S14.E06: Shark Night Dinner

[TomCorps]

6 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I came of age when "Saturday Night Fever" was in the theater and every Italian American guy I knew wanted to look and act just like John Travolta in that movie.

Me too!  And I remember it like you do.  For me, the 70's Italian-American-Pride thing actually began a year earlier, with Rocky.  Just a "regular guy from the neighborhood" with a dream and a heart as big as all outdoors.  Who couldn't love a guy like that, and what kid wouldn't feel proud to share an ethnic and spiritual heritage with him?  And then younger, cooler Tony Manero from Saturday Night Fever.  Oh, the time I spent and the damage I did trying to blow-dry my hair exactly like he did...

I think, however, we're talking about two different stereotypes.  Neither Rocky Balboa nor Tony Manero was loud or crass, and I didn't think Dom was either.  Yes, I too could have picked Dom out of a line-up as sharing the same demographic as we do, but it's not the demographic, per se, to which I object regarding Christian.  It's the wiseguy / junior thug persona that makes him unwatchable to me.  His affect on camera is closer in spirit to Jersey Shore than to Saturday Night Fever.  They're not the same thing.  

This may seem like to-may-to, to-mah-to, but I know I liked Dom (although clearly not as much as Giada did) and I don't like Christian.  I felt like I shared something with Dom, and wouldn't have minded watching him on a FN show.  Christian makes me want to roll my eyeballs and walk in whatever direction is furthest from him.

[Simon47]

19 minutes ago, TomCorps said:

This may seem like to-may-to, to-mah-to, but I know I liked Dom (although clearly not as much as Giada did) and I don't like Christian.  I felt like I shared something with Dom, and wouldn't have minded watching him on a FN show.  Christian makes me want to roll my eyeballs and walk in whatever direction is furthest from him.

I disagree. Christian actually wears fancy clothes. What makes you think they’re ugly?

Was Dom the runner up in the season when Tregaye Eddie won?

[AAEBoiler]

18 hours ago, meowmommy said:

It surely felt like a kick in the face to the competitors (I just can't call them cheftestants) that some bubble-headed blogger walks in off the street and gets a FN series while they have to run this stupid gauntlet for the chance to win...nothing.

Yeah, I noticed that too and kinda chuckled.

[parrotfeathers]

13 hours ago, mme ginger said:

I have liked Amy right along but found that story about her son a bit hard to swallow. Although I’m sure if she’d told the judges her son caught a shark before he was three, they would’ve clapped and cheered in glee.  As long as mommies talk about their kids! Make it personal! 

Some  parents think everyone else thinks their kids are just as adorable as parents/grandparents think they are.   This just isn't true.  I'm so tired of commercials about bringing up bates cannot imagine having to watch it.  Different show--same idea though.  This is a cooking channel.  We want to see cooking.

[cooksdelight]

3 hours ago, Simon47 said:

Christian actually wears fancy clothes.

Can you point us to some of them, because I’ve yet to see him dressed in anything that doesn’t look like it came out of a dumpster.

[Simon47]

56 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

Can you point us to some of them, because I’ve yet to see him dressed in anything that doesn’t look like it came out of a dumpster.

Look and rewatch the episode, and you’ll se some of them.

[jmthrd]

the first challenge was the closest this show has ever come to capturing how i work in the kitchen:

• inspired by family tradition
• hackneyed twists on flavors/presentations
• spending the whole time on instagram
• fuck it, let's get popeyes involved while we're at it

[WallStreetDuchess]

This show is such a shell of its former self (though it will never be Top Chef) that I took it off of season pass on the DVR. I've really only been half watching the last couple seasons.

Has there been any episode this season where the contestants got to just straight out cook their signature dish without some dumb twist like making a stew into a sandwich, or add 100 hot peppers to your dish? I get that Bobby and Teeth want the contestants to be able to adapt, I don't know of too many (any?) cooking shows where the host does crazy stuff like that on a regular basis (at all?). There seems to be no point in it. It isn't entertaining. I would rather see the contestants cook their type of food each week and not have so many stupid twists. Does anyone really want to see how someone adapts stew into a sandwich? Maybe that's an untapped viewership I don't know about.

Sigh, anyway, I really don't care who wins. It's not like the winner will get an actual show anyway.

Now get off my lawn! :)

[DebbieM4]

I have a feeling I'm the only one with this take on it, but Palak complained a lot on this episode.  Non-stop, it seemed to me,.  Yes, I understand about editing, but she actually did say all those things.  The others acknowledged that things were challenging and then got on with it, but she just went from one complaint to another.  I've noticed it before, but in this episode more than ever.  That, combined with the quality of her voice, makes her really unappealing to me.   She's upbeat on camera, but I would never choose to listen to that voice. 

Amy is dull, IMO.  I'd like to see Manny win.  Or Christian.

[Yeah No]

17 hours ago, TomCorps said:

I think, however, we're talking about two different stereotypes.  Neither Rocky Balboa nor Tony Manero was loud or crass, and I didn't think Dom was either.  Yes, I too could have picked Dom out of a line-up as sharing the same demographic as we do, but it's not the demographic, per se, to which I object regarding Christian.  It's the wiseguy / junior thug persona that makes him unwatchable to me.  His affect on camera is closer in spirit to Jersey Shore than to Saturday Night Fever.  They're not the same thing.  

I can sort of see that but Jersey Shore is Jersey and SNF was NYC.  It might seem like hair splitting to most people, but it's still huge if you're from the area.

17 hours ago, TomCorps said:

This may seem like to-may-to, to-mah-to, but I know I liked Dom (although clearly not as much as Giada did) and I don't like Christian.  I felt like I shared something with Dom, and wouldn't have minded watching him on a FN show.  Christian makes me want to roll my eyeballs and walk in whatever direction is furthest from him.

Dom isn't a bad guy but I don't think he is cut out for TV, so I found it hard to want him to win.  It was just too frustrating for me to watch him flub his presentations over and over again.

13 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

Can you point us to some of them, because I’ve yet to see him dressed in anything that doesn’t look like it came out of a dumpster.

LOL, I was thinking Salvation Army but dumpster works too!  Christian wore one ensemble in this episode that I actually thought resembled more of a woman's outfit in terms of color combinations.  He wore a pair of mustard pants with a sort of shirt/jacket over another shirt in the same color family that felt vaguely reminiscent of a leisure jacket of the 1970s.  Another time he wore yet another shirt/jacket with strawberries or some kind of fruit in the shoulder area.  He also wore a dark blue or gray tailored jacket over a white collarless shirt.  I actually think he's trying to be fashionable but he's not able to pull off the shabby chic look so it comes off poorly.  I think he recently gained some weight judging from older photos of him online and he's still dressing for a thinner body type.  I also think he should rethink the unshaven look because with bigger cheeks it's making him look messy, not stylish.

[LennieBriscoe]

Aerobicidal, Lord honey,  consider your entire post quoted! Awesome! ?

As for Tregaye: Is she still ON FLEEK? ?

Agreed,  meow mommy. Once again, the show humiliates the competitors by inviting, WITHOUT the person's jumping through FNS hoops, a complete nothing to judge. Just get a Kardashian and be done with it. 

Re: FN hosts and their families: Guy Fee-Yeti has parlayed his cooking shows into getting bankrolled to film his sons Hunter and Gatherer on an eating tour of Europe. 

Edited July 18, 2018 by LennieBriscoe

[dewelar]

23 hours ago, Simon47 said:

On 7/17/2018 at 11:46 AM, cooksdelight said:

Can you point us to some of them, because I’ve yet to see him dressed in anything that doesn’t look like it came out of a dumpster.

Look and rewatch the episode, and you’ll se some of them.

These are not mutually exclusive. They might be fancy, but Christian seems to have the ability to make them look like they came out of a dumpster.

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

I was actually surprised & happy that Palak stayed over Ms. never fry anything. I would bet money that once she had a treat like a deep fried snickers, she be f*ing hooked.  I have been a faithful viewer since season 1, but this show is becoming almost as campy as Worse Cooks In America.  

Edited July 18, 2018 by Mahamid Frauded Me

[HyeChaps]

Remember when they always had a camera challenge where somehing would go wrong and they had to think on their feet?  No wooden spoon, gas wouldn’t work, missing ingredients.  I miss that. 

[TVbitch]

Isn't Popeyes a fast food place? We don't have them here, but I fail to understand the relevance of that.

They didn't even try to pretend to show Giada fake tasting Manny's fried mac & cheese cuz no way she put that in her mouth. Probably even a crumb of that had 50 calories. 

[Sew Sumi]

1 hour ago, TVbitch said:

Isn't Popeyes a fast food place? We don't have them here, but I fail to understand the relevance of that.

They didn't even try to pretend to show Giada fake tasting Manny's fried mac & cheese cuz no way she put that in her mouth. Probably even a crumb of that had 50 calories. 

Maybe Popeyes had to adapt a fried seafood Naw Orleans recipe to sell chicken. Riiiiiight. I get that the Popeyes lady couldn't give away the twist, but it would have been nice if Bobby/Giada would have said something during judging. No story? Nothing but an ad gig for a channel that ostensibly wants you to cook your own food. Or at least find decent homemade DDD food.

Edited July 19, 2018 by Sew Sumi

[Maverick]

 Popeye's lady said that their brand was started based on a family recipe, which is what the first challenge was about.  It was clearly all done for an in-show ad, but there was a connection. 

[margol29]

Has Mr. Pasta (is that Christian?) always cooking pasta. Has he ever made pasta? Top Chef would really ding him for that. I have even seen on WCIA where they were taught to make pasta. How good is an Italian chef if he can't make his own pasta? Heck I'm just a home cook of Polish heritage and I can make pasta!!!!

[TomCorps]

1 hour ago, margol29 said:

Has he ever made pasta?

I was wondering about this myself.  He won last week making a pasta dish, but we didn't see him actually making the pasta.  May have been edited out, but if so, why?  That seems like the essential step in getting the job done.

[margol29]

1 hour ago, TomCorps said:

I was wondering about this myself.  He won last week making a pasta dish, but we didn't see him actually making the pasta.  May have been edited out, but if so, why?  That seems like the essential step in getting the job done.

Anyone can go to the store and buy some Creamettes Spaghetti and Prego sauce and say "Hey, I made this Eye-talian dish! I should be on Food Network Star!"

[Westiepeach]

1 hour ago, margol29 said:

Anyone can go to the store and buy some Creamettes Spaghetti and Prego sauce and say "Hey, I made this Eye-talian dish! I should be on Food Network Star!"

Ree? Is that you?

[cooksdelight]

Not seeing him make pasta makes me think he used premade. You know... like most of us do. And since the standards for this show have dropped into the basement, he didn’t get dinged for it.

[mme ginger]

On 7/17/2018 at 7:48 PM, DebbieM4 said:

I have a feeling I'm the only one with this take on it, but Palak complained a lot on this episode.  Non-stop, it seemed to me,.  Yes, I understand about editing, but she actually did say all those things.  The others acknowledged that things were challenging and then got on with it, but she just went from one complaint to another.  I've noticed it before, but in this episode more than ever.  That, combined with the quality of her voice, makes her really unappealing to me.   She's upbeat on camera, but I would never choose to listen to that voice. 

Amy is dull, IMO.  I'd like to see Manny win.  Or Christian.

No, I like Palak and I felt that she was really unduly complaining in this episode. From the first, when the twist was thrown (“make it a sandwich”), I was yelling, “Make it a patty! Make it a patty!” It was a pretty obvious thing to do. I’ve made a couple of vegetarian/bean/lentil patties over the years - only a couple - but that was the obvious move to me. Maybe they made her act whiny and annoying? I wouldn’t doubt it! Lol...

[Jaded]

The past few years I've caught a couple episodes a season of this show so I'm not a regular viewer. I can't stand watching Gladia. I happened to watch this episode and it was frustrating in so many ways. Like with other FN competition shows everyone seemed to be playing a caricature of themselves. Just seeing healthy cooking lady this time made me want to smack her upside the head because she was so annoying. Did she do that "I don't cook whatever because I'm a healthy chef..." stuff in other episodes too? I liked Palak's screen presence even though she was complaining so much. I'm not sure if she could carry a show by herself but she might make a good judge since she doesn't seem to have trouble saying what's on her mind. The guys kinda blended together because it seemed like they were trying to be over the top in different ways.

The challenges from this episode seemed like one train wreck after another. These shows seem to like to set the participants up to fail and make the goal to get themselves out of it. I'd rather watch people be able to prepare decent and edible tasting food that viewers might want to try instead of seeing them always rushing around like chickens with their heads cut off. Was this show better in it's earlier seasons?

[cooksdelight]

I have to hit the mute button when Palek is on, her voice grates on my last good nerve.  Her complaining constantly about everything must have been her idea, and production seized on it and played it up.

Very disappointed in this entire season.

[Simon47]

1 hour ago, cooksdelight said:

I have to hit the mute button when Palek is on, her voice grates on my last good nerve.  Her complaining constantly about everything must have been her idea, and production seized on it and played it up.

Very disappointed in this entire season.

I want to ask you a question: Are you glad Katie is gone?

I have to agree with you on Palek’s voice, although I doubt she was actually “complaining.”

[cooksdelight]

Yes, Katie can disappear from my screen forever. I am a born and bred Southerner, and she is not what I want representing the rest of the home cooks or chefs here.

[HappyDancex2]

I think anyone can be edited by FN to look like an authority or funny....likeable...whatever bend it needs to be for a cooking show or a hosting show.  I think this show is just a show about finding someone who they want to put on FN.   It's clear because they are debuting new shows and none of those people got run through this machine as a test balloon.

As a food personality I guess it's best to be memorable.  When Melissa DeArabian did an interview she said she apologized to Alex Guarnaschelli before taping GGG because she was the judge and obviously had no right to be judging her food based on their food chops.   So despite asking these people to have some type of skill set it's obvious FN can put you on whatever show to fit the bill.

I don't trust Giada to give me tips on food and flavors...I don't care how much she makes herself an authority on italian food.   I don't find her believable.  I thought her one performance on Iron Chef was truly her skill set....very scared, mugged for the camera, couldn't do her dishes well and was a general trainwreck.   Her stand and stir show was highly edited so basically anyone can look good.   She's the type of person who would win FNS though ironically.

[Christina]

Just like last week, I'm reading posts, recognize the challenge with the different fish, and that Katie was the one evicted, yet have no memory of actually watching the show. It's just dull and boring.

[theatremouse]

On 7/16/2018 at 5:07 AM, Whimsy said:

Well, IF it was true (which I doubt), she was saying that her son could identify all the different types of sharks by the age of three.  Considering there are about 440 known species of shark (thanks, Google!), I bet he maybe knew a small handful by pointing to pictures in a book as she named the sharks. 

I'm now questioning my memory but I thought she'd said by age 3 he could identify over 30 types of sharks, which while fewer than all the sharks, is still a lot and shows a major shark-investment on the part of the kid. I mean, I personally did not give a shit about this anecdote while listening to it, but at the same time I also knew thought, ah yes, that is exactly the sort of schtick the judges keep saying they want. So I don't really ding her for telling it (whether it's true or fiction). It shows her following instructions pretty much.

[biakbiak]

24 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

I'm now questioning my memory but I thought she'd said by age 3 he could identify over 30 types of sharks, which while fewer than all the sharks, is still a lot and shows a major shark-investment on the part of the kid. I mean, I personally did not give a shit about this anecdote while listening to it, but at the same time I also knew thought, ah yes, that is exactly the sort of schtick the judges keep saying they want. So I don't really ding her for telling it (whether it's true or fiction). It shows her following instructions pretty much.

Yeah she said 30. Kids can get obsessed with things so I didn’t think it was that unusual or even a huge exaggeration.

[Totale]

On 7/21/2018 at 9:00 PM, HappyDancex2 said:

She's the type of person who would win FNS though ironically.

No, Giada would vote her off, because Giada would think Giada was too hot to be on the same network with Giada.

[parrotfeathers]

I was thinking yesterday that Bobby and Giada couldn't possibly enjoy hosting this show.    I wonder how they got stuck with it.

[Wings]

49 minutes ago, parrotfeathers said:

I was thinking yesterday that Bobby and Giada couldn't possibly enjoy hosting this show.    I wonder how they got stuck with it.

Quick easy money.  They do very little other than show up for the challenges.  Piece of cake gig. 

[Maverick]

 When Bobby first came on, Bob and Susie were there, representing the business and marketing side.  Bobby was there to ensure the contestants had legitimate cooking skills. I think he took that seriously and enjoyed it.  Now I think he's just there for the paycheck and to keep his profile as the granddaddy of the network.  

[parrotfeathers]

I'm in the minority, but I miss Bob and Susie.  It wasn't such a circus show then.

[jcbrown]

2 hours ago, parrotfeathers said:

I'm in the minority, but I miss Bob and Susie.  It wasn't such a circus show then.

I am with you in that minority.

[smiley13]

Bob and Susie made the show better.  It even helped when Alton was there, but with just the current two, it has become a farce.