Buddy vs. Duff - General Discussion

[Yeah No]

8 hours ago, goldenpuppy said:

I am an Italian from NY, and I understand what you are saying .  But , sorry , if a person says  “dem and dose and dis and dat”, and has atrocious grammar like Buddy’s,  he or she deserves it if someone thinks they are dumb and crude !

I understand older people who didn’t have an education or who were immigrants just learning the language talking like that, but Buddy is not old.  

And I don’t feel sorry for or anyone who has PHDs or Masters degrees and speaks with horrible grammar. There is no excuse for that! 

If people think they are not smart !  I am not saying that about you at all.  I realize some people just pick on anyone with a NY or New Jersey accent , but speaking like Buddy is going to make people assume someone is bright or is crude , and it’s justified. 

Beyond his speech,  he’s gross with his arms in the food , and he’s arrogant and a big baby .

I understand how you feel, my family felt the same way and I have struggled myself with prejudice because of my accent, which was never anywhere near as pronounced and crude as Buddy's but still very "Noo Yawky".  I have myself on tape in my teens and I cringe when I listen to it now.  But a lot of that is regional and cultural and in my opinion really does not reflect on Buddy's intelligence level nor his level of class.  If we superimposed a completely different accent and mannerisms over his I think he would look a lot better.  I agree that he's arrogant and can be a big baby but that has nothing to do with his grammar or his accent.  Note that I think some negative things about Duff too, he just acts like his shit doesn't stink and comes off like an art snob.

Just imagine someone of a different race that was born and raised in the South Bronx and spoke with a pronounced 'hood accent.  Would it be fair to judge their level of intelligence and class based on that?  No, and it would even likely be called racial prejudice if someone did so.  Now if they acted like Buddy did in the first couple of episodes of this show, that might be fair, but in my opinion, not if it was based on the accent alone.

[Yeah No]

I know he seems like a caricature and a throwback, but there really are people even to this day that talk like Buddy.  They're fewer than they once were, but he spent a lot of time in a certain milieu when he was young and obviously didn't hang around other people that didn't have a similar accent to moderate it somewhat.  It wasn't until I went to college that my accent started flattening out somewhat.  Now that I've been in New England for 27 years it's almost gone.  Some people's accents never change and they have to spend a lot of time working on it to change it.  I am sure a lot of actors out there from New York have deliberately changed their accents.  But Buddy is not an actor so that's just him and he wants to be proud of who he is.

Edited April 16, 2019 by Yeah No

[goldenpuppy]

2 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I understand how you feel, my family felt the same way and I have struggled myself with prejudice because of my accent, which was never anywhere near as pronounced and crude as Buddy's but still very "Noo Yawky".  I have myself on tape in my teens and I cringe when I listen to it now.  But a lot of that is regional and cultural and in my opinion really does not reflect on Buddy's intelligence level nor his level of class.  If we superimposed a completely different accent and mannerisms over his I think he would look a lot better.  I agree that he's arrogant and can be a big baby but that has nothing to do with his grammar or his accent.  Note that I think some negative things about Duff too, he just acts like his shit doesn't stink and comes off like an art snob.

Just imagine someone of a different race that was born and raised in the South Bronx and spoke with a pronounced 'hood accent.  Would it be fair to judge their level of intelligence and class based on that?  No, and it would even likely be called racial prejudice if someone did so.  Now if they acted like Buddy did in the first couple of episodes of this show, that might be fair, but in my opinion, not if it was based on the accent alone.An accent is very different than bad grammar and acting like a cartoon. 

I totally understand that people are cruel and have prejudices about any accent . I saw my mom and grandparents being mocked and treated  poorly because of their accents because they were speaking a second language .

i realize people have bias against southern accents and all kinds of regional accents . 

Buddy’s NY accent is not the issue for me, and even though I think his behavior Of kissing his medal and the sign of the cross is weird , I realize that some people were raised that way. That is not what totally turns me off about him and people like him .

A spoiled sport , an arrogant jerk  , a rude person, is very different than a person who is immersed in a culture, unless it’s a culture of being a jerk .  Those behaviors are not about being Italian, they are stupid personas rhar people think make them tough or cool,  when in fact it makes them look dumb and obnoxious.

Buddy is lucky he never had to leave his comfort zone and is able to be rich and successful.   Most people have to learn to assimilate and at least not act like a big baby is they don’t get their way .

[goldenpuppy]

5 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I understand how you feel, my family felt the same way and I have struggled myself with prejudice because of my accent, which was never anywhere near as pronounced and crude as Buddy's but still very "Noo Yawky".  I have myself on tape in my teens and I cringe when I listen to it now.  But a lot of that is regional and cultural and in my opinion really does not reflect on Buddy's intelligence level nor his level of class.  If we superimposed a completely different accent and mannerisms over his I think he would look a lot better.  I agree that he's arrogant and can be a big baby but that has nothing to do with his grammar or his accent.  Note that I think some negative things about Duff too, he just acts like his shit doesn't stink and comes off like an art snob.

Just imagine someone of a different race that was born and raised in the South Bronx and spoke with a pronounced 'hood accent.  Would it be fair to judge their level of intelligence and class based on that?  No, and it would even likely be called racial prejudice if someone did so.  Now if they acted like Buddy did in the first couple of episodes of this show, that might be fair, but in my opinion, not if it was based on the accent alone.

If it was all about poor grammar, it would be cringeworthy to hear him talk like that at times but not a total turn off to me. It’s the attitude that makes it all come off as really obnoxious! If he was nice and a good sport, I would be able to look past the way he speaks .

I get why Italians and other groups who immigrated and were treated poorly became either very self conscious or developed a “f u” attitude like Buddy personifies . I understand why kids who are racially profiled and treated like crap development a tough exterior and an attitude to deal with it.

But, no matter what , if you want to do more then live in your neighborhood and work around family , or have a career or job where you can move on to something different, you need to learn  grammar and also not walk around with an attitude.  And I would say the same about entitled privileged snobby kids who think the world owes them everything because they feel above others .

I like seeing a working class , middle class or minorities rising becoming famous and showing their skills to the world .  I like seeing people of my culture showing their talents. It’s not an easy thing to do what Buddy does. But that does not excuse his spoiled sport behavior , his smack talking and his attitude. Sorry, he’s super full of himself too and feels entitled.

And Buddy also had  a major controversy for how he treated a transgender woman on one of his shows and they had to take it off rotation from being shown on tv. 

So, maybe I’m wrong, but in Buddy I see a sexist, macho , arrogant , spoiled big baby, and it’s not about his accent . 

Edited April 16, 2019 by goldenpuppy

[Marci]

I believe it was the producers who screwed up with that transgender show.  From what I remember, the transgender woman agreed with the producers on how it would go, but they unwisely edited it in an ignorant way. It was a prank on Buddy’s cousin Anthony, who thought it was a woman coming on to him. The whole “storyline” of that prank was a horrible idea from the get-go. What were they all thinking?

I don’t see Buddy as such a horrible guy. I know countless men who think that machismo is part of being a man, as misguided as that is. My dad, rest his soul, was unmovable on what a woman’s role should be. Barefoot and pregnant comes to mind. And every one of his brothers were the same. Thank god that thinking died with their generation. But they weren’t despicable men, they just seemed to think that’s the way it was supposed to be. I actually think it was a burden for them to have to keep up that bravado their whole lives. I suspect Buddy is still like that because he didn’t go to college and wasn’t exposed to a broader way of thinking. None of my brothers, who all went to college, are like that and besides, they all married women who would never stand for it!

Anyway, my point is that’s Buddy’s behavior is in line with his accent— it’s regional to the time of his family’s immigration from Italy. Just the fact that he was made the boss after his dad died, with several older sisters and his mother working in the store, goes to show the family’s attitude towards women. It must have been hard for him, as a 17-year-old, to have that responsibility. He probably acts the same way his father acted.

One more thing, these reality shows are edited to create conflict. There are many contestants that have said this. For example, one guy said they took a shot of him making an unpleasant face and inserted it after something was said, making it look like he was being a sore loser and reacting badly to the comment.  I don’t know if this was the case here, but the editing of these shows is done to play on the viewers’ emotions.

Edited April 16, 2019 by Marci

[ruffy666]

14 hours ago, luvthepros said:

Something tells me Duff's bakery creations are beautiful to look at but do not taste as delicious as Buddy's. Buddy said he has a special "cream" (not sure exactly what he called it) that makes his cakes so moist.

I would much rather eat Buddy's creations than look at Duff's creations.

Surely someone here has been to Carlo's Bakery?  There's one in Santa Monica (obviously not THE ORIGINAL) and their baked goods are... just normal bakery stuff.  Infinitely better than a grocery store but nothing special.

It always weirds me out when they make big sculpted cakes and the giant sheets of cake look like foam rubber when they start cutting into them, super dense with a tight crumb.  I'll pass.

[LennieBriscoe]

golden puppy, My Italian-American family lives in Bayonne and Jersey City and they don't speak like Buddy (or the "Jersey Shore By Way of Staten Island" kids,  either)!

[marmalade]

I have a very different view of what went on with this show, and what is going on the FN on general .

I think all of the  drama and conflict was encouraged and staged .

I think that both Buddy and Duff were literally playing roles for this reality show .  Even the commercials were presented as if this competition was some kind of a boxing match .

I have seen both Buddy and Duff on other shows, and neither seems as extreme as they were portrayed on this show .

This competition was nothing more than a long infomercial for both contestant’s new shows .

I wouldn’t put put  it past the producers to stage the whole “Buddy walks out “ segment.  

I saw Buddy and Duff on a talk show together , and they were both joking and did not know the results of the competition, or said they didn’t , even though they had finished taping ! 

I noticed that Geoff and Ralph are friends on Instagram or twitter .  

I also noticed when Buddy and Duff were caught in candid moments and not when  they were making comments for the audience, they looked friendly to each other, and also were admiring each other ‘s work when caught on camera.

I just do  not it past FN to exploit the talent to crest drama .  

In this era of reality tv, which is mostly not real, they have to compete for ratings ,  and it worked !  This show was their highest rated show! 

Now if Buddy and Duff were nice to each other and acted like the contestants on the other baking shows, there would not be the buzz and the drama on Twitter .

I do think they overplayed Buddy’s tough guy persona and then regretted it.  And in the end, if Buddy was the big jerk he was on the first episode, there is no way he would have taken losing so well .

Edited April 16, 2019 by marmalade

[Marci]

10 hours ago, ruffy666 said:

Surely someone here has been to Carlo's Bakery?

I was there about 10 years ago, when Cake Boss was at its height. Got there about a half hour before it opened, was first in line, but by the time it opened the line was around the corner.  It was a traditional old time Italian bakery, with plenty of miniature pastries, cookies, cakes, pies, doughnuts. I liked it.

I visited Hoboken again about a year ago and stopped in. I was shocked how it changed. The only pastries were lobster tails.  No miniature ones at all, very limited cookies, it was not a bakery I would visit again. I don’t why it changed. I thought maybe the changing demographic forced the change. I know growing up Italian pastries were a staple. I doubt that’s the case anymore.

[Yeah No]

21 hours ago, goldenpuppy said:

If it was all about poor grammar, it would be cringeworthy to hear him talk like that at times but not a total turn off to me. It’s the attitude that makes it all come off as really obnoxious! If he was nice and a good sport, I would be able to look past the way he speaks .

I agree with you there but still see it as unfair to all the nice people that might have a very pronounced accent to associate that attitude with that accent.  I know some very nice and smart people with some pretty pronounced accents that are anything but like that.  I have one good friend from Lone-GUY-land whose accent is very much a caricature.  She doesn't realize how thick it sounds to me.  Because I've been living in New England so long I can hear it and wow, it's thick!  I know that if she came to live up here she would feel like people were judging her as much less intelligent and sophisticated than she really is.

I hear you about thinking Buddy is probably sexist, macho, etc.  Some of that is in the Italian American culture so I wouldn't be surprised if it's true to some degree or another.  I have seen him on Rachael Ray's show a lot and he seems to be pretty progressive about things but I realize some of that could be how he wants to look to the world.  The way he is at home with his wife might be another story.

Edited April 17, 2019 by Yeah No

[Yeah No]

5 hours ago, Marci said:

I visited Hoboken again about a year ago and stopped in. I was shocked how it changed. The only pastries were lobster tails.  No miniature ones at all, very limited cookies, it was not a bakery I would visit again. I don’t why it changed. I thought maybe the changing demographic forced the change. I know growing up Italian pastries were a staple. I doubt that’s the case anymore.

I wonder if Carlo's is about as much of a real bakery anymore as the pawn shop from "Pawn Stars".  They're both there just for show now, not real anymore.  I went to the Carlo's at one of the CT casinos and they had more variety than that.  Maybe the bakery in Hoboken is the hub for special order cakes now?  My husband went there a couple of years ago and brought home a couple of cannolis.

[Marci]

2 hours ago, Yeah No said:

My husband went there a couple of years ago and brought home a couple of cannolis.

You are right, now that you mention it, there were cannolis. Cannolis in the display case and lobster tails on the counter, which struck me odd.  

You may be right about the store being there for show.  My first visit, one of the sisters was there, right when it opened, and it had a family-run feel.  On my recent visit, no family members were in sight and the workers were young and had that “newly-hired and this is only temporary” feel.

I now live in Florida and the old Italian pastries are nowhere to be found. I was so looking forward to getting a box of the miniatures when I went to Carlos.  Bummer.  I would have happily settled for a box of Italian cookies, but they didn’t have those either.  I walked out with some big chocolate chip cookie, just to get something.

[luvthepros]

14 hours ago, Marci said:

You are right, now that you mention it, there were cannolis. Cannolis in the display case and lobster tails on the counter, which struck me odd.  

You may be right about the store being there for show.  My first visit, one of the sisters was there, right when it opened, and it had a family-run feel.  On my recent visit, no family members were in sight and the workers were young and had that “newly-hired and this is only temporary” feel.

I now live in Florida and the old Italian pastries are nowhere to be found. I was so looking forward to getting a box of the miniatures when I went to Carlos.  Bummer.  I would have happily settled for a box of Italian cookies, but they didn’t have those either.  I walked out with some big chocolate chip cookie, just to get something.

You don't like lobster tails or cannolis (my personal favorite)? I've had Buddy's cannolis and they are to die for.

[Marci]

7 hours ago, luvthepros said:

You don't like lobster tails or cannolis (my personal favorite)? I've had Buddy's cannolis and they are to die for.

lol.  Not particularly.  My favorite are the custard pasticciotto.

[luvthepros]

49 minutes ago, Marci said:

lol.  Not particularly.  My favorite are the custard pasticciotto. 

I never heard of your favorite confection. Looks delicious. I found this recipe......

Pasticciotto Custard Pie

[LennieBriscoe]

I don't like any Italian (-American) pastries: cannoli; lobster tails; anything (such as pizzelles) with anisette; those hard dunking cookies with sesame seeds; zee-ro!

And I'm half Sicilian!

But I will be buying a layer cake from a Carlo's this week-end!

https://www.pasands.com/-/media/2018-PaSands/Dining/Carlos Bakery/3-19/Carlos-Bakery

Edited April 19, 2019 by LennieBriscoe

[Yeah No]

2 hours ago, LennieBriscoe said:

I don't like any Italian (-American) pastries: cannoli; lobster tails; anything (such as pizzelles) with anisette; those hard dunking cookies with sesame seeds; zee-ro!

And I'm half Sicilian!

But I will be buying a layer cake from a Carlo's this week-end!

https://www.pasands.com/-/media/2018-PaSands/Dining/Carlos Bakery/3-19/Carlos-Bakery

Join the half Sicilian club here!  My favorite was always sfogliatelle because it isn't too sweet.  Or baba's for the same reason.  Speaking of Baba's I don't see them on Buddy's menu.  Come to think of it, I didn't see them at the Carlo's in CT either.

The salted caramel lobster claw does sound good, though.  Or the chocolate hazelnut one.

[Kohola3]

No topic area for Duff's  new show (Duff Takes the Cake) so just had come here to post what a truly nice guy he seems to be.  He never gets really stressed and works so well with his team plus they all seem to have a great time together.  Lots of laughs - both episodes made me smile.  Siphoning off the water was hilarious.

The aquarium cake with the animals was adorable and what a nice treat for each of the kids to have their own cake.

[suebee12]

I this is the best place to add this! I swore I would not watch Buddy's new show but when I saw that Adalberto was going to be on, I just had to watch. Liked him on which ever Baking Championship he was on! Buddy is not so bad on this show and seeing his factory is interesting! Talk about a production line! Has anyone else seen the show?

[Rickster]

14 minutes ago, suebee12 said:

I this is the best place to add this! I swore I would not watch Buddy's new show but when I saw that Adalberto was going to be on, I just had to watch. Liked him on which ever Baking Championship he was on! Buddy is not so bad on this show and seeing his factory is interesting! Talk about a production line! Has anyone else seen the show?

I caught the second half of this and found it interesting, too. Especially seeing how you have to modify things to scale up to commercial production.

I didn’t see who the guy was with Buddy who was judging and complaining about waste, but I thought his comments were ridiculous given they were working under time pressure.

i knew I had seen Adalberto before.

[mlp]

I watched the first episode out of curiosity and continued watching because it's fairly interesting and Buddy isn't obnoxious on this one.  I liked Adalberto a lot on the baking shows he was on so I was happy to see him and to see him win.  I was tempted to order his meat pies but didn't because I didn't want to pay what they were asking plus S&H.  Buddy's production "factory" is quite impressive.

[suebee12]

15 minutes ago, mlp said:

I was tempted to order his meat pies but didn't because I didn't want to pay what they were asking plus S&H.

MLP, there is no S&H charges on the Bake it Rich items.

The prices are high but when my son was in Boston, he almost bought one of the cannoli prepackaged deals that a local bakery offered and it was close in price to Buddy's online sales.

[LexieLily]

I just saw a commercial for a second season of Buddy vs Duff, premiering in mid-March. 

[Maverick]

Why??

[mlp]

13 minutes ago, Maverick said:

Why??

Probably because it was one of the most watched FN shows last year.  They don't care if people are hate-watching as long as they're watching.

I'd love to know what they offered Duff to get him to do this again.  After the first season, he said he wouldn't do it again and I thought he meant it at the time.

 

[Gramto6]

Argh! i was really hoping to never see this showdown again. Buddy was so obnoxious and full of himself, I was glad Duff beat him and am sincerely hoping this 2nd showdown does  not mean that this time Buddy will win to "even the score". Don't know if I can even watch...

[hookedontv]

On 3/1/2020 at 2:03 AM, Gramto6 said:

Argh! i was really hoping to never see this showdown again. Buddy was so obnoxious and full of himself, I was glad Duff beat him and am sincerely hoping this 2nd showdown does  not mean that this time Buddy will win to "even the score". Don't know if I can even watch...

Buddy is so unlikeable, acts like a big baby, and has horrendous grammar/sounds stupid.  I was so hoping to never see this again. I won’t be watching but the commercials are enough to make me so angry! Please, nobody watch this. And Duff, stick to Kids Baking Champ. 

[ShortyMac]

I'm not gonna watch. I like Duff, but, one season is enough for me.

[Christina]

I watched the new episode, and it was a bit different. They had a team of five this season, and both Buddy and Duff gave accolades to their assistants, Buddy even praised the man who sculpted the Statute of Liberty's face to the judges, during the judging. 

The inspiration was New York City and both were very intricate and they worked hard. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

The winner was

Spoiler

Duff by half a point

There are seven more episodes of the season, and I'll probably watch. 

[Koalagirl]

I really want to see Buddy get his ass whupped again this season.  I watched the recap of last year’s season and he was such a sore loser and not even a humble winner.  Go Duff!

[CoyoteBlue]

I could appreciate how Buddy went with "iconic NYC", and the Statue of Liberty was pretty good, but I also kinda agree with Duff that the real New York is probably not shown by having a tourist trinket shop throw up on a cake. They were just missing a "I heart NY" t-shirt in there. 

Duff really could have used that landscaping though, to really make it polished. The fact that it's such a monochromatic exterior didn't help. 

[Crs97]

I don’t know anything about either of these two and only saw maybe the last fifteen minutes of this episode.  Was Duff showing the interior of his cake using a camera and an iPad?  I wasn’t as wowed by that as the judges were.  After seeing the preview of things to come, I think I’ll just skip it.

[Maverick]

 These two are so uncomfortable to watch.   Yes Buddy is a sore loser, but Duff isn't exactly magnanimous.  He's just as dismissive of Buddy's work when he loses to it as Buddy is to his.   I don't mind watching a rivalry if both parties can show some professional respect, but these two can't utter a single genuine kind word about the others work.

 While I'm sure this show has more manipulation that a fully book chiropractor, I was ok with the scoring this round because I felt like it was a draw.   Duff's had a massive amount of detail work, but the best part of it had to be seen on a camera.   And when presented to a crowd, it had basically no wow factor.  The size and color made for a disappointing piece from a distance.   The Statue of Liberty on Buddy's was nice, but that was all Ralph.   Last year a common criticism was some of the best parts of Buddy's cakes were done by Ralph.    The buildings looked good, but were just molds.   The screens were really tacky.

 Supposedly the theme was 'interpretation' and if so, they both fell flat.   I don't consider interpretation to be 'pick a landmark and recreate it'.  Neither of them exhibited any creativity on that front.

[Calibabydolly]

Did I miss something because I came in a few minutes after the show started, what was Duff wearing that scarf for? Does he have a scar on his neck or something? If that is the case then I am sorry I remarked....because that does not go with his t shirt attire he wore about every scene.

[Emkat]

What is going on with the lighting of this place?! Everyone looks ROUGH.

[MerBearHou]

2 hours ago, Calibabydolly said:

Did I miss something because I came in a few minutes after the show started, what was Duff wearing that scarf for? Does he have a scar on his neck or something? If that is the case then I am sorry I remarked....because that does not go with his t shirt attire he wore about every scene.

I thought Duff’s huge scarf was weird — he kept it on almost the entire time!  Wonder why?

I’m with those that feel the vibe on this show is uncomfortable.  You could tell that Buddy was trying to tone down his normally negative, overbearing manner.  It didn’t feel genuine.  Duff’s anger and shoving wood around was not a good look.  

The two final cakes were super wow in many ways, but also had flaws which have been mentioned already — flat beige overall color with blah green base for Duff; the flashiness of Buddy’s.  The Statue of Liberty was fantastic and I thought the criticism of “no knuckles” was silly.  

Loved seeing the lit interior of the cathedral — that was so out of the box and took my breath away.

The 3 judges look so different in past seasons — Florian looks better, I think?  The lighting was harsh on the female judges IMO.

 

[ruffy666]

At least Duff makes it seem like he's having a good time... Buddy is too competitive for me and it makes it a little uncomfortable to watch. 

While I thought Buddy's cake was super impressive overall (and that sugar artist, holy cow!!!) the screens were a mistake.  Or at least they were a mistake because they were flashing lame powerpoint slides of drawings that looked like they were lifted from a neighboring preschool; I can imagine them being more impactful with some slightly more professional-looking graphics.

Dunno about future episodes but I miss the tasting portion of the show.  Carving, sculpting, modeling, decorating, yes... but does no one care about actual baking anymore!?

[mlp]

I thought the judges made the right decision.  Buddy's cake did scream NYC but it was garish and not very imaginative.  Duff's cake didn't say NYC specifically to anyone not familiar with exactly what St. Patrick's looks like but I thought the workmanship was finer.  It's too bad the landscaping got left until the last minute.  That could have been a lot better.

I liked Vegas Cakes when it was on and the guy helping Duff was terrific.  I wish the marvelous French sugar artist was on Duff's team.  

[CoderLady]

3 hours ago, ruffy666 said:

Dunno about future episodes but I miss the tasting portion of the show.  Carving, sculpting, modeling, decorating, yes... but does no one care about actual baking anymore!?

Yeah. For all we know, those things could taste like lard and sawdust or even be lard and sawdust under all the decorations. It isn't cake unless someone can reasonably eat it and judges like it.

Edited March 16, 2020 by CoderLady

[Crs97]

Not tasting the cakes annoys me no end. I also think fondant tastes like crap so am never impressed when that is all they seem to use.

I have never seen St. Patrick’s so Duff’s cake could have been any church anywhere.

[Yeah No]

9 hours ago, mlp said:

I thought the judges made the right decision.  Buddy's cake did scream NYC but it was garish and not very imaginative.  Duff's cake didn't say NYC specifically to anyone not familiar with exactly what St. Patrick's looks like but I thought the workmanship was finer.  It's too bad the landscaping got left until the last minute.  That could have been a lot better.

@mlp, you know I usually agree with you, but not in this case.  My husband is pretty much a self taught NYC church historian and architecture buff, and while he appreciated Duff's work and really wanted to love it, we both agreed that it was a little underwhelming in spite of all the detail.  I don't know, it just didn't look finished enough in some ways, especially the flat grass all around because they didn't have time to really finish it.  We do agree with you that it didn't really scream NYC to anyone that didn't know that was St. Pat's.  Perhaps something to make it more identifiable would have helped, although I can't imagine what that would have been.  I think his idea was interesting and certainly up my alley, but it just suffered a little in the execution.

We actually thought Buddy's idea was more fitting to the challenge, especially because the judging took place in Liberty State Park, which overlooks NY harbor and the Statue of Liberty, and incidentally is in New Jersey not far from Hoboken, so I'm presuming this show was filmed there.  We also didn't have a problem with the flashing screens.  We didn't find them "distracting" or whatever the judges thought they were because that's what Times Square (and Manhattan in general) is all about, garish things that flash in your face.  I think some of these aspects were lost on the judges.  I'm not really partial to either of these guys and think both of them are off-putting in their own ways, but I did feel for Buddy and his team losing that round because I didn't think they deserved it.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Yeah No

[Marisagf]

23 hours ago, CoderLady said:

Yeah. For all we know, those things could taste like lard and sawdust or even be lard and sawdust under all the decorations. It isn't cake unless someone can reasonably eat it and judges like it.

Probably sawdust since they were saw wood in the kitchen!  I was so grossed out by that.  Then again, I don't think anyone will be eating these cakes.  

[mlp]

I can't argue with any of your points, Yeah No.  In fact, I might have changed my mind if I'd known where the judging was held.  That does color things in my mind.  I'm still rooting for Duff though.  🙂

[Kohola3]

My problem with Buddy is that everything is so BIG, so LOUD, so MUCH.  The Statue of Liberty certainly did scream New York but it was so generic and all the crap on it made it just too over the top, bludgeoning you with NEW YORK NEW YORK.  

Duff's work is so much more refined and subtle but to the point, in this case, where the lack of landscaping really made it look unfinished.  But the intricate work was gorgeous.

[Crs97]

I know no one is going to eat these things (in which case, why are they made out of cake?!?), but I also kept thinking of all the people getting really close to Duff’s cake and breathing into that little door while they see the interior.  Who wants that piece? /shudder

[Squee Bastard]

I just can't. As much as I like Duff, I despise Buddy and cannot stomach him. I'll probably just watch the finale and root for Duff to win again.

[Kohola3]

Duff's huge mistake was assuming no one would care about the inaccuracy in putting the two dinosaurs together that were from totally different periods.  If it had been other than a museum he might have gotten away with it but not with experts as judges.

Buddy, again, went with the theme of BIG.  Just like his mouth.

[MerBearHou]

I am both wowed and bugged by the huge amount of cake they are creating that seems to be inedible.  So these cakes are purely to look at and not taste?  Does no one ever take a bite and/or eat these cakes?  What a huge waste of food ingredients.  Really bothering me these days.

[Pepper the Cat]

Buddy seemed to be gloating while the judges told Duff his mistakes with the dinosaurs. Then when it was his turn to be told of his mistakes he looked annoyed. Like he can do no wrong but Duff is a joke,

 

just another reason why I don’t like Buddy.

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by Pepper the Cat

[mlp]

1 hour ago, MerBearHou said:

So these cakes are purely to look at and not taste?

I think we were to assume that the cakes were going to be cut up to feed the crowd in attendance.  I have no idea whether or not that actually happened.