Dinner Impossible - The Rebrand

[C_Ruark]

Well, in attempt to wipe the egg of their face after the last host turned out to have a less than accurate resume, FN has launched the re-brand of Dinner: Impossible.

As mentioned in a couple circles back in April: Gone is Irvine. In is Chef Michael Symon.

1st impression: I think - hard to say this about most things FN - it's a decent move! I'm watching the sneak peek and I am entertained.

Tonight's theme was... damn, it's a sneak peak. We can discuss the "mission" later I suppose. I will say that - having been recently introduced to it's deliciousness - working chocolate-covered bacon into just about anything is a great attention-getter.

[handmc]

I think Mike Symon was a great choice. It was a blast to watch, interesting food and a lot of fun. The way it should have been from the start.

[kristin_71]

I saw the sneak preview of it on Sunday and I liked it. Symon had to do gourmet boardwalk food using the vendors on the boardwalk. I loved his idea of doing gazpacho in the margarita machine and then serving it in the hollowed out rind of the lemons. Just the idea of doing it as almost a slushy was pretty neat.

[Lupinus]

I liked it. It's kind of sad in a way, I really liked Irvine on the show.

[Dieck]

I've watched this show a few times with Symon in it ... it seems to me that Symon's affable personality makes this format less dramatic than Irvine did. Don't get me wrong -- I like Symon better, and his food is great -- but it doesn't have as much of a "how is he going to do it" quality. Am I the only one?

[Zeemanb]

I've watched this show a few times with Symon in it ...  it seems to me that Symon's affable personality makes this format less dramatic than Irvine did. Don't get me wrong -- I like Symon better, and his food is great -- but it doesn't have as much of a "how is he going to do it" quality. Am I the only one?

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I totally agree, and while I do miss the "watch as I pull a rabbit out of my hat" suspense that was the standard for Irvine, it did get kind of tedious since he never completely failed. With Symon it's more "Dinner: Oh Crap This Is Going to Be Tough" vs. "Dinner: Impossible", but with Symon's personality overall I do like the show better. He's less of a drill sergeant, and I do like watching food made in bulk like that.

[Dieck]

I have to add that I liked a couple of the newer ones.

I loved the one in which he cooked vegetarian fare for the rodeo crowd. I liked that they showed the mixed reviews from the cowboys, and also liked the end, when he said that the idea that you can substitute the soy stuff for real meat is a bunch of bull ... he seemed very embarrassed to admit to them that he had served them vegetarian fare...

I also liked the Mothers Day challenge in which he had to cook for 500, which was kind of absurd. He declared it a failure because some people had to wait a long time. I kinda like the idea that not every one isn't going to be a home run.

The new host/format is growing on me...

[slo_ted]

I, too, like the ver. 2.0 with Chef Symon, but I also enjoyed ver.1.0 with "Muscles" Irvine. I agree that the older version had more of the style of the old Mission Impossible TV show with its "how are they going to pull this off action resolving into a grinding resolution. What I don't get, however, is why is the Irvine show still running. I'm glad it is and I really like seeing the two versions back to back on Sunday nights. Still, the FN made it sound as though Irvine was done. Is he playing out his contract? Is he still a player at FN?

[edsel]

This is odd.

After getting dumped from Food Network's "Dinner: Impossible" series in March following revelations that he'd exaggerated details of his resume, Robert Irvine is making a comeback on the same show.

Production of six new episodes starring Irvine will begin this month, Food Network spokeswoman Carrie Welch said in a written statement. The show challenges its chef to prepare meals under extreme conditions.

Not very clear about Michael Symon's continued participation. They say that he "filled in" for Irvine, which is news to me. I thought that Symon was a permanent replacement.

[slo_ted]

This is odd.

Production of six new episodes starring Irvine will begin this month, Food Network spokeswoman Carrie Welch said in a written statement. The show challenges its chef to prepare meals under extreme conditions.

Not very clear about Michael Symon's continued participation. They say that he "filled in" for Irvine, which is news to me. I thought that Symon was a permanent replacement.

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[edsel]

From a Plain Dealer interview, Michael Symon on Dinner Impossible:

"Right from the get-go, we knew Robert was probably going to come back and do the show - but we couldn't say that," Symon said. "There was a lot going on with him that he needed to clear up. They [Food Network] told me, 'You're the only one who can do it, keep up that level.' "

"We didn't 'lose' [the show]," Symon added. "I knew going in that there was a 95 percent chance that he'd be coming back. We really want to keep this brand alive. So we came in, rocked out the 10 shows, and moved on."

[gfweb]

From a Plain Dealer interview, Michael Symon on Dinner Impossible:

"Right from the get-go, we knew Robert was probably going to come back and do the show - but we couldn't say that," Symon said. "There was a lot going on with him that he needed to clear up. They [Food Network] told me, 'You're the only one who can do it, keep up that level.' "

"We didn't 'lose' [the show]," Symon added. "I knew going in that there was a 95 percent chance that he'd be coming back. We really want to keep this brand alive. So we came in, rocked out the 10 shows, and moved on."

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He sounds like a FN employee

[sjemac]

Part of winning the Next Iron Chef show probably included Symons getting some sort of guaranteed contract with FN. This (the 10 episode DI slot) probably fulfilled their obligation to him. I would expect he will now fade away.