S12.E10: Pushing For a Pilot

[Amarsir]

4 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Am I seriously the only person who actually understands Damiano without subtitles?  Is it because I live in a large city and hear different accents all the time? 

Nah, I understand him. At least I think I understand him. It might actually be that I don't care enough about any of these people to listen.

[stormy]

The pilots were pathetic.

Tregaye and Jenard were audtioning to be Guy Jr.

Well least Damiano went into the kitchen and cooked.  I want him to be a judge on Cupcake Wars with Florian.  That would be so much fun.

Edited July 25, 2016 by stormy

[xaxat]

1 minute ago, stormy said:

Tregaye and Jenard were audtioning to be Guy Jr.

That's probably what the network wants.

[Gregg247]

This is the first season where I don't care which of the 3 finalists wins.  The reason is that I've given up trying to decide who would make the best host of their own show, and who would be best at conveying food knowledge to the general public, and who had the potential to become a breakout star.

That's because the answer to all of these questions is "None of them!".  I don't think TFN even cares about any of that anymore.  They just want to churn through contestants and recycle them in as many ways as possible.  The "winner" of this show will go on to become a rotating judge on "Guys Grocery Games", "Beat Bobby Flay", and  any of a number of children-centric shows that seem to be turning up on this channel.

What a shame.

[PRgal]

24 minutes ago, xaxat said:

That's probably what the network wants.

Which sucks.  Because it shows the lack of diversity when it comes to the TYPE of programming.  I mean, how many Guy Jr. type shows do we need?  We already have the Canadian version - "You Gotta Eat Here!"  Does that air in the US?

[LittleIggy]

This is only the 2nd season of FNS I've seen, so I looked up it's history on Wikipedia. It looks as if Guy Fieri is the only "star" it has produced.

[orangekit]

It's obvious that Treygaye can do anything and mess up and she will still win.  Poor Yaku, he out cooked Treygaye and also did a way better video, and she was chosen. Obviously they did not pick the finalists based on that one day of food and presentation.

When I was watching Treygaye eat in the restaurant, all goofy and giddy while she was eating in the restaurant, I had flashbacks to Rachael Ray in $40 a Day.  I am thinking they would first of all like a woman, and second, like someone to have that bubbly personality, kind of like Rachael.   

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, PRgal said:

Am I seriously the only person who actually understands Damiano without subtitles?  Is it because I live in a large city and hear different accents all the time? 

I teach ESL, and I find him hard to understand. He talks too fast. BTW, I don't get the talk about him being a hottie at all!

[joanne3482]

11 hours ago, Pallida said:

I'm glad Yaku didn't win. I hope that him not winning means he can actually have a cooking show rather than a food show since winners get food shows. 

True enough since I think Kelsey got a show on the Cooking Channel as did Nikki Dinki and Jeffery Saad.  

[catrice2]

Oh my! I thought Tregaye was easily in her late thirties or early 40's.  I just read she is 31.  In some ways I guess she is just young. I am not into a lot of the Snapchat, Instagram, Reality show, Twitter generation. I think that is her demographic, but I don't know if those are people that watch Food Network. 

[jcbrown]

13 hours ago, biakbiak said:

His dish was a St. Honore cake, which has both puff pastry and cream puffs. He was inarticulate and briefly mispoke but he used both in his dish. 

Appreciate the clarification. Would have appreciated it even more if I had been able to pick that up from the guy who was supposedly describing what he had cooked.

[SingleMaltBlonde]

17 hours ago, LexieLily said:

and I still don't know what Food Fusion on Fleek is.

I think "on fleek" means very good or perfect (urban dictionary)...oddly if someone want their POV to be "perfecct food" I don't think Booby or Jaws would be ok with that.

 

17 hours ago, Crucial said:

Jernard was the best of the bunch and I enjoyed watching his promo. Hopefully he wins.

I am lukewarm on Jernard but I wouldn't watch someone travel around and find canjun food.

 

4 hours ago, schnauzergirl said:

 but it's more work than it's worth.  He also talks very fast and that makes it even harder.  

I think this is perfect...I understand him both the accent and the speed but as the expression goes mileage may vary.

I would watch Damiano because I bake.

[dewelar]

1 hour ago, SingleMaltBlonde said:

I think "on fleek" means very good or perfect (urban dictionary)...

Right. The problem is that Tregaye has never explained it, and she needs to.

[leighdear]

5 hours ago, Gregg247 said:

 The reason is that I've given up trying to decide who would make the best host of their own show, and who would be best at conveying food knowledge to the general public, and who had the potential to become a breakout star.

That's because the answer to all of these questions is "None of them!".  I don't think TFN even cares about any of that anymore.  They just want to churn through contestants and recycle them in as many ways as possible.  The "winner" of this show will go on to become a rotating judge on "Guys Grocery Games", "Beat Bobby Flay", and  any of a number of children-centric shows that seem to be turning up on this channel.

What a shame.

Precisely.  This many seasons in, they know they will never get a Guy 2.0, so they aren't actually trying anymore.  

This is now a show about Bobby & Giada and keeping their brands alive.  The "winner" will have minimal exposure, get almost no attention and simply be forgotten among the mostly forgettable.  It doesn't actually matter who they pick, because they won't amount to anything on Food Network.  

[cattykit]

Watch one of these losers?  No, thanks, I'm having people over to help me watch paint dry.

[spiderpig]

58 minutes ago, cattykit said:

Watch one of these losers?  No, thanks, I'm having people over to help me watch paint dry.

HGTV - right up your alley, catty.

Hey, we know Kermit got his walking papers, but does anyone know what happened to Medusa?  Is she in the Witness Protection Program?

[limecoke]

While seeing Clifton's Cafeteria was nostalgic for me (my parents took me there as a child many times), I didn't see the point of having Tregaye there to describe the unusual decor then stuff her face with turkey.  Does that mean when she wins, her show will be about traveling the US to describe, then eat in historical, iconic restaurants?  I don't get it.  

I agree, Yaku was far better than Tregaye, but I knew they would pick Ms. Fleek.  Judging them on that presentation only, yeah right.  What a joke.  She would drive me nuts with her antics.  

I might watch Jennard and Damiano but am not excited about either of them.  If they would slow Damiano down and get him to chill out his show might be interesting.  Jennard might be good if he settled down a bit and dropped the Chef of Love stuff.  

Yeah, I caught the comment Bobby made to LBH and, ewwwwwwww.

[bluepiano]

11 hours ago, Amarsir said:

That's because her POV isn't really fusion. Tregaye's POV is acting foolish around food. And you must admit, she's worked that in pretty consistently.

Actually, it's "food fusion on fleek." The fleek makes all the difference.

9 hours ago, catrice2 said:

I have not watched every episode and I freely admit that I fast forward a LOT, but I don't recall her explaining her fusion, the only thing I heard her say is that she wanted to have a show sitting around with her girlfriends or something like that.  

OMG, this network has gotten so dumbed down that I could see them actually doing a show like that. "Yo you yo, whassupyall, this is your girl Tregaye and I got some of my BFFs with me today." Then they could bring on a parade of the minor "celebrities" and YouTube vloggers they apparently think their audience wants to see.

There was some sour grapes from Rob, who acted like he didn't want to be there. If that's the case, he could've declined to come on, as apparently Melissa (the skinny blonde) and Martita did. For the ones who got paraded out there and then didn't get to be a sous chef it was pretty embarrassing. Though I imagine that Anna might've been glad she didn't get picked. It would've been really awkward given her often stated belief that she was the best chef this season. And how nasty the final three had been to her.

Funny how Havird, the first eliminated contestant, got to be a sous chef. In retrospect, too bad he didn't get more of a chance. At least I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have been falling on his butt trying to do cartwheels.

[cattykit]

32 minutes ago, spiderpig said:

HGTV - right up your alley, catty.

Hey, we know Kermit got his walking papers, but does anyone know what happened to Medusa?  Is she in the Witness Protection Program?

HGTV--another network that's been completely bastardized from a great concept into something unwatchable.  Many, many parallels here with FN.

I don't know what happened to Medusa, but damn if I don't actually miss both of them.  They looked at the business side of things and were reasonably good at ferreting out bullshit, most of the time.  If nothing else, they should have had more than a two-person committee making the decisions--but then, there's no reason to believe, as has long been pointed out, that anyone at FN actually gives a shit if a Food Network star is born, so long as the ratings for TNFNS are high.

[schnauzergirl]

I've been thinking I must run with the wrong crowd -- nobody I know either uses fleek anymore or knows what it means.

[catrice2]

I'd bet money that Ana's name was not even in the bag.  Who was Melissa? Wasn't Martita on another season? 

[smiley13]

Yaku should have stayed over Damiano and Tregaye IMO.  Damiano is not all that, despite what Gee-Ah-Da thinks.  And I about gagged when Bobby asked her if she would make him that dessert for his birthday.  The two of them really need to go.

I enjoyed seeing the Star Salvation show before the main show last night.  Yaku was impressive.  He earned the right to go back, only to be cheated out of it, even though Gee-Ah-Da stressed that they would judge on that night performance only.

Thankfully no one chose snotty Ana for their sous chef.  At lease her appearance was brief.

[SingleMaltBlonde]

36 minutes ago, bluepiano said:

There was some sour grapes from Rob, who acted like he didn't want to be there. If that's the case, he could've declined to come on,

I think he was thrown by D's requests...he's a pastry chef and a control freak and Rob is not...for all the breaks they gave D over the season I am surprised they didn't let them pick thier sous chef...D would have gone with Erin and that would have been a huge advantage.

31 minutes ago, schnauzergirl said:

I've been thinking I must run with the wrong crowd -- nobody I know either uses fleek anymore or knows what it means.

I think it's a word that went from hip and happening to soccer moms and local tv news anchors.  Once I know slang it's no longer cool...

[bluepiano]

20 hours ago, dewelar said:

Right. The problem is that Tregaye has never explained it, and she needs to.

I think the problem is that she said it in the first place. And then said it over and over and over and over...etc.

"Hip" slang terms are a way to separate yourself from an audience, not draw them in. They usually only resonate with a particular demographic. And go out of style very quickly. That's why in the old days Bob and Suzie used to warn again slang.

17 hours ago, SingleMaltBlonde said:

I think it's a word that went from hip and happening to soccer moms and local tv news anchors.  Once I know slang it's no longer cool...

Exactly. There's a certain kind of white person who throws around supposed "black lingo" to be hip and cool. And they usually learn it from sit coms and movies. Like Bobby and Giada. I don't think either one of them does a lot of hanging out on the corner.

23 hours ago, orangekit said:

.When I was watching Treygaye eat in the restaurant, all goofy and giddy while she was eating in the restaurant, I had flashbacks to Rachael Ray in $40 a Day.  I am thinking they would first of all like a woman, and second, like someone to have that bubbly personality, kind of like Rachael.   

Except Rachel was actually really good on that show, which was the one that initially made her popular, before she started being everywhere on FN and became a cartoon of herself. On that show her enthusiasm and bubbly personality seemed genuine. There was nothing forced and OTT, like with Tregaye.

Jernard came across as very nervous when talking to the chef at the Cajun restaurant. I just don't think that's his strength. I think that a lot of the Chef of Love talk and other shenanigans was him giving the judges what they wanted. (They even showed the clip of Bobby telling him to play the clown). Underneath it all, he seems like a reserved person, and not a natural communicator.

Of the three dud finalists, Damiano is probably best suited to doing a travel/chat show, heavy Italian accent and all. (I have a feeling that if he wins, that accent will suddenly fade significantly, once he no longer has to woo Giada and various female guest judges).

Edited July 26, 2016 by bluepiano

[Jodithgrace]

I don't think that any of the so called "pilots," reflect the type of show the the finalists would actually do if they win. I think the Network just wanted to give all three equivalent shows, which were cheap to produce and which would last only 3 minutes. This seems to be the route they go..send the contestant to a restaurant which has a passing relationship to their theme and have them talk to the owner and possibly help cook something, like Damiano did. 

Unpopular opinion here..I am rooting for Damiano. I like him. Maybe that is related to the fact that I was just in Italy this past April and met a few young men like Damiano. I might actually watch a show of his. They can always work on his diction. I watch a show on the Create Network, Nick Stallino,  who has at least as thick an accent as Damiano but he speaks distinctly enough that i can understand every word. When he has confidence he will speak slower. Nerves makes him speed up and get his puff pastry and cream puffs mixed up. 

[GeorgiaRai]

^ I see your unpopular opinion and raise you one because I like Damiano AND (gasp!) Tregaye.  With some tweaking (ala Damaris) I think I'd enjoy watching a cooking show hosted by either one of them.  I'd watch Monterey, too, and wish she'd done better.  The show overall, though, has devolved into more of a food-themed obstacle course; I liked it so much better in the early days when the comps had something to do with, you know, possibly hosting a cooking show.

[kitten59]

10 hours ago, Amarsir said:

Nah, I understand him. At least I think I understand him. It might actually be that I don't care enough about any of these people to listen.

I have no problem understanding him either. He is my favorite (not that I'm crazy about this year's crop to begin with). I actually find him funny and charismatic, without trying too hard (unlike Tregaye and Jernard). I have yet to meet an Italian guy who doesn't ooze personality, though ;-).

[Skyfall]

So pretty much Star Salvation was what the real final 3 should've been so Yaku actually won...right? Right?!?!?!?

[dewelar]

2 hours ago, bluepiano said:

I think the problem is that she said it in the first place. And then said it over and over and over and over...etc.

And over and over...WITHOUT EXPLAINING IT. EVER.

2 hours ago, bluepiano said:

"Hip" slang terms are a way to separate yourself from an audience, not draw them in.

Exactly.

Quote

They usually only resonate with a particular demographic.

Careful now. That kind of talk got Ana labeled a racist ;-) !

[jackjill89]

I've only heard "on fleek" to describe nice eyebrows... and it was in a joking manner. Kelly Ripa has used it sarcastically. It's one of those phrases that some people really want to happen -- like "amazeballs" or "awesome sauce" but are just beyond stupid. 

Edited July 26, 2016 by jackjill89

[xaxat]

When Tregaye was pouring on her salad dressing/sauce whatever the hell it was, for a split second I thought she was going to 

[HappyDancex2]

I'm still waiting for someone to loop the red sauce yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssss.  Waiting.

im about to view it in about 30 minutes...I think I'll probably laugh my ass off.

now I know why on other cooking shows like top chef that the sous they bring back are usually the recent crop of eliminations.  I didn't even realize the picked ones were on the show until they got to the lunch lady.  

i think when they shortened "the next food network star"  to "food network star" they really told us the truth.  This isn't about finding the next food network star anymore....it's about a bunch of buffoons who are picked as though they wanted to become food network stars and their journey through buffoonery.  We should accept what they are presenting to us....not the past iteration of this show.

[HappyDancex2]

12 minutes ago, xaxat said:

When Tregaye was pouring on her salad dressing/sauce whatever the hell it was, for a split second I thought she was going to 

 

Omg crying.  I forgot about that commercial....so appropriate!

[Snarklepuss]

I was just contemplating the irony of Guy telling Tregaye to take "princess bites" when he stuffs half a sandwich into his gaping maw with every bite, and continues to talk as it falls out of his mouth.

Me too to not having any trouble understanding Damiano.

Me three to having Rachael Ray in $40 a day flashbacks while watching Tregaye.  TPTB must think they've hit the FN trifecta in her, diversity, plus part Guy/part Rachael.

[backformore]

On ‎7‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 9:14 PM, Crucial said:

I couldn't understand one thing Damiano said in his presentation other than puff pastry.  He spoke way too fast. 

When he introduced himself, I was thinking "I thought his name was Damiano?"  It sure didn't sound like that to me.  The problem isn't just his accent, it's that he talks too fast, doesn't pause between sentences/phrases, soitsoundslikeallhiswordsruntogether.

 

21 hours ago, bluepiano said:

The big joke is that they criticized Yaku for not explaining how his dish fused Jamaican and Mexican food, yet NOT ONCE the entire season have I heard Tregaye explain how anything she cooked was "fusion." Fusion between what and what? It was just a buzz word she threw around, while basically cooking anything she wanted. In the old days of this show, the judges (and Bob and Susie) used to beat the "culinary POV" thing into the ground, but at least it did make the contestants have to articulate what they could offer as a FN host

Wait -  You're saying "Poppin meets Fleek" doesn't count as fusion? 

15 hours ago, roseslg said:

Can anyone tell me what Bobby said to Jernard after he did the backflip/belly-flop?  I literally covered my eyes with my fingers and went lalalala.  My husband thought I was crazy.  I was seriously suffering from 2nd hand embarrassment for him.  Did he hurt himself?  Jayzus

Bobby said "Congratulations!  Don't let us down."  Those were his words.   His FACE, after seeing that cartwheel/backflip/wipeout  said "Oh shit - what an asshole!"  Which is also what most of the Tv audience was thinking. 

[HappyDancex2]

Upon rewatch, Yaku is like rooting for the best of the worst.  His soup was a hot ass mess with a "clean the fridge" quality to it.  He may be quiet and composed but his food chops are suspect.  Knife cuts abhorrent.

same with Tregaye...she NEVER explained the fusion of her dish and suffers from typical Too Many Ingredient disease.  Dry corn cakes arent subjective...so if you can't tell they are dry, you aren't a food authority on fleek.  Next time I have corn bread I'm going to exclaim "these are corny!"  

Which leads us to red sauce Yaaaaaaaaaas.  I laughed till I cried.  I was barely paying attention the first time through as the show was background noise....thank you DVR.  That was worth it.  And then I rewound it.  Because I needed to laugh again.  Yaahhhhhaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssssssssshahahahahahahahahbwahahahahahahaha!

Damiano is the only one is actually an expert.  He crashes and burns on occasion but let's face it, he knows sweets.  I trust his skill set.  Not sure he has any longevity for me but though.

[Albino]

13 hours ago, Amarsir said:

Nah, I understand him. At least I think I understand him. It might actually be that I don't care enough about any of these people to listen.

I can understand him fairly well, but I wouldn't want to listen to him for 30 minutes.  I have to concentrate when he's speaking, which is the opposite of relaxing while watching a cooking show.

[Snarklepuss]

39 minutes ago, HappyDancex2 said:

same with Tregaye...she NEVER explained the fusion of her dish and suffers from typical Too Many Ingredient disease.  Dry corn cakes arent subjective...so if you can't tell they are dry, you aren't a food authority on fleek.  Next time I have corn bread I'm going to exclaim "these are corny!" 

I couldn't believe how Bobby of all people liked her hot mess of a "bread pudding" with everything from Snickers bars to candy corn in it.  That dish was a new low for this show and a diabetic nightmare.  Bobby should hand in his apron and go home for that one.  And I'm not buying her food at all.

[cooksdelight]

This show has become an embarrassment, for me, as I wasn't sure if they'd picked a "winner" yet or what was going on. Bobby and Giada should thank their lucky stars they have shows on this network because no one else would hire them, based on their hosting this hot mess.

[Rick Kitchen]

They should have called this episode "Popping and fleeking for the pilot"

[TDT]

17 hours ago, PRgal said:

Which sucks.  Because it shows the lack of diversity when it comes to the TYPE of programming.  I mean, how many Guy Jr. type shows do we need?  We already have the Canadian version - "You Gotta Eat Here!"  Does that air in the US?

 

I assume thats what the host says at the end of every episode..?

[Twinkii]

I still can't get over Jernard suddenly flipping and falling, i laughed way too hard. It was mainly because of Bobby and Giada's reaction to him crashing to the ground full force lol.

I agree with most of these comments about Tregaye, she's been grating for a while but chose a fine time to mess up pretty bad. I was so sure she was going home but those judges act like they can't let her go. I really hope she doesn't win.

[Amarsir]

7 hours ago, Skyfall said:

So pretty much Star Salvation was what the real final 3 should've been so Yaku actually won...right? Right?!?!?!?

No, Star Salvation is a lesser show because it has a small budget, and is always in the same studio, and only has 2 judges, and . . . You know, I think you have a point. Congrats to winner Yaku!

[Malbec]

19 hours ago, schnauzergirl said:

At one point, I was leaning toward Tregaye because she wasn't as outrageous as she has become and also because her THs were sensible -- she came off as an adult with something pertinent to say.  That's changed and now I cannot imagine watching her fusion show, whatever that means. 

This was my trajectory with her as well.  As the group thinned out I came to quickly realize that Tregaye was best in very, very small doses.

[parrotfeathers]

I think Yaku would have had a better fan base (not that it really matters to FN) if he had not had that beard.  

If Tregaye wins I would think she would have to have a makeover with the purple stuff and those fingernails banished.

Not anything they can do about Damiano's tattoos.

I miss Bob Tuschman and Susie Foglesan.  There I said it.

Edited July 26, 2016 by parrotfeathers

[CoyoteBlue]

4 hours ago, Twinkii said:

I still can't get over Jernard suddenly flipping and falling, i laughed way too hard. It was mainly because of Bobby and Giada's reaction to him crashing to the ground full

Granted, I was only half paying attention, but where the hell was Jernard going? I look over and he's disappearing into the shadows off to the side and slamming himself to the ground - and then getting up and rejoining everyone. 

Rob's problem with finding the tool seemed  to come down to him not understanding what "perforate" means. (Or not understanding the word when Damiano says it...) When Damiano switched to "pokes holes in", Rob's suddenly enlightened.

[backformore]

28 minutes ago, CoyoteBlue said:

Granted, I was only half paying attention, but where the hell was Jernard going? I look over and he's disappearing into the shadows off to the side and slamming himself to the ground - and then getting up and rejoining everyone. 

He was channeling his inner gymnast and doing a double flip to express his joy and enthusiasm.  Then he crashed to the floor, and got up like "I meant to do that,"  and laughed it off.   Then he stood there in pain until he could get an ice pack and some advil.   Jernard, you're way to big to try that trick!

[bluepiano]

5 hours ago, parrotfeathers said:

Not anything they can do about Damiano's tattoos.

I miss Bob Tuschman and Susie Foglesan.  There I said it.

The tats don't seem to hurt the popularity of Guy F., the poster boy of FN.

Almost every young chef on Chopped and Top Chef appears to spend half their time in a tattoo parlor. And not just the hipster chefs from Brooklyn and LA. It appears to be a universal industry thing. Where I live, many of the food servers are tatted as well. Not an issue for me, except maybe with neck tats. For some reason, they just make people look unclean.

I'm with you about Susie and Tuschie. I used to wish they'd go away. This year I'm wishing they were around, to tell some of the contestants to stop the shenanigans and act with some dignity. Strange that now this show has no one from "the network," because you would think they'd need that perspective. I guess it proves what a lot of people have been posting here, that there's no longer even the illusion that this show is about finding a potential FN "star." It's just a dumb entertainment spectacle.

[lh25]

Quote

Not anything they can do about Damiano's tattoos.

Maybe he can tell a story about growing up in Italy, how across from their house in a field was a rustic little tattoo parlor...

[GaT]

19 hours ago, schnauzergirl said:

I've been thinking I must run with the wrong crowd -- nobody I know either uses fleek anymore or knows what it means.

 

19 hours ago, SingleMaltBlonde said:

I think it's a word that went from hip and happening to soccer moms and local tv news anchors.  Once I know slang it's no longer cool...

 

18 hours ago, bluepiano said:

"Hip" slang terms are a way to separate yourself from an audience, not draw them in. They usually only resonate with a particular demographic. And go out of style very quickly. That's why in the old days Bob and Suzie used to warn again slang.

Fergie uses the word fleek in her newest song "M.I.L.F $" a truly bad song & video. The first time I saw it, all I could think about was how outdated the word fleek was.

For those who can stand it: