Dream Contestants

[Simon47]

I would like Kathy, Sherry, Eileen, Sheila, Donna. Those are my favorite names.

Maybe throw some old grandmas/grandpas in there. (But not as old as 80!)

Chefs with POVs we’ve never even had before.

[dewelar]

While my first instinct was to answer "nobody, because this show has outlived its purpose", I did come up with something that could be interesting. In acknowledgement of the show's true endgame, they could change its name to "Food Network Judge". Then, they could invite a dozen food critics from local TV news, newspapers, radio, new media, etc, and have them compete. Then, at the end, if they decide to give someone an actual show, it could be a show of actual restaurant reviews instead of an hour of gushing over whatever place paid them to come visit.

This would be interesting to me, honestly, since every place DDD or other shows visits gets the same level of fellatio from the host, and thus none of said fellatio winds up being meaningful. I lived in Boston for ten years, and there was a great show called "The Phantom Gourmet" on one of the local channels. It was an hour long, they usually did four restaurant reviews and a few other local food related segments, and the reviews actually came off as objective. They would occasionally give restaurants a failing grade, and effusive praise was relatively rare. The problem was that the show was turned over to the Andelman family, and over the course of several years the reviews went from four per show, to two, to one, to eventually none, and the show basically became one big festival of paid product placement for local business. The thing is, the show as it originally was was solidly entertaining, but when they started changing it by taking away the things that made it special, it became boring.

That is what has happened with this show -- as originally conceived it was entertaining, but over time they've taken away all the worthwhile aspects of the show piece by piece until now, we're left with a boring, by-the-numbers show. The ratings may be there, but then they're also there for every other formulaic reality show that just goes on and on (Survivor, Big Brother, Amazing Race, etc), which makes me wonder: do people actually WATCH these shows, or are they just background / conversation fodder? Heck, how many people watch THIS show just so they can discuss it on social media (e.g. here on the boards :D)?

Edited August 10, 2018 by dewelar
Clarify

[StaceyNotStacie]

Instead of Comeback Kitchen, they should do an All Star season. It would be interesting to see how former contestants have improved. 

[Whimsy]

Edited this thread name as there is already a thread about different hosts. 

[Maverick]

 Paging Cowboy Lenny.  Paging Cowboy Lenny.  Please pick up the white courtesy phone in the Food Network Dungeon.  

[cherbitrary]

Our very own cooksdelight with the culinary POV "Meals you can share with your cat".

[cooksdelight]

1 hour ago, cherbitrary said:

Our very own cooksdelight with the culinary POV "Meals you can share with your cat".

HAHA!! Thanks for that. My dog is the one that will sit there with his eyes almost closed and hope I drop something.