S14.07: Can You Host an Icon?

[chessiegal]

57 minutes ago, catrice2 said:

I don't even know who's the red-haired guest host is.

Lucky you.

[DebbieM4]

The "Anybody But Amy" train seems to be pretty crowded.  I hope there's still room for me!I

I actually - in addition to seeing no redeeming features in Amy at all - really like both Manny and Christian.   They all seem to get a kick out of Manny, and I really do too.  If I had to choose, he'd be my top pick.  It's annoying, though, that whoever wins might never be seen again.  I hate what they've done to this show.

[bluepiano]

5 hours ago, biakbiak said:

The other thing is I wonder how Anne was told to work, I have seen her on her show crack two eggs at a time and speed through them so the painfully slow cracking  during Palak was ridiculous.

Good point. She was definitely going slo-mo as part of the plan to make Palak look bad so they could send her home. This show is so fake. I truly believe the producers make up the order of elimination before the season even starts, and then edit the show to make it look like the eliminations on based on what's happened each episode. If that were true, Amy would be long gone.

3 hours ago, needschocolate said:

Well, It can't be Christian or Manny - How many Guy Fieris does the Food Network need?

Don't know how long you've watched this show, but at times it's felt like it should be called "The Search for the Next Guy Fieri." They keep wanting to replicate their one "success" to come out of FNS. Every season there's at least one (often more) big sloppy guy who goes way further than he should because the network thinks he might be able to connect with their audience like GF does. For some reason that totally eludes me. The older he gets the more embarrassing his act becomes. The best line I ever read about him (on this site) is that he's like the Poochie character from The Simpsons come to life. A walking cliché.

 

On ‎7‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 7:05 PM, rustyspigot said:

Ree THOMPSON! She must have started being stalked by Sideshow Bob like the Simpsons.

Speaking of The Simpsons, it took me awhile, but I got it. A reference to the take-off on "Cape Fear" where the Simpsons became "The Thompsons" to escape from Sideshow Bob. Well played.

 

19 hours ago, spiderpig said:

Since Amy has to mention her kids at least 37 times per episode, I'm wondering if next week she'll regale us with how much they enjoyed Mommy's onscreen temper tantrum. 

Apparently nobody else in America has kids they cook for. It's so unique that it definitely qualifies her to have a show on FN. I can only hope that the FN brass might be rethinking her predetermined win based on her being a potential loose cannon on social media. They certainly don't want another Lenny.

8 hours ago, mlp said:

I agree.  I liked Palak a lot but it was clear she just isn't cut out for all the nonsense.  She's actually a trained chef so I'm willing to bet she can cook the pants off someone like Amy if she has the time she needs and doesn't have to play silly games. 

Wasn't she the one they told us beat Bobby Flay? That seems so long ago, the way this season's dragged on, that I can barely remember. But being a real chef is clearly not a meaningful qualification on this show, since the winner will do nothing but judge kids' baking competition or (even more demeaning) go on Guy's Groceries Games. I liked Palak because she was soft-spoken and articulate, also not qualities valued at FN, where the brass obviously think their viewers want to be screamed at by people with loud and/or grating voices.  Had they not inherited Ina Garten, no way she's be given a show now.

Edited July 24, 2018 by bluepiano

[theatremouse]

The exchange between Amy and Palak about the pickling puzzled me because Amy already said she was making banh mi, which generally involves pickled veg. So if Amy were not already planning on pickling something she was making a sour-marinated pork sandwich on french bread and would've been dinged for calling it banh mi, probably. I mean as soon as they said sour sandwich I wondered why she was whining about it and was shouting at the screen "just make banh mi" so when she said it I was like "finally you caught up" and then she needed to be prompted to pickle? WTF.

I am torn about this episode because I hands down believe Palak is a better cook than the other people left on this show. I know we can't taste through the screen, but I am absolutely convinced of her food authority being leaps and bounds above the others...and yet she is very clearly not the best suited for being a TV personality. And that's the game, so she logically loses.

[mwell345]

13 hours ago, needschocolate said:

Well, It can't be Christian or Manny - How many Guy Fieris does the Food Network need?

One is too many.

[luvapickle]

I guess I am in the minority on this board.  I like Christian best, because to me he seems more natural. Please do not compare him to Guy though...yuk! Not even close. Manny is second. Palak is a great cook, but their not looking for that. And being a great cook doesn't always mean great tv. She seems more like a PBS-style show. Amy's meltdown I can relate to.  Being a pro baker, I've had my moments in the kitchen. Good thing there's no video & I've always been by myself.   

As for the show being fake...yes, welcome to the world of reality tv.  Reality tv is scripted, some more than others. And it's severely edited. It's about the drama. Face it, more viewers love more drama. Personally I love actual cooking shows. So I watch this just so i know who the next FN judge will be.  ***The whole thing with Drummond being an icon, I thought they said "FN" icon, which technically she is.

[Totale]

22 hours ago, Amarsir said:

Can someone who is a better cook than me explain why she didn't use the prominently-displayed lobster? Too big for the allotted cook time?

I thought production left that in to show what a maroon she is.  Which they wouldn't do if she was going to win.

I forget, has this show done Last Chance Kitchen returnee wins yet?

I haven't watched Ree in years (it's more fun to just read the board on her show here), but more than ever she looks ridden hard and put away wet.  She clearly would rather be home counting the mad stacks the busloads of chumps drop at her China shop.

[Evangeline]

I'm in the minority, and at the risk of making myself sound bad for saying this, I like Amy. I like her sense of humor in the talking heads, she's someone I'd be friends with. And Bobby has repeatedly said that Amy has the cooking skills. That was the criticism of her this week - the dish didn't demonstrate the finesse she usually demonstrates in her cooking. 

Manny annoys and Christian is forgettable. I was hoping Manny would go and Palak would stay.

 

(ETA: That said, saying dick on social media was a bad call.)

Edited July 24, 2018 by Evangeline

[prunieprune]

2 hours ago, Evangeline said:

I'm in the minority, and at the risk of making myself sound bad for saying this, I like Amy. I like her sense of humor in the talking heads, she's someone I'd be friends with. And Bobby has repeatedly said that Amy has the cooking skills. That was the criticism of her this week - the dish didn't demonstrate the finesse she usually demonstrates in her cooking. 

Manny annoys and Christian is forgettable. I was hoping Manny would go and Palak would stay.

 

(ETA: That said, saying dick on social media was a bad call.)

Yes, I have always liked Amy too (and been loath to proclaim it on this board).  However, she did not come off well in the last episode.  My personal theory is that she doesn't really want to be the Food Network Star.  She said herself she's a competitive person so now that she is in the competition she wants to win it- but she doesn't necessary want the "food personality" life. She seems like an exhausted person who maybe misses her family and doesn't know what she wants.  I went from wanting her to win to hoping she doesn't win so she can just back to her life, not because I don't enjoy her on the tv.

Manny doesn't bring much to the table for me, his food is not food I'm interested in cooking or eating and to me his only pluses are a bit of natural charisma and energy.  I don't see a lot of food knowledge or any interesting perspective there.  Christian has the knowledge but hasn't left much of an impression- I feel like there are a ton of people in the stable of judges/personalities who are a lot like him but better.  

Maybe I'll skip the last episode.....

[Brookside]

6 hours ago, Evangeline said:

(ETA: That said, saying dick on social media was a bad call.)

 

Can you explain this?  I'm too old to follow social media.

[biakbiak]

4 minutes ago, Brookside said:

Can you explain this?  I'm too old to follow social media.

Her tweet is posted on the previous page she basically said she doesn’t have any control over people getting sent home over her so people should stop being dicks to her about it on social media.

[Brookside]

Thanks for this.  I actually went back to find the post and realized I'd seen it but hadn't read past the first word or two!

[smiley13]

On 7/23/2018 at 11:57 AM, Destiny74 said:

She's acting as if she's never watched a reality TV competition.  We all lament and mourn when we think someone should've gone home over someone else.  I'm willing to bet she has had thought and words about someone she liked on a competition that went home too early.  I'm sure she's been a "dick" before.  Maybe not on public forum, but in her mind and in her personal life for sure.  Hypocrite.

She's been one on this show and in her previous appearance.

[TomCorps]

I can't seem to muster enthusiasm for any of the "top three" here...  Manny seems like someone I would like IRL, and I do think both he and Christian can cook, but if this season isn't the death knell for this series, I can't imagine what would be.

[chessiegal]

2 minutes ago, TomCorps said:

I can't seem to muster enthusiasm for any of the "top three" here...  Manny seems like someone I would like IRL, and I do think both he and Christian can cook, but if this season isn't the death knell for this series, I can't imagine what would be.

It's FNs highest rated show. No way it will not return.

[Westiepeach]

7 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

It's FNs highest rated show. No way it will not return.

Um, rubbernecking to the accident? Not gonna lie, it’s why I watch. 

[Johnny Dollar]

I would never watch any of these people on a show. Which is good because they’re not getting a show anyway. Showing up as a “judge” on “Guy’s Big Bite of Groceries and Drive-In Dives” just doesn’t seem worth the humiliation. But I guess fame whoredom has its price. 

[cooksdelight]

3 hours ago, chessiegal said:

It's FNs highest rated show. No way it will not return.

Can you find a link to that being their highest rated show? Because I can’t. This is just one of a dozen that FNS is absent from, totally.

https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/food-network-shows

[chessiegal]

Poster does weekly original FN program ratings every week in the Network thread, FNS is always #1

[cooksdelight]

LOL, I’ll stick with Nielsen or other major news sources for TV ratings. :D

[biakbiak]

20 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

LOL, I’ll stick with Nielsen or other major news sources for TV ratings. :D

They are the Nielsen ratings, the poster just posts them so people don’t have to go look them up for themselves. The link you posted is from April of 2017 when the show wasn’t airing. And according to the persons post is just their ranking because they watch a lot, quote from the link:

Quote

I've seen almost every show the Food Network makes, so I believe I have the authority to make a list like this one. Here is a definitive ranking of the top 10—both past and current—Food Network shows.

it makes no reference to ratings.

Edited July 25, 2018 by biakbiak

[backformore]

7 hours ago, TomCorps said:

I can't seem to muster enthusiasm for any of the "top three" here...  Manny seems like someone I would like IRL, and I do think both he and Christian can cook, but if this season isn't the death knell for this series, I can't imagine what would be.

I can't even muster up enough interest to watch all of the episodes.  I have them on DVR, but that last two, I got bored halfway through and quit. 

[HyeChaps]

I can see them leaning towards Manny because he has a built-in show concept:  visiting other firehouse cooks. 

[biakbiak]

6 minutes ago, HyeChaps said:

I can see them leaning towards Manny because he has a built-in show concept:  visiting other firehouse cooks. 

But he isn’t getting a show; however, I can imagine him judging on Guy’s Grocery Games.

[Yeah No]

Ha, I just realized I forgot to post on this episode, that's how underwhelmed I am with this season.

I have a feeling that whoever is coming back from "Star Salvation" will be the winner, because I can't imagine any of the three that are left being the "chosen one" (and we all know they've already been chosen).  I have my theories on who that might be, but that's not for this thread.

We can already rule out Amy for the winner because of her negativity in this episode.  No way would they let that air if she were the anointed one.

Manny is just not being portrayed as "perfect" enough.  Nice guy, good energy, but hard to understand and sometimes all over the place.

Christian is a good cook and not bad presenting, but he comes off like a slightly unmade bed and is a little too rough around the edges for their usual taste in hosts.  I suppose he could be used as a judge (I think he has already been one).

So right now I just can't see any of these three winning.  None of them have gotten a lot of fan favorite votes on the site, either, not that this has meant much in the past as far as who wins.

Bleh.

[Brookside]

On 7/25/2018 at 6:17 PM, HyeChaps said:

I can see them leaning towards Manny because he has a built-in show concept:  visiting other firehouse cooks. 

I've been confused by this since the first episode.  Is he a cook at a firehouse or a fireman who likes cooking for his colleagues?  Surely our tax dollars don't go to dedicated firehouse cooks, but it certainly sounds like that's what he is by the word choice.

[Sew Sumi]

I'm pretty sure someone here looked him up, and indeed, he's a fireman. 

But since the winner is only guaranteed a write-up in FN Magazine and an appearance at the Food & Wine Festival, I doubt he's going to be touring fire stations any time soon. At least not for FN.  

[smiley13]

42 minutes ago, Brookside said:

I've been confused by this since the first episode.  Is he a cook at a firehouse or a fireman who likes cooking for his colleagues?  Surely our tax dollars don't go to dedicated firehouse cooks, but it certainly sounds like that's what he is by the word choice.

What tax dollars? Where I live I pay a fee for fire services. 

[Brookside]

50 minutes ago, smiley13 said:

What tax dollars? Where I live I pay a fee for fire services. 

Could you explain?  You mean you have to pay if you call 911 because your house is on fire?  By the hour or what?  I've never heard of anything like this.  Thanks.

Edited July 27, 2018 by Brookside

[HappyDancex2]

Still not sure why Amy couldn’t just make her tian or galette or whatever she was freaking out about in a large shallow tart pan and it would have cooked as quickly if kept it thin....then she could have just sliced it into pieces.  I don’t fault her for switching ideas based on something she felt was time centric though.

Where she lost me was when she became fixated on an ingredient.  She reminded me of a recipe blogger who can reproduce recipes and take pictures but really has no idea how to cook or master basic flavor combinations.  Then the whole “I’m getting screwed” attitude was odd as well....any passionate cook can look at ingredients and cook a brunch dish.   The world doesn’t conspire to give you one less Staub pot that would preclude a tian from ever being cooked on FNS.

Hey Amy, don’t be a dick.

[smiley13]

21 hours ago, Brookside said:

Could you explain?  You mean you have to pay if you call 911 because your house is on fire?  By the hour or what?  I've never heard of anything like this.  Thanks.

I know it is off topic, but we pay a fee to an area fire station.  If we call 911, they would route that particular station to us.  If you are in the area and that station was called, you would have to pay a call fee if you are not a subscriber. 

 

But back to Manny.  He is the most interesting person of the ones left.   I would watch him in whatever capacity.