The Next Food Network.."Star"?

[LoriZig]

Mark, I just watched your video- terrific! You really do seem like a natural. You even made me "lol" a couple of times! I would watch your show, for sure!

Re: Jag's exit interview- I, too, think it was scripted, but I think it was more of a strongarm by FN. As in, "you come back on and confess and we won't sue your lyin' butt for breach of contract."

Rory annoys me- especially when she was so flip and unfunny with Alton. Amy was pretty consistent and I was actually shocked that she wasn't originally picked to be in the top 2.

[nonblonde007]

Mark, I just watched your video and it was fantastic! I could see myself actually tuning in to watch your show, on purpose even! I look forward to seeing you on next years Star. This has been a very dissapointing season, there Must be people out there that can cook and have a real personality. But, then.....where would the sense be in THAT? It is after all, TV. It won't be long before back to PBS I go.

[MarkIsCooking]

Thanks for the kind words!!!! I have my fingers crossed, but I just chatted with a woman who made it to the semi-finals last year (out of over 10,000 entries!), but didn't make it to the finals. She's trying again this time around. We'll see and I'll certainly keep my eGullet friends posted!

-Mark-

[Pierogi]

Mark you ROCK ! I'd watch. For sure. I'll be keeping my fingers (and my spatulas and whisks.....) crossed for you. Good luck !

[nonblonde007]

Wish I had had money on that!!! None were great, but for some reason, still unknown to me, I liked Amy better.

[moosnsqrl]

I reluctantly admit to watching the silliness and enjoying it from time to time. But I was betting heavily on Rory -- because I was for Amy and the FN seems to be going out of their way to punish/eliminate classically trained chefs in favor of the telegenic laic cooks. I was vaguely hopeful after learning that Amy won.

If we want to see them trend back toward people (and shows) that don't totally dumb-down the subject, we need to be vocal about the viability of the show, try to demonstrate that those advertising during her show are getting some bang for their buck (although the likelihood of it being something most of us would actually ingest is, admittedly, slim) and, in general, letting them know that someone with formal culinary training is to be treasured, not vilified.

[Pierogi]

I'm actually fairly surprised Amy won, although I surely wanted her to. I thought Rory and her chest would take the day. I like Amy, and think she knows her stuff. I was very turned off by Rory's flippant attitude during the Iron Chef challenge commentary. It was, as Bobby Flay said, insulting, not only to the ingredients, but also to the viewer. Some of us *are* watching to learn something. I think (hope) Amy can come through in this regard. Let's just hope they give a decent time slot and don't send her on the road for "Weekends" or "Tasty Travels" or with "$40 a Day" or in search of "The Secret Life Unwrapped...."

[MarkIsCooking]

I think it will be interesting to see how much real opportunity they give winners. Getting more polished on-air is not something that happens in a few days. The early shows of all their most popular people were not smooth, to say the least. Most people won't be really great after only 6 episodes (which I think is all they promise them upfront as the winner).

-Mark-

[Reignking]

Two things:

1) We found out that Rory is a serial reality show contestant

2) The winner was someone that a) tried to quit and b) only made the final because someone had to quit. Probably not the way FN would've wanted it

They should've done those bios before -- it gave me a better insight into them than a wedding cake decorating contest would.

[Morgan_Weber]

You gotta love Ruhlman...and/or Bourdain...

http://blog.ruhlman.com/ruhlmancom/2007/07/top-secret.html

[dockhl]

) We found out that Rory is a serial reality show contestant

I missed that. What do you mean?

[LoriZig]

Rory talked about the last "reality" show she was on- where they took a bunch of "city slickers" and dumped them in Texas to work with cowboys/cowfolk. She ended up staying because she fell in love with a cowboy.

I was really uncomfortable that they they didn't show Rory at all after Amy was announced the winner, except to show her with her face in her hands and back to the audience.

[dockhl]

I was really uncomfortable that they they didn't show Rory at all after Amy was announced the winner, except to show her with her face in her hands and back to the audience.

me, too. Maybe she really broke down? Unlikely but.....

[kalypso]

Two things:

1) We found out that Rory is a serial reality show contestant

2) The winner was someone that a) tried to quit and b) only made the final because someone had to quit.  Probably not the way FN would've wanted it

They should've done those bios before -- it gave me a better insight into them than a wedding cake decorating contest would.

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I'm not so sure Amy ever really wanted to quit. I kind of thought her "breakdown" was scripted. But if it was real, it certainly made more sense once we saw the bio info on her that showed she lived in a compound with the rest of a very large family. But don't you think we should have seen that first and not at the very end? We had no context from which to understand any of the contestants.

HGTV, a sister channel to FNTV, began their own reality search for the next Design Star last night immediately after FNTV annouced the winner of their search. In contrast, HGTV spent the entire hour showing the final 30 applicants going through their final interviews - in front of a camera, hands on power tool use, and finally doing a presentation showing their design philosophy and some of the projects they've done or worked on. As the hour progressed some clear contenders really emerged. As I watched the show I realized I was getting engaged with some of the people and becoming interested in seeing the rooms/houses they had done. I will watch this show (Sunday's at 9 PM) rather than Iron Chef because I really want to see how some of their contestants do.

Last year's Design Star was given a prime slot, Monday at 9 PM and repeated on Saturday night. I love the show - Color Splash - and the Deisgn Star David Bromstad. He's warm, funny, not bad on the eyes, and I LOVE his design work with color. OTOH, FNTV has given all their "Stars" Sunday morning at 10 AM (or 7 AM if you're on the West Coast). I haven't seen one episode of either of the previous 2 Food Network Stars. Frankly, not being a morning person, very few chefs provide enough incentive for me to get up at 7 AM on a Sunday to watch a cooking show, and Amy will be no exception. So is The Next Food Network Star about the process and that show, or is it about finding viable talent (and I use that term loosely). After watching this year's show, it would certainly appear to be about the show and not the winner.

Perhaps if FNTV had taken a page from the HGTV book and spent some time introducing us to the contestants rather than immediately throwing them into weird, but not wonderful, Top Chef-like challenges I would have been more interested in this season's crop of candidates. As it was, none of them had much if any charisma and it took far too many weeks for their personalities to emerge. I watched because at 9 PM on Sunday there really isn't a heck of a lot else to watch (on basic cable)

[tejon]

I noticed that there was no mention of Amy's husband, too. I have to wonder if her wanting out of the competition earlier was due to things breaking apart at home, not from a lack of conviction to seeing things through. I do have to say that of the two, she seemed to have more to teach and to share, and I'll be happy to watch her upcoming show. I hope she sticks around despite not being white bread appeal to the masses stock, though I worry she won't for the very same reason.

[Music]

There have been so many snarky and unkind comments about Rory's appearance re her gums, I can't help but wonder if that contributed to people voting against her.

[LoriZig]

There have been so many snarky and unkind comments about Rory's appearance re her gums, I can't help but wonder if that contributed to people voting against her.

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Ugh, I hope not. I actually think she's pretty in an unconventional way.

I know she turned a lot of people off (myself included) during the Iron Chef episode, and had assumed that had a big effect.

[laurelm]

I missed the Iron Chef eppy, what did Rory do exactly?

[KristiB50]

A couple of other things I noticed....

JAG spent way too much time with his hand on Paul's thigh!

Emeril did not look healthy!

[rconnelly]

A couple of other things I noticed....

JAG spent way too much time with his hand on Paul's thigh!

Emeril did not look healthy!

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I thought Rory was extremely ungracious. Pretend fro chrisakes!

But then she wanted this "So friggn' bad".

I wondered to about Amy's husband. Did you know that he is French? Maybe he's been banished to France. Her wjole "Gourmet Nest door" thing was off-putting and Rory changed her Theme every week.

I sure hope next season is better.

[Dignan]

Rory's theme that I got was that she was teaching people to cook who didn't have time to go out to eat.

What?

Don't people go out because they feel they don't have time to shop for food and cook it at home? Are there folks who think having somebody else shop and cook for you is too time consuming?

[dockhl]

JAG spent way too much time with his hand on Paul's thigh!

!!! YES.

Emeril did not look healthy!

He looked old, tired and bloated....

[Slamdunkpro]

Emeril did not look healthy!

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He looked like he had steroid jowls.

[dockhl]

Also noted on RUHLMAN'S BLOG

[LoriZig]

JAG spent way too much time with his hand on Paul's thigh!

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YES! When Paul jokingly said that he and Jag were in love, I half believed him!

And why didn't Jag apologize when he was given the chance to? He mumbled a lot and said something about this not being the last we see of him, but I'm sorry- I think he should've apologized again. I thought the audience's uncomfortable, cool response when he came out was well-deserved.

Laurel- Rory was obnoxious on the Iron Chef episode. She was too jokey and didn't know her stuff. And when she didn't know something, she didn't bother to try to find out. Amy, when she didn't know something, went to the packages to learn what she could and report back to the audience. The worst part was when Roray was "teasing" AB and basically told him that if he'd shut up (not in those words exactly), she could tell him the stuff he wanted to know. Not well-received to say the least. She came off very cutesy/bratty.

Side note: Paul acted much the same way and when AB asked him what kind of tomatoes the cook was using, he didn't have a clue about San Marzano tomatoes. He replied that they were plum tomatoes and AB tried to push him a little further by asking him where they were from. Paul answered "Plummy?" which was akin to nails on a chalkboard, if you ask me.

Edited July 23, 2007 by LoriZig (log)