S13.E01: Celebrity: Hit Me With Your Best Dish

[Jaded]

Quote

The new cast of celebrity recruits arrive at Boot Camp, and chefs Anne Burrell and Tyler Florence immediately hit them with their first challenge to cook their signature dishes so the chefs can assess their skills in the kitchen. Then the chefs teach the celebrities how to make a classic breakfast dish, and the lesson proves to be disastrous for the clueless cooks. After Anne and Tyler choose their teams, the celebrities are ready to officially start their culinary training.

Cast:

Oscar Nunez

La Toya Jackson

 Ian Ziering

 Catherine Bach

Bronson Pinchot

 Maria Bamford

 Nolan Gould

Edited April 3, 2018 by Jaded

[Mondrianyone]

No one was unbearably obnoxious.  Which is an improvement over last season.  So there's that.

[MerBearHou]

I didn’t see last season but this one tonight was fun.  So much humor in this group without trying TOO hard to be funny when you’re just....not.

Whoever produced and edited this show had a blast with the graphics and little extras.  I got a kick out of them (like Bronson’s silent movie in his head).  

Only LaToya annoyed me a tiny bit with her weird laugh and baby voice.  But she seems like a good soul — just odd.

Oscar Nunez is my favorite in almost everything he does.

[SHD]

I would've been fine if LaToya or Barbara Bach had gone home but I really like everyone else and even they aren't unbearable. It helps that they have a good number of comedy-based people this time.

[biakbiak]

59 minutes ago, SHD said:

Barbara Bach 

Catherine Bach, Barbara is married to Ringo Starr and doesn't need the payday. 

[backformore]

I now remember how annoying Ian has been on other shows - not liking him at all. I recall him  (Celebrity apprentice?) making a big deal about people mistakenly pronouncing his name "ee - an" instead of "eye- an"  

Not crazy about Bronson either, but I'll give him a chance. 

I love Oscar, he cracks me up with his deadpan delivery.  I also like Nolan and Maria.  

I wonder who dropped out that they had 7 cooks instead of 8?

I'm glad nobody went home.  It's weird to have a "boot camp" to teach people who can't cook, and then send someone home because they can't cook.  And really, if you want to teach someone to cook, teach them one dish at a time - eggs benedict OR potato cake with peppers.  But that would be too much like actually teaching them, and not as funny, because they would have fewer screw-ups. 

[Brookside]

I dropped out of last season halfway through because of the over-the-top "celebrities" I'd never heard of.  Tonight wasn't too bad - toned down, and people I've actually heard of, which makes the "celebrity" part legitimate at least.  But who is that woman with the voice?  And what is up with Nolan Gould's mouth?

[Maya]

11 hours ago, Mondrianyone said:

No one was unbearably obnoxious.  Which is an improvement over last season.  So there's that.

I thought the Modern Family kid was pretty obnoxious.

[Mondrianyone]

Well, he's a kid.  It goes with the territory.  And I didn't think he was, but obviously eye of the beholder and all that.

[HyeChaps]

LaToya's smiley face on her food made me laugh. 

[Wings]

Maria is bombing in her effort to make everything she says or does funny.   I love Oscar and I like Ian.  Bronson may be good, if he doesn't push the humor.  

LaToya is ridiculous with that head band that does nothing and her eagerness for face time with julienne julienne julienne julienne julienne.... Not funny nor cute.  She will stick around because she is probably the most famous one there due to her brother.  Ugh   She is going to play dumb and cute all the way through and do just enough to get to the finals.  I suspect she knows more about cooking than she is letting on.  Hunch. 

[mlp]

This may be the best celebrity version yet.  No one was totally ridiculous and I enjoyed the show.  I thought the producers/editors did a good job with the "special effects" this time and actually laughed out loud a couple times.  Tyler's reactions always amuse me.

The only time I've ever seen LaToya was years ago when she was on Celebrity Apprentice and I rather liked her then.  I've never seen her sing or do anything else so I may change my mind before this is over.  I don't know any of the rest of them but I liked Oscar and Ian - so far anyway.  The Daisy Duke woman looked like she was very pretty in her old pictures.  She still has pretty eyes but the rest of her face was a botoxed mess.  I don't understand why people do that to themselves when there are so many examples of celebrities who have ruined their looks doing the same thing.

[UniqueHandle]

I thought Oscar was so funny. His deadpan humor was great. And Nolan was pretty funny as well. I keep reminding myself he is only 19. 

I thought the episode was excellent and I wish there were more "celebrities" so it would last a little longer.

[seacliffsal]

I loved this episode!  The editors were amazing and hilarious.  I wish other shows would hire these same editors.

I liked Nolan more than I expected, and overall, this cast had some better known celebrities (well, to me anyway).  Catherine Bach didn't seem to be having fun, but the others seemed too.  I am looking forward to the rest of this season and hope it will be as entertaining as this first episode.

[Fostersmom]

Going against the grain here, I didn't find Oscar funny at all. He was too schticky and fake for me. Bronson was quickly approaching that line, but stayed just short of it. 

I had to laugh at Nolan. I have 3 nephews, 22, 19, and 15, and yeah, that's how they all would act on a cooking show. 

[nowornever]

I had fun with this, and was glad no one was sent home right out of the gate.  I was amazed that I had actually heard of most fo these folks.  That's not usually the case in "celebrity" shows, but that might say more about me than them.  

[JunebugTx]

10 hours ago, Wings said:

Maria is bombing in her effort to make everything she says or does funny.   I love Oscar and I like Ian.  Bronson may be good, if he doesn't push the humor.  

 

I had never heard of Maria before this show, but based on what I've seen so far, I don't like her.  I guess I've never seen Bronson in anything but Perfect Strangers, and was a little surprised when he spoke in his regular voice.  :)

[suebee12]

Question for regular viewers of this program. I have only seen bits and pieces of this before but I love Bronson Pinchot so I decided to watch this season. What I wondered has there ever someone who did well on the first test? And are all of these folks really that bad in the kitchen or they in it for the $$$$$? No one can really be that bad, can they?

I also know who I want to leave first. The  comedienne with the awful voice! I cannot stand to listen to her speak.

[spankydoll]

I thought that they were really u p ping their game getting Ringo's wife! Bronson is unrecognizable. Love LaToya and Oscar. I never understood the appeal of Maria Bamford and still don't. Modern Family kid should get used to D-List shows because he has zero charisma.  

[Yeah No]

I agree so far that no one stands out as super annoying, which is an improvement over last season. 

I actually didn't mind Maria Bamford.  I didn't think she bombed in any way in this episode.  I read that opinion before watching the episode and was preparing myself for mortification, as she can be a little out there.  She admits openly to being a little nuts and bipolar to boot.  I have heard her talk about her mental illness on YouTube only because my husband is a fan of her humor.  She's hit or miss with me and sometimes a little too creepy and on the far side for my taste.  But sometimes she's really funny.  Her hands were shaking quite noticeably on this show and I wondered what was up with that. 

If someone didn't tell me that was Bronson Pinchot, I never would have known.

LaToya was amiable if a bit on the quiet side.

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

.  Her hands were shaking quite noticeably on this show and I wondered what was up with that. 

She's mentioned it before some of her meds cause a tremor and somtimes slurred speech.

[spiderpig]

I agree this season appears to be a vast improvement over the last celeb edition.  The added comedy bits were creative and the participants seem like good sports.

I never watched Perfect Strangers but remember Bronson from other projects.  He also reads several audiobooks and is excellent.

I never watched Dukes of Hazzard either but knew who Catherine Bach was back in the day.  Seeing her now makes me feel better about myself.  She looks like Bride of Wildenstein mated with a Klingon.

The dishes they prepared were all barf-worthy, but I guess that's the point.

[Amarsir]

On 4/16/2018 at 8:55 PM, nowornever said:

I had fun with this, and was glad no one was sent home right out of the gate.  I was amazed that I had actually heard of most fo these folks.  That's not usually the case in "celebrity" shows, but that might say more about me than them.  

No, this is a surprising cast. A few have done reality shows before, but none have "reality show" as their only claim to celebrity. I've heard of all of them and (so far) none annoyed me. That's a rare achievement.

I guess Rachel Ray was busy? She usually gets the celeb seasons and Tyler gets the leftovers.

On 4/15/2018 at 11:52 PM, MerBearHou said:

Whoever produced and edited this show had a blast with the graphics and little extras.  I got a kick out of them (like Bronson’s silent movie in his head).  

The editing is both great and awful depending on how soft of a hand it is. Sometimes a contestant says something funny and the graphics tweak it a little bit. Other times it's a heavy-handed overlay that goes on way too long and has nothing to do with anything of interest. But it's part of the character of the show at this point.

On 4/17/2018 at 2:48 AM, suebee12 said:

Question for regular viewers of this program. I have only seen bits and pieces of this before but I love Bronson Pinchot so I decided to watch this season. What I wondered has there ever someone who did well on the first test? And are all of these folks really that bad in the kitchen or they in it for the $$$$$? No one can really be that bad, can they?

Honestly, this was a pretty good first round compared to the history. The goof-ups in the first test are so bad we do tend to figure some of them are just faking it for money / publicity. (One of the guys last season did something like putting some uncut carrots in a tin can and tying a ribbon around it.) 

On 4/16/2018 at 1:09 AM, backformore said:

I now remember how annoying Ian has been on other shows - not liking him at all. I recall him  (Celebrity apprentice?) making a big deal about people mistakenly pronouncing his name "ee - an" instead of "eye- an"  

Oh I remember that too! He was also super competitive, no? So far he hasn't annoyed me, but yeah now I'm going to be ready for him.

[suebee12]

19 hours ago, Amarsir said:

Honestly, this was a pretty good first round compared to the history. The goof-ups in the first test are so bad we do tend to figure some of them are just faking it for money / publicity. (One of the guys last season did something like putting some uncut carrots in a tin can and tying a ribbon around it.) 

Thanks for the info, but I still find it hard to believe anyone is that helpless in a kitchen!

[Amarsir]

On 4/19/2018 at 11:35 AM, suebee12 said:

Thanks for the info, but I still find it hard to believe anyone is that helpless in a kitchen!

Back before there was a Celebrity Worst Cooks in America, there was Rachel vs Guy Celebrity Cook-Off. The premise for that show was that the contestants actually can cook and the coaches were just there to help them take it up a level. The first challenge was to create hors d'oeuvres for 100 people. Gilbert Gottfried, reaching down to the depth of his talent, made peanut butter and jelly on white bread. This on a show that wants people to look good.

So clueless I believe. It's the wacky schtick and playing up characterizations / stereotypes that's forced.