant and then hammer it home incessantly via sound bites throughout the show. They probably asked him in the backstage interviews to give them as much material as possible about his dad and how he never feels good enough, because that was his "story" for the episode.  

 

I didn't mind him winning ... and actually kind of liked him and thought he was attractive! 

[6 MeowMeowBeenz]

Re: cancer/cancer/CO2: You know, there are knives in that kitchen. I think I would have had to stab Miss CO2 if she were half as annoying as the editing made her seem.

 

"Ew, canned food. I'm just not as good as the OTHER chefs at hiding the taste, I just NEVER used canned goods" 

 

"cut. CUT" (holding up hand like Scarlett O'hara waiting for a man to kiss it)

 

"my food isn't good because CO2"

[cattykit]

 

I can't hate Jeffrey (daddy issues guy) too much because I assume that the constant mentions of his dad and his low self esteem were thanks to the editors, not necessarily him.

Unlike all the other sob stories that make me want to hurl, this one didn't.  Maybe it's because I'm in my 50s and if I could dropkick my dead father across the universe for what he did to my self-confidence.  A dead relative or a previous illness doesn't really impact your ability to perform in the kitchen, but having no self-esteem and no self-confidence can, if that's your line of work.

 

I really liked the Korean gal, though, and if she hadn't either left out that basket ingredient in round 2 or churned her IC into butter in round 3, she would have won. 

 

However, on that subject:  is it fair to pass through someone who's left off an ingredient because the rest of their plate is really good?  Who knows if that missing ingredient wouldn't have been crap, or wouldn't have made the rest of the dish crap if it had been incorporated?  It happens all the time that three elements are loved and the fourth is despised in execution.  Either you have to use them all or you don't. 

 

I'd really, really like to see a point system instead of this consensus judging, similar to ICA.  Take points off for failing to use the basket ingredients. 

[cooksdelight]

It used to be that if you left off an ingredient, you were out. No matter how good your dish tasted. Then, Ted got slack and started saying "It's not an automatic elimination." The rules of the game change all the time.

[muddywaters]

"cut. CUT" (holding up hand like Scarlett O'hara waiting for a man to kiss it)

 

Hah!  That's perfect!

[Julia]

Unlike all the other sob stories that make me want to hurl, this one didn't.  Maybe it's because I'm in my 50s and if I could dropkick my dead father across the universe for what he did to my self-confidence.  A dead relative or a previous illness doesn't really impact your ability to perform in the kitchen, but having no self-esteem and no self-confidence can, if that's your line of work.

 

I hear what you're saying, cattykit, and I agree with it, but in this case, Jeffrey is actually extremely successful IRL, to the point where based on their resumes it was absurdly slanted to put the other chefs on the same show with him. I'm guessing he's been on the administrative end for long enough for his skills on the line to slip and his performance suffered from it. If this is as good as he gets, though, and he's managed to convince people to give him a number of high profile jobs in Manhattan, it seems to me that he may have more self-esteem than skills.

Edited June 7, 2014 by Julia

[backformore]

That said, I could not identify more with Abused Chef when he said he gets, "Wait till father gets home feeling" in the pit of his stomach. I felt for him but this is exasperating. We don't tune into Chopped for a Lifetime drama; we tune in for the cooking.

 

I get the same reaction -   kind of -  it sucks that you had a tough life, but we all have challenges.   Now COOK!

[blackwing]

I missed the appetizer part of the Cancer/Carbon Monoxide battle, I came in during the entree round.  What was the backstory behind the carbon monoxide poisoning, how did she get it?  Was it responsible for that weird grey streak dye thing in her hair?

 

Apparently there are some rules on getting cut?  They have to stop work until someone bandages it?  I'm assuming she didn't get any kind of time credit.  Hated that she partly blamed the cut for her poor looking dish.  I think she said if she hadn't gotten cut she could have had more time to make something better.  Well if she hadn't been so careless she wouldn't have gotten cut.

 

I haven't watched Chopped in a long time, when did they start making this show into a sob story battle?  I didn't like the Asian guy solely because he kept talking about how he needed the money because he got cancer and lost his sense of taste etc.  Maneet looked like she was about to cry in sympathy.  Chopped used to be one of the few reality shows that was purely about presenting the best product without any of that social/interactive crap.  It was about seeing how chefs coped with the strange ingredients in the baskets and how good they were at being creative and thinking spontaneously.  Now it seems this show has added this element of "and presents the best sob story".  I'm not liking it.

[phoenix780]

To me Chopped has been so story-centric that I can't remember a time when it wasn't.  It's why I took a break for about a year, because there were only 4-5 varieties of chef and the tales were getting old.  It felt like every episode you'd have your immigrant/child of immigrants, a woman out to prove she could hold her own in a man's world, an older chef looking to prove they still had it, and a younger cockier chef with a bit of an attitude.  There'd be some variation, slightly, like they'd toss in a home cook and merge the woman/immigrant into one character, but it was all fairly predictable.

 

I think what's new, as I mentioned above, is that they're grouping similar stories together now.  Although thinking about it...I wonder if the existence of "Cutthroat Kitchen" made them shift the tone of Chopped.  That show is now their battle of douchebags; maybe this show took on Very Special Episode/NBC Olympics-levels of sob story as a result.  It keeps it distinct, in a way.

[NikSac]

I wasn't sure where to put this, so hope this is an okay spot.  I know I'm not alone in wishing they'd just get a second ice cream machine on this show already, and I think I have the perfect solution. I'm not sure if it was a new show or a rerun but Iron Chef America had an episode the other night where the Culinary Curveball was a bicycle powered ice cream maker, which included someone to pedal the bike (the chefs didn't have to do it). I think that's a perfect cross-over opportunity. Let's bring one of the ice cream bikes to Chopped!  The contestants could race for which ice cream machine/maker they got so there's still some competition.  Who knows, we might even find out which method of ice cream churning the judges prefer over time.

[Drogo]

Chef Millie was on Cutthroat Kitchen, but she was just a normal not-neglected-as-a-child chef on that show. 

[picklesprite]

What a sweet episode! Loved them. Come back!

[Julia]

I missed the appetizer part of the Cancer/Carbon Monoxide battle, I came in during the entree round.  What was the backstory behind the carbon monoxide poisoning, how did she get it?  Was it responsible for that weird grey streak dye thing in her hair?

She wasn't very clear about it. From what she said, it sounded like her neighbor's stove was somehow venting into her kitchen.

[xaxat]

Isn't the treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning oxygen? I worked at a store where people got CO poisoning one afternoon because of a faulty heating system. No one (fortunately) suffered the type of long term effects that CO Gal did.

 

Tonight's show was up against the NBA Finals so I knew I wasn't going to watch much of it. But when I saw it was another themed show, I knew I wasn't going to watch any of it.

[cooksdelight]

I am skipping the themed shows also. Can't stand them anymore.

CO poisoning is a silent killer, as you don't know you're inhaling the fumes until you pass out from it. I think she said it was coming from another apartment in her building, venting into hers. Those little detectors, like smoke detectors, would have alerted her early on and we'd have been saved from the sob story.

[cooksdelight]

Jet lag being what it is, I watched the Dads on my DVR. Show of hands... who didn't foresee Dead Wife Dad winning after his breakdown during the appetizer round??

[backformore]

The dads episode - I couldn't even finish watching it (though I know I will later).  These (sniff)  brave men who cook!  They COOK for their kids, they're not chefs, just regular guys who are home, taking care of kids - a widower, a Black  dad, a macho ex football coach , a gay dad.  ALL kinds of dads!  who COOK!  for their families!   Introduced as "Daring dads". 

 

So appetizer round was fish, sour cream, potato chips!  Wow!  WHAT will they make?   Oh, yeah, ALL of the brave, daring, innovative dads coated the fish with the potato chips and made a sauce with the sour cream.    how clever!

Edited June 11, 2014 by backformore

[cooksdelight]

I'm disappointed no one fried some potato chips and made a dip for both the fish and the chips with the sour cream.

Gay Dad got bad reviews on his entree, yet Coach Dad was chopped. Go figure. Ted was in love with Gay Dad, wanted him to make it to the end. And I'm not being crass or funny, he really did look like he had the hots for the guy.

I don't even listen to Maneet anymore. She says the same thing every single time, no matter what the dish, in my opinion.

[ElleryAnne]

I couldn't even fiish watching it (though I know I will later).  These (sniff)  brave men who cook!

 

 

Inspiring, isn't it?  Now my husband wants a very special episode featuring dads who make their kids' lunches before school - with rounds for the sandwich, the bag of veggies, and the dessert.  I told him it's probably scheduled for the next sweeps week.

 

 

Did anyone catch the episode recently where the two finalists at the end were both planning to use the ice cream maker (yeah, that narrows it down, right?).  The woman got to it first, but the guy asked to borrow her fryer oil instead (which she allowed), and the guy ended up comparing the exchange to the Gift of the Magi - which it absolutely was not, obviously.  I've been hoping to catch that one again, because I thought the editing team actually added crickets chirping to the pause after that comment.

[backformore]

It really is the stupidest thing in the world that they can't have TWO ice cream makers.  It's not like they have to have 4, there's only two people in the dessert round.  They have at least two of everything else.

[cooksdelight]

I think they only have one ice cream maker for that very reason... two people vying for it. In other rounds, there's two fryers for 3 or 4 people. Again, people fighting to use something. If both people were able to make ice cream at the same time, we'd be bored... right? :)

[NikSac]

I don't even listen to Maneet anymore. She says the same thing every single time, no matter what the dish, in my opinion.

 

I agree. She also happens to look and sound like the absolute worst boss I ever had, hands-down, that resulted in me leaving my old job after 17 years, so I have to look away and sometimes mute anytime Maneet's even on. I might - might - be able to handle her if she at least had different comments sometimes.

 

The Dad episode made sense with Father's Day coming up and all but I thought it was so over-sold. They're brave and daring because they can pack a lunch?  I also thought the baskets seemed awfully easy.  Usually I'm still trying to think of ideas 5 minutes into the cooking time, but this time I didn't have a hard time coming up with ideas.  I thought the fish-cake was creative as opposed to the obvious 'crush the chips and coat the fish' approach, but really, not difficult ingredients to use. I must confess I'm usually driven nuts by the sob stories but I did really feel for the Dad who ended up winning. I also thought his food looked pretty good, so I thought he deserved the win and it wasn't just a 'pity win.'

 

I still think they should snag one of the bicycle ice cream makers from the Iron Chef America luau dessert episode and put it on Chopped. Maybe they could make the contestants do the pedaling so they have to decide if it's worth the time sacrifice or not.

[cattykit]

I know I'll go to hell for this, but I felt like I was watching the reality version of Sleepless in Seattle.  Over/under on many calls Keith gets after this airing?

 

 

I don't even listen to Maneet anymore. 

Well, I did, and I'm still scratching my head over this:  "If he had presented it in a much more inviting way, the rest of the flavors would have come to the forefront."  I mean, I know about presentation and eating with your eyes, but really, if it looks nicer, it actually tastes better?

 

And I'm doubly set for hell, because I find it very hard to believe that nobody, especially the wife, knew about Richie's orientation until he came out only 12 years ago.

[GaT]

I actually liked the dad episode more than I thought I would, they all seemed like they could actually cook.

[ElleryAnne]

I think they only have one ice cream maker for that very reason... two people vying for it. In other rounds, there's two fryers for 3 or 4 people. Again, people fighting to use something. If both people were able to make ice cream at the same time, we'd be bored... right? :)

 

 

MMV, but I wouldn't be bored.  I don't see how two ice cream desserts would be any worse than two of any other thing that they do.  It annoys me that if both contestants have an idea for an ice cream dish, they can't both do it unless one risks everything by waiting until the machine is free.  It doesn't seem as bad with the fryer, because it's rare that three or four people will want it at the same time.  Plus, I don't watch the show to see the contestants scramble because they don't have the machine they want - I watch it to see what kind of dish they can come up with with the ingredients they've got.

[cooksdelight]

If I remember correctly, in one episode both contestants made ice cream. They even had the production crew clean it for the second user. I think it only takes 8 minutes to make a batch.

I guess it's the same reason they put truffle oil in the pantry. Just to see what will happen. :)

[ElleryAnne]

Yeah, I remember that one.  But again, it would usually mean one contestant has to take the risk of running low on time.  It just seems like an unnecessary disadvantage to one contestant.  There's enough drama in wondering how the food will turn out without needing that.

 

Maybe the real reason for the single machine is that the judges just don't like ice cream enough to want two of them for dessert, when they can instead end up with three random and disconnected pieces of stuff on a plate.

Edited June 12, 2014 by ElleryAnne

[Drogo]

Look, we can't have both chefs making ice cream, because then who would make the bread pudding? 

[Julia]

Elizabeth Falkner pulled herself out of the bottom on NIC once with french toast ice cream and bacon in a "monte cristo." I think that would be the neutron bomb of Chopped desserts.

[picklesprite]

I really liked the dads, and didn't even mind the sad stories, for once. The winning dad seemed to be a good and inventive cook, with good knowledge of spices, etc., and he had tons of warmth and dignity. I also liked how the gay dad was so generous when he lost, and also generous in his praise of the other dads. Nice guys.

[picklesprite]

Wow, those "fry" contestants all seemed to be terrible cooks. Or maybe they're just limited in their skills and experience at this point in their careers, and it was maybe not entirely kind to put them on. Too much pressure, too many unfamiliar ingredients, too little broad cooking experience? If Chopped had many shows like the "fry" one, I'd stop watching. I tune in to enjoy watching good cooks/chefs performing food miracles. I don't enjoy feeling bad for inexperienced cooks who aren't yet ready for prime time.

 

There are episodes like that one that make me very glad I'm not a food judge having to taste some of that stuff.

Edited June 13, 2014 by picklesprite

[cooksdelight]

3 of the 4 chefs supposedly specialized in fried foods. The lady who cooks for the stadium had no frying experience so she was doomed from the start, or so I thought. And those coconuts in round one would have thrown me for a loop also. The catfish was sort of a gimmee, to me, in that frying it is the only way I've ever fixed it myself.

Fried dill pickles are one of my favorite treats. But Vincent's were awful looking! When he mentioned fried ice cream as they were sitting in the holding area, I thought "Oh no, here we go..." so I'm sort of glad he didn't get that far. Then, they have capons in the next round, LOL! He never got the chance to fry a bird.

Erik sweated too much. The guy should invest in headbands of some type. Since he works on a food truck, which is hot, I suspect a lot of him goes into his food. :) Then he puts those wet chickpeas right into the hot oil! Geez!

[suedehead]

With so many episode to choose, there are too many repeats airing too close together. Even if one aired during the daytime on a weekend, there's no need to repeat it so soon in the evening. Last night was an ep I saw maybe a week or two ago. The winner was a guy who had serious self esteem issues because his military father was apparently an asshole. Santini must have done a number on him, since he wasn't close to his family. That truly sucks, he seemed like a nice guy, and I can see where he'd share that in the first round, but that. was. all. he. talked. about. At the end, I was glad he won only because I'm afraid of what would have happened if he'd lost

[ramble]

I really liked the dads, and didn't even mind the sad stories, for once.

That's how I felt as well & it was an odd change. Maybe it was because they all seemed like pretty pleasant contestants. I was prepared to dislike the football coach when he started in with his winning, hard work, no pity rah-rah, but then he talked about learning to appreciate his own wife & family after listening to dead wife dad & I softened on him. Gay dad seemed determined to make his point about getting to choose no matter what point in life you're at & that could've gotten old, but I think it was handled pretty well. Dead wife dad teetered right on the line for me of too much, but I enjoyed the guy when he wasn't crying so I guess it balanced it out. I found it interesting when Ted said something about being willing to be emotionally open when the guy first talked about his wife, after the appetizers were presented. It made me wonder if he had been hesitant & they talked him into opening up more than he had planned. That guy's lamb dish sounded yummy & I wanted to try it. I also liked seeing the judges all on the verge of tears & I liked seeing Scott, as usual. 

[CousinOliver]

I normally don't like the personal stories at all, but the Dads really didn't get on my nerves.  Maybe because, in the case of the emotional dad who lost his wife, it actually seemed real and raw rather than something he trotted out for TV.  Also, I'm more sympathetic to people who are not actually chefs; the "my kids wanted to see my do this" because I've been wallowing in upset since a loss is a lot easier to deal with than "my kids need to see me win" because they need to know mommy is the best and is as good as any man in the old boys network (read: my kids want me to win so we can go to Disneyland.)

 

OTOH, Chef who can't get over mean daddy?  Yeah, I hope to never see that again (although my sympathies to all of you who know that feeling.)  I was gassed by the neighbor's faulty stove?  Nope.  My military son died while he was in the service but not from military action?  Sad, but go grieve elsewhere. 

[NikSac]

This is probably an old episode but who can keep track anymore? It was aired today in 2014 so I hope it fits in this thread.

 

The hamburger one was so strange to me. Two of three chefs managed to forget a basket ingredient with the quail eggs?  Wow.  I also thought it was weird how the meat grinder didn't work for any of them on the appetizer round. It was like the ice cream machine, but worse.

 

The bacon episode is on now for me. I doubt I'll ever get the chance to try Iberico (spelling?) bacon but man, they sure do a good job making it sound good.

[Bella]

 

This is probably an old episode but who can keep track anymore? It was aired today in 2014 so I hope it fits in this thread.

 

You're in the right place. If it airs this year, this is the thread, because no one can keep track without a spreadsheet, and even then there are likely to be mistakes. ;-)

[Julia]

I was a little skittish about Brady Bunch dad during round one, since I thought he was a little waspish about SAH dad's dish, but I liked that he explained that he was feeling defensive about how the other fathers were going to react to his story after round one, and that he was touched by the way they accepted him after all. I also liked coach guy better than I expected him to.

 

I did think it was a little funny when Brady Bunch dad and grieving firefighter were having a polite little symbolism slapdown while they were waiting for the verdict.

Edited June 16, 2014 by Julia

[joanne3482]

I also thought it was weird how the meat grinder didn't work for any of them on the appetizer round.

 

I thought that was ridiculous, but I wonder if it wasn't because of the lamb. Although a quick google search doesn't really say that lamb is difficult to grind. 

 

I caught that one and the beer one. I really didn't like the kid from Wisconsin and I was glad he lost. I understand being glad you got out of your hometown, but to go on national television and be so dismissive of it and the people who live there was rude (to me).