Supermarket Stakeout - General Discussion

[suebee12]

Alex Guarnaschelli hosts as four chefs square off in a competitive pop-up kitchen outside a grocery store. Assigned a theme for each round, the chefs must size up shoppers as they exit the store and attempt to negotiate for their grocery bags. The judges send the chefs with the least successful dishes home, and the last chef standing walks away with a year's worth of groceries.

Has anyone else watched this? When I first saw it advertised, I thought "what?" but after watching it, I kinda' like it! It is fun to see the reactions of some of the shoppers coming out of the store! Some grab the money, and some ask for more while others ignore them or tell them they don't want to help or that they don't want to have to re-shop. Some of the food that the cooks come up with are interesting and others just "yuk"! It has turned out to be a fun watch!

[Koalagirl]

I’m watching! It’s kind of fun.

[Gramto6]

I watched it too. A fun show! The prize is $10,000 which they say is a year's worth of groceries, but that kind of depends on how large a family the winner has.

[Yeah No]

It's OK, I've been watching it.  It's at least a diversion from "Guy's Grocery Games".

[Colleenna]

Does anyone else remember the show "Take Home Chef" with Chef Curtis Stone? This seems to be a riff on that show.....

[Yeah No]

6 hours ago, Colleenna said:

Does anyone else remember the show "Take Home Chef" with Chef Curtis Stone? This seems to be a riff on that show.....

I remember that show!  Now that you mention it I see the similarity, except the chefs don't cook the meal in their kitchen and chat them up like they're some kind of Romeo, LOL.

[screengem]

I liked this limited series show.  I enjoyed the concept, a cooking competition taking place in a supermarket parking lot.  Yes, I agree, it is a refreshing diversion from Triple G.

[Leilani]

The show is back. Molly Yeh is prettierr freshfaced then all that makeup she had on this time.  The whole premise is cringe and so are some of the 'chefs'.  But I won't lie, I'll probably watch all the episodes this season.

[Maverick]

 Can you imagine if this show were filing now?   The customer would freak out and run over the chefs with their carts before they had a chance to steal their toilet paper.

 As if I didn't already know this had more rigging than a pirate ship, in the latest episode the vegan chef just happens to find a cart full of the perfect items for a vegan dish--even though he was shopping blind in that round.   Why do they even insult people's intelligence with this BS?  

[PamelaMaeSnap]

Question: Am actually enjoying this show (kinda like Chopped with a twist) but haven’t figured this out yet ... do the chefs get to keep any leftovers from round to round or do they have to start fresh (minus the pantry) each round?

[Koalagirl]

40 minutes ago, PamelaMaeSnap said:

Question: Am actually enjoying this show (kinda like Chopped with a twist) but haven’t figured this out yet ... do the chefs get to keep any leftovers from round to round or do they have to start fresh (minus the pantry) each round?

They have to start fresh each round. The idea is to obtain the ingredients for the theme of each round.  

[LexieLily]

The new episode tonight - one of the chefs called the M&Ms "chocolate peanut candies," but the M&M bag was fully prominent on his station, with the standard M&M logo. So what's the point?

[Maverick]

 Even stranger, the pantry items have the logo blacked out (it was very clear on the cornstarch he was using) but everything bought has the logo plainly displayed.    Why bother with the pantry.

 So tonight's biggest contrivance was they were tasked with making an Italian dish, and one of the chefs tries to buy groceries from Italians who don't speak English. 

 I noticed this episode was filmed in Las Vegas.   I know they were at different stores most weeks last season but I thought they were all in LA.   Have they all been in Vegas this season?    

[Gramto6]

On 3/31/2020 at 11:55 PM, Maverick said:

 I noticed this episode was filmed in Las Vegas.   I know they were at different stores most weeks last season but I thought they were all in LA.   Have they all been in Vegas this season?    

Maybe because the filming crew is there for Anne Burrell's Vegas Prizefight?? 

[joanne3482]

On 4/1/2020 at 12:55 AM, Maverick said:

 I noticed this episode was filmed in Las Vegas.   I know they were at different stores most weeks last season but I thought they were all in LA.   Have they all been in Vegas this season?   

No. I think episode 1 or 2 was in Phoenix. I think it would be amusing to be approached, but I shop on the weekend and it is an expensive shop. Not this "I spent $75" thing they always show. 🙂 

[jlc]

Now the show is switching to highlight Alex. I wondered how long it would be until she made it about her. I will never watch this again. I am a huge dislike of Alex Guarneschelli, the fake Iron Chef.

[Maverick]

On 6/19/2020 at 4:58 PM, jlc said:

Now the show is switching to highlight Alex. I wondered how long it would be until she made it about her. I will never watch this again. I am a huge dislike of Alex Guarneschelli, the fake Iron Chef.

I saw a commercial for this.   It looks like it's being done in Alex's backyard.  I'm assuming production on the current season wan't completed before everything shut down so this is more about having something new to air rather than switching the focus of the show to fulfill Alex's ego.  

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, Maverick said:

On 6/19/2020 at 4:58 PM, jlc said:

Now the show is switching to highlight Alex. I wondered how long it would be until she made it about her. I will never watch this again. I am a huge dislike of Alex Guarneschelli, the fake Iron Chef.

I saw a commercial for this.   It looks like it's being done in Alex's backyard.  I'm assuming production on the current season wan't completed before everything shut down so this is more about having something new to air rather than switching the focus of the show to fulfill Alex's ego.  

Not sure I understand either post.  Nothing about the show has changed as far as I can see.  So far this season was filmed before the pandemic.  It was filmed in actual supermarket parking lots, not anyone's back yard, with no extra focus on Alex.

This from "The Wrap":

Quote

The series is shot on-location at supermarkets around the country, with each episode featuring four chefs who must ambush shoppers as they exit the grocery store and blindly bid on their grocery bags without knowing what’s inside with the goal of cooking an impressive meal from it.

Luckily, this season was shot before the coronavirus pandemic made grocery store fights a very real possibility.

The only thing above that isn't quite accurate is that it hasn't been filmed at stores that far around the country.  Most if not all of them have been out West.

This is one show that doesn't look like it will come back any time soon.  Too bad, I was enjoying it.  And I'm not that much of an Alex fan myself.

[Maverick]

 There is going to be a special (or series of specials, not sure) called What Would Alex Make?  Alex will "take on the toughest carts".    It's basically like Chopped: After Hours, only it's just Alex and it's in her backyard.   Whether the season was finished or not, it's clear this was something put together to provide new programming.  If the season was done, then whatever was going to replace it probably wasn't and this is their answer.   

[Yeah No]

20 minutes ago, Maverick said:

 There is going to be a special (or series of specials, not sure) called What Would Alex Make?  Alex will "take on the toughest carts".    It's basically like Chopped: After Hours, only it's just Alex and it's in her backyard.   Whether the season was finished or not, it's clear this was something put together to provide new programming.  If the season was done, then whatever was going to replace it probably wasn't and this is their answer.   

Probably.  A lot of shows filmed in front of audiences have shifted focus and now everyone is in "Brady Bunch boxes" talking and even cooking from their homes.  "The Rachael Ray Show", which is usually on hiatus for the summer right now is airing two new episodes per week filmed from her home kitchen with her wearing sweats and no makeup.  I guess she is fulfilling her contracted number of new episodes per season, just doing it stretched out over the usual hiatus two days per week to fill the gap from when filming of the regular audience version of the show was suspended.  I'm actually not hating it.  I kind of like seeing the stars just being themselves at home.  It's more relaxed and real.

[Grizzly]

I wish there was more of Alex cooking and less of the episode. What do we know about her boyfriend?

[Gramto6]

Agree, it was like a rerun with just a little of Alex interjected to make it "New". 

[jcbrown]

On 6/24/2020 at 11:13 AM, Grizzly said:

I wish there was more of Alex cooking and less of the episode. What do we know about her boyfriend?

Agreed. I liked it.

[LexieLily]

On 6/24/2020 at 1:13 PM, Grizzly said:

I wish there was more of Alex cooking and less of the episode. What do we know about her boyfriend?

Fiance, now. They got engaged recently!

[Brookside]

I'm watching a rerun and almost threw up when nails-on-a-chalkboard-voice Katie Lee said "I wasn't exactly sure how it would feel in the mouth."  Presumably she was talking about food but it still sounds disgusting.

Edited July 7, 2020 by Brookside

[Yeah No]

I was surprised at how heavy Alex's 12 year old daughter is.  I get it that her mom's a great chef who's also got weight issues, but wow.   My mother got heavier as I got older as a kid but I didn't start gaining weight until my metabolism changed during perimenopause.  No judgment, just surprise and I hope she does something about it.  I think it's more surprising to me knowing that her mom has got the means to do something about it.  Alex probably should shed some pounds too, especially at her age because the medical issues get more severe after 50.  She gets away with hiding a lot because she's such a pear shape, but even my husband has gasped and frozen the frame on those rare moments that the camera has caught her from behind.

Also surprising was how Alex's daughter called her mother a "boomer".  Knowing that Alex is NOT a baby boomer (she's squarely Gen X at 48), I figured it was some kind of slang and went to the internet.  It seems that Millennials and Gen Z have taken to calling anyone that they think is "out of it" a "boomer" regardless of age.  But it's still a derogatory term and I agree with this article:

https://www.deseret.com/entertainment/2019/10/30/20939156/ok-boomer-generation-z-baby-boomers-millennial-t-shirts

[ShortyMac]

I'm watching the first What Would Alex Make, and her shirt says, "I'm with...ICAG" Heh.

[jlc]

6 hours ago, ShortyMac said:

I'm watching the first What Would Alex Make, and her shirt says, "I'm with...ICAG" Heh.

She is so narcissistic! I had to stop watching anything and everything that she is part of! 

[jlc]

On 7/12/2020 at 2:27 AM, ShortyMac said:

I'm watching the first What Would Alex Make, and her shirt says, "I'm with...ICAG" Heh.

So I just watched the new commercial about what would alex make. So she starts cooking at the same time as the other chef using the same items from the cart. So basically she is trying to cook a better meal than the other chef. I guess her ego wasn't big enough, she needs these cheap wins to make her feel relevant or important. 

[Yeah No]

On 7/13/2020 at 9:44 PM, jlc said:

So I just watched the new commercial about what would alex make. So she starts cooking at the same time as the other chef using the same items from the cart. So basically she is trying to cook a better meal than the other chef. I guess her ego wasn't big enough, she needs these cheap wins to make her feel relevant or important. 

I don't know, I think Alex probably does what the network asks her to do and this was their idea just to have something to film in lieu of the regular show.  She doesn't seem to me to be trying to "one up" the contestants.  So far she has acknowledged how difficult each set of ingredients was to work with.

[Maverick]

 I agree this wasn't something Alex came up with for her ego.  Good Network needs new content and this is one way they can do it   As I mentioned before, this is just a riff on Chopped: After Hours which has the judges ( and sometimes Ted) given a difficult basket to see how they would approach it. 

[Grizzly]

She is definitely having fun with all of this.

[KayVeeTeeVee]

On 7/15/2020 at 3:04 PM, Grizzly said:

She is definitely having fun with all of this.

And now she's a regular on The Kitchen.  She's fast becoming a contender to take over the Bobby Flay spot.  And if I NEVER see Christian Petroni again, it will be too soon.  Dees, dems, does, Italian food, horrible attire, more Italian food is great . . . No thanks!  There.  I feel better.

[Ashforth]

On 7/12/2020 at 1:27 AM, ShortyMac said:

I'm watching the first What Would Alex Make, and her shirt says, "I'm with...ICAG" Heh.

Shouldn't her fiance be the one wearing that shirt?

On 7/15/2020 at 3:48 AM, Maverick said:

 I agree this wasn't something Alex came up with for her ego.  Good Network needs new content and this is one way they can do it   As I mentioned before, this is just a riff on Chopped: After Hours which has the judges ( and sometimes Ted) given a difficult basket to see how they would approach it. 

I didn't remember Chopped: After Hours (they should re-run it!) but I do know that the most recent season of Top Chef had some extra online segments on Bravo called "What Would Tom Do?" in which Tom Colicchio would take on a challenge from an episode. Of course, it was Tom, so he didn't follow the same time constraints (as he said in one segment, "I'm not running around the kitchen."), but it was a pleasure to watch him cook and his food mainly looked fantastic. 

I've watched Supermarket Stakeout a couple of times, I just hate the whole concept, I think it's idiotic. I'm not fond of Alex. And I hate outdoor cooking in parking lots, on beaches, in the mountains, you get the picture, in all cooking competitions. However, given the amount of time I'm spending with FN on my TV, I have no doubt that I will see WWAM at some point.

Edited July 19, 2020 by Ashforth

[Brookside]

On 7/19/2020 at 2:13 PM, Ashforth said:

I've watched Supermarket Stakeout a couple of times, I just hate the whole concept, I think it's idiotic. I'm not fond of Alex. And I hate outdoor cooking in parking lots, on beaches, in the mountains, you get the picture, in all cooking competitions. However, given the amount of time I'm spending with FN on my TV, I have no doubt that I will see WWAM at some point.

If you hate the concept, why watch all these different shows?

[Ashforth]

32 minutes ago, Brookside said:

If you hate the concept, why watch all these different shows?

My comment about hating the concept was specific to Supermarket Stakeout. Quoting myself:

Quote

I've watched Supermarket Stakeout a couple of times, I just hate the whole concept, I think it's idiotic.

 

Edited August 5, 2020 by Ashforth

[Grizzly]

I wish Alex had moved her set away from that dead spot on her hedge. It was so distracting. All I could think was did she accidently set it on fire?

[CouchDweller]

I'm watching episode 5 and this chef paid $150 for a cart for which a customer supposedly paid $47.  He just pulled out a $60 package of soft shell crab, plus a whole bunch of other pricey stuff.

[Maverick]

 Just saw a commercial that a new season starts this week.   I wasn't expecting to see this show back for a while.  The outside filming is ready made for pandemic filming but I don't think people would appreciate randos running up to them in the parking lot.   Just lends more to the theory that these shoppers aren't everyday customers being surprised walking out of the store.  

[Gramto6]

At least they are masked and not pawing through the shoppers carts. They are asking what is inside in the second round. Shoppers are masked too so it seems to be responsibly filmed so far. 

My personal Covid fear would be the cash itself...where has it been ...is it clean...I haven't used cash sine last Feb!

Edited December 30, 2020 by Gramto6
typo

[Grizzly]

Ooey-pooey?!! ROFL

[Maverick]

 Glad the warbling vegan went first.  If only Mr Nowhere As Funny As He Thought from Boston could have went next.  

 So in "blind" shopping the vegan gets the cart loaded with veggies.  Not the first time that's happened on this show.  We see what you did there.   And she was so proud of being vegan but she was going to go back for bread?    There's a reason Oprah will never be a vegan.....she loves BREEEAAAD....and BREEEAAAD isn't vegan. 

 Why were all the chefs from New England?   I doubt people were traveling cross country for a chance to cook in a parking lot so I'm assuming they were all local chefs who were east coast transplants.

 The winning chef was not really pleasant.  I get her being annoyed with the Boston guy but she really seemed humorless overall.  

[Yeah No]

I did miss this show, glad it's back.  I thought something felt weird about it, though I can't put my finger on it.  I guess nothing post-pandemic is going to be the same as before.  I did hold my breath every time they got too close to someone and put their face right in their cart, though.  Too close for my comfort.  Thankfully it is outside but still.

10 hours ago, Maverick said:

 Why were all the chefs from New England?   I doubt people were traveling cross country for a chance to cook in a parking lot so I'm assuming they were all local chefs who were east coast transplants.

I was trying to figure that out myself but it seemed to me like they were all actually still living on the East Coast.  Maybe they chartered them a flight out of Boston?  I know some rich people that have been doing that during the pandemic.

10 hours ago, Maverick said:

The winning chef was not really pleasant.  I get her being annoyed with the Boston guy but she really seemed humorless overall.  

Thank you, I'm glad it wasn't just me that thought this.  She was so unpleasant that I almost wanted him to win rather than her, but he truly gives new meaning to the term "Masshole", LOL.

[LexieLily]

7 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I did miss this show, glad it's back.  I thought something felt weird about it, though I can't put my finger on it.  I guess nothing post-pandemic is going to be the same as before.  I did hold my breath every time they got too close to someone and put their face right in their cart, though.  Too close for my comfort.  Thankfully it is outside but still.

I'll have to watch the episode to see if there was ever an initial reaction of the shopper telling someone to back up or don't stand too close. Would the show air something like that? Because, yeah, even though it's outside and everyone is (presumably) masked, four people running up to one shopper in a parking lot and asking to look through their bags would squick me out the way the world is now.

I'm also waiting for the shopping bag that is only filled with toilet paper and hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes 🙂

[Darian]

I only half-watch this show, but I think I heard Alex throw a little shade at Giada on last night's show. Antonia Lofaso said "pistachio," but used, she said, the Italian pronunciation and Alex said (paraphrase), "Giada's on line one."   

[Brookside]

I'm watching a repeat and I'm horrified by the lack of social distancing and lack of mask-wearing.  For the beginning line-up, the four cooks are standing in the normal, 1-foot apart row and, even worse, are maskless,

They mask up to approach the shoppers, but then they all crowd around the poor shoppers.  Even behind their masks, you can tell how alarmed some of the shoppers are.

When Alex goes up to see what they're cooking, she stands 3 feet away, no masks.

At judgement time, the guest judges stand about three feet apart, maskless.  Alex does her usual lean against the Judges' table thing, so ends up about three feet from Eddie.  Both maskless.

This is incredibly irresponsible and makes me angry.

(Comcast says it's the show from 1/27/21, but since Comcast has got their listings so wrong, so often recently, I take this with a pinch of salt.)

 

On 12/30/2020 at 2:55 PM, Maverick said:

 

  There's a reason Oprah will never be a vegan.....she loves BREEEAAAD....and BREEEAAAD isn't vegan. 

 

There's plenty of vegan bread available, and Oprah's personal chef could also make it easily.

Edited January 27, 2021 by Brookside

[eclectcmoi]

I would bet the most recent shows were filmed sometime after the initial lock down in CA around mid March and before we knew as much as we do now about spread and precautions. The last few shows have been filmed exclusively at one market - Fields in Canoga Park, CA and there are not many cars in the parking lot.  I suspect (I hope!) also that testing was done of the participants, judges and Alex... especially as the judges had to eat the food the participants made.  The judges are spaced farther apart than on the shows before COVID also. Though having someone paw through my groceries when I came out of the store, even back then would've made me very uncomfortable! Even with all of this, I still prefer this version of the show than the rehash of episodes with "What Would Alex Make."  No thanks. 

[Yeah No]

The fact that a Baby Boomer has to feel like the old man of the competition made me feel like there haven't been enough older people on this show.  GGG seemed to have more people in all age brackets.  Of course he said some stupid things that made me cringe.  Way to make older people look stupid by picking people that say stupid things.  Come on, it almost feels intentional.

[Leeds]

On 3/26/2020 at 12:25 PM, PamelaMaeSnap said:

Question: Am actually enjoying this show (kinda like Chopped with a twist) but haven’t figured this out yet ... do the chefs get to keep any leftovers from round to round or do they have to start fresh (minus the pantry) each round?

I want to know whether they get to take over the leftover food and cash!

[Grizzly]

So happy to have this show back! It's got a good vibe and it's nice to see the locals are into it. Love Alex getting to be playful as host rather than all stern and judgey. We don't get ad nauseum sob stories from the contestants. And the judges they pull in understand that this is fun while still getting some amazing dishes.