S12.E01: Cinematic Debut

[RCharter]

On 5/25/2016 at 2:48 AM, candall said:

Sorry to stray so far off-topic, but for people who want grain-free bread, try "Oopsie Rolls" which originated from the www.yourlighterside.com site.  Can be adapted into multiple forms--hamburger buns, cinnamon rolls, etc.

My best tip to share.  You can't believe how tasty and satisfying.

I know we're going OT, and my apologies....but I've been really, really, really wanting sourdough bread.....does anyone know of anything GF?  You all seem to have such good information....I never really ate tons of bread, but I'm really, really missing sourdough.  Damn, how can I not be pregnant but have so many weird cravings!

Sorry y'all, I'm gonna try to make this my last snowflake moment.

On 5/26/2016 at 2:36 PM, OoogleEyes said:

I don't know about y'all, but I am OVER the "South in your Mouth" thing.

 And please, Sweet Baby Jesus, don't make "Smidgens!!" happen.

She was so close to not being a cartoon caricature of herself!  So close!  And then...."smidgens!"

I like the idea of a happy-go-lucky, sort of chunky baker.  I'm about that life.  I want to buy my cupcakes from someone that clearly knows what their talking about.

But no....not smidgens.

1 hour ago, mlp said:

I wish Tyler and Valerie were hosting the show with Bobby Flay.  They all seemed to have a relaxed and good-natured comraderie plus I think there should be more than two judges.  And I can't stand Giada.  Tyler isn't afraid to tell it like it is and Valerie is pretty straight forward too.  I think she's beautiful.  No matter how closely I look at her when she's on, I can't believe that she's in her late 50s. 

I think it can be all four of them judging.  IIRC, it is sometimes that way on TC and Tom would break any tie since he is head judge.  

I don't mind Giada, and I'm always amused by the Giada related snark on this page so I say keep her....for the snark alone if nothing else.

I currently have a weird crush on Tyler Florence so yes please!  Bobby is cool and Valerie seems both real and very constructive.

[cherry slushie]

11 hours ago, ivygirl said:

I'm rooting a bit for Ana as well. Ironically, she's one of the the more relatable contestants on this show. 

I actually kind of like Damiano... He's obviously fodder for Giada Luv, but I liked him on the baking show, so I'm not upset to have him on. Erin is creative but I wish she'd stop trying so hard to be a character with a catchphrase. If she mellowed out I might root for her.

While I'm here  I might as well admit that I really like Valerie. I thought her cooking show would be awful, but I actually enjoy it. And, I think she's a good judge. So I wouldn't mind seeing more of her.

So basically cosign most of your post :)

I rewatched the show this morning and go figure, I found Allergy Lady even MORE annoying. I also found myself more annoyed by Tregaye's snotty talking heads. She wasn't that great herself!

Oh, I like Damiano too, and loved him on The Holiday Baking Championship! So talented and creative! My snarky joke was more about Giada's Italian Stallion lust each season. :) As for Erin, take her Holiday Baking Championship persona and multiply it by 10 for TNFNS because she has to amp it up even more. I'm just going to focus on what she's making; LOL.

On another note, I kind of like that they're recycling contestants from show to show because it's familiar, and it's usually contestants I would have liked to see even more of, creative wise, on their previous FN show.

[spiderpig]

12 hours ago, mlp said:

I wish Tyler and Valerie were hosting the show with Bobby Flay.  They all seemed to have a relaxed and good-natured comraderie plus I think there should be more than two judges.  And I can't stand Giada.  Tyler isn't afraid to tell it like it is and Valerie is pretty straight forward too.  I think she's beautiful.  No matter how closely I look at her when she's on, I can't believe that she's in her late 50s. 

I totally agree.  There was such a nice vibe with that judge combination. If we want to be irritated we know we can count on most of the contestants.

[Jesse]

On 5/28/2016 at 10:42 AM, paramitch said:

But I don't really mind this, because the real next "Food Network Star" is in the vast majority of cases not going to be someone with zero media experience. Which is where social media has come in, and competitive reality. I don't mind that we're getting people with some experience -- I do mind that so many are still SO bad on camera at simply talking about food, and that far too many of them rely on a tired schtick that will only hurt them with viewers (Tregaye, ugh, it was all so fake -- I remember her at least being mildly amusing on CK, but here I just wanted to throw things at her).

Yeah, I've been thinking about this -- of course their talent pool has a lot of people we've already seen before. I mean, this is a show for people who want to be on TV, and Food Network has a lot of opportunities to be on TV! But they have GOT to get their acts together. 

I wish the competition format gave them more time for cooking/planning, even if they are supposed to be making something the viewer can make in less than an hour and that can be demoed in 90 seconds or whatever. They would still benefit from having a couple of hours to get their act together, and not in a way that's unrealistic to the actual job, I think. 

[MajorWoody]

Too many people to keep track of this early in the season.

 

Harvard was duller than watching snails race in his cold open. I would have switched channels within 3 seconds.

I have never watched any of the Real Housewive shows, and after seeing that floozy I doubt I ever will.

Yaku, as others have mentioned, needs to cover that beard. It detracts from everything else.

Lunch Lady, Smidgens, Sassy Black Mama, all this seasons phony characters.

Melissa, when I first saw her, I said to my wife "Look, a junkie". When I saw her again, I still thougt she looked like a junkie, albeit one who eats healthy food.

MarTEEETa was hailed as some sort of conquering hero. She better not get a swelled head, it's not like she was up against Batali, Flay and Symon. More like Moe, Larry, and Curly....nah make that Shemp.

The rest, I already forgot most of them.

[Whimsy]

Hey all.  Please remember this is only for the episode discussion. Take your health/recipe discussion over to either the Food board or the Health & Wellness board. Thanks!

[FineWashables]

Quote

What I would love to see is someone just cooking regular healthy food. I grew up with meat, starch, canned veggie for dinner so this is what I know. How can I make veggies taste better? How do I pick certain veggies that I've never seen before in their raw (read uncanned) form?

IKR! When gorgeous Eddie won this competition (last year? the year before?) I was so excited because I thought we'd finally get healthy food made by a professional athlete and trainer who'd actually show techniques and preparations to improve everyday eating without sacrificing flavor. Weirdly enough, he won and got his show, but instead of cooking -- or even talking about his own food -- they've got him jackassing around eating bbq. WTF??? Is there even one person in America who gives one single shit about watching somebody else eat random food the audience will never taste? I know Guy Fieri's built a career on it but to be fair, he also has a show where he cooks.

And enough with the Southern food.  Damaris Philips's show isn't much of a hit and neither are the Deen boys, thank the gods. And who wants to watch a (non X-rated) show about meat? I was a bigger fan back in the day when chefs had shows where they taught us how to cook, back before the Choppedification of the FN.  Clearly, that's just me.

[Lamb18]

I finally saw this episode last night. First impression: cooking and presentations (the second runs) better than average for Food Network Star contestants and in general, less annoying. On the other hand, no one stood out as being a way better cook or presenter than the others. My prediction for a win: Erin or Damiano, with the edge toward Erin. I think either of these two would be good for a baking, dessert show. Erin has the edge because you can understand her better and his a bigger personality. I could see her hosting an after school baking show (should FN ever consider that) or being a host or judge of one of the kids' baking contest shows. I didn't find her that annoying except for "smidgens" - what kind of substitute is that for a cuss word? It's like she thought about possible substituting words and decided "smidgens" would be cute on TV (except it's not).

I thought Hairvird should have stayed (although I was spoiled). Aaron was a jackass. I don't remember him being so jackassy on The Amazing Race but he had stiff competition on jackassery with Jonathan and Kendra in the show. I wonder if some competitors, such as Ana, were told to be lousy in their first presentations so their improvement on the second round could be that much more amazing!. I like Lunch Lady  - I liked him on Cutthroat Kitchen - but I don't see what niche he'd fill on Food Network. Too much Tregaye and Monterey - I'd like to see more talking heads from other people and not alternating between Tregaye and Monterey.  I think a lot of these people were asked to compete because they'd be fun to watch in the competition as opposed to them being serious contenders for their own TV show.

[Aethera]

Catching up as well. I agree that I'd much prefer Valerie to Giada on this show - I thought she was very good on the Comeback Kitchen episodes. Valerie + Tyler + Bobby sounds fine to me!

I like more people on this season than I have on seasons past, though I couldn't tell you most of the names yet. I remember Yaku from CK but most of the others I haven't seen before - I don't watch as much FN as I used to, except during the summer when fewer of 'my shows' are on :)  I do not like skinny scary blonde health nut (Melissa?), nor Aaron. I find Erin less annoying than I expected...she seems more genuine than I thought she'd be, and I hope she sticks around a bit. I like this year's Italian Hunk better than the last one but it is pretty ridiculously cookie cutter.  I was glad Martita beat Dom until Giada got a hold of her - she was right about being more deserving of a chance, and he was still a mess, though an improved mess. Now though, she can go anytime.