So not this week but last Sunday (6/1) was the first episode of the new season of Next Food Network Star. Or "Low Rent Chef". But for those of us Bravo-deprived types, it'll have to do. At least until BBC America gets around to running some more of Master Chef. I was curious to see how the show would look this time around, after having had the chance to watch Next Iron Chef since the last season NFNS. And, not surprisingly, NFNS does pale in comparison. The contestants aren't as talented and the hosting duties are spread around to multiple FN celebs so not as much Alton Brown.
Still, it's a cooking reality show. So it's got that going for it.
I'll skip over ep. 1 and jump right in w/ this week's. Highlights included:
- the contestants all get roused super early by disgraced former FN host Robert Irvine. You can guess how thrilled FN were to have this ep. in the can before all the accusations about Irvine's resumé padding came to light. They edited the show so that he was probably on camera about as little as possible and still have the ep. make any sense;
- during the scavenger hunt, when Team Green was unable to answer their Q (what parts of wheat are removed to make white flour?), Kevin had to form a pan of baguettes. I don't know how long this took him. The show made it look like it took forever. But I can tell you that it ain't easy to hand roll baguette dough;
- Aaron (the hospital catering chef from Camden) making a big staged entrance in his team's presentation. I particularly appreciated that, during judging, he gave credit to Adam for coming up with the idea. It was win/win/win for both of them. Adam shows he's got an idea about what makes good TV, Aaron shows that he can be a winning personality if someone comes up w/ the script, and they both come off as gracious and not win-at-any-cost reality TV psychos;
(more below the cut, w/ spoilers)
So of course, the only thing anyone's talking about this week is Nipa. Who won't do fusion food but apparently can't improvise curried potatoes if the store is out of turmeric or figure out how to season lamb kebabs for a brunch. For me, the best part of the whole meltdown and return was the bit where she's freaking out and one of the judges asks her what's wrong. She says that she feels different and indicates herself. At first I thought, oh she did not just go there, did she? And the absolutely befuddled looks on the FN execs faces were some of the best stuff since Jeff Probst's refusal to understand why the African American team during the divide-by-race season of Survivor found his questions about the uniqueness of the experience of being divide by race so hilarious.
But, wait, it gets better. The more the FN execs talked the clearer it became that, well, yes, maybe Nipa was right to feel a bit of an outsider since she seems to have been cast so that FN has a chance to up the ethnic quotient of their line-up.
Still, cracking under pressure and throwing a hissy is hardly inspiring that one has the snazz to pull off hosting their own series.
Not that losing Kevin was any great blow. He didn't seem to have any coherent POV other than bachelor-on-the-make cooking. Which he never seemed to be able to fully articulate. Unclear as to whether he just wasn't able to get it across or if FN was editing the shows so that it seemed that way.
Right now, my early money is on Aaron. He seems to have the best mix of cooking chops and workable TV personality.
One other thing I learned is that while the prize for winning is a show on FN, the guarantee is only for 6 episodes. If they don't think it's working after that, you're done. Which is apparently what happened to Amy from last season. Would that the same had been true of Guy Fieri. Alas...
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