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| Photo - Food Network |
Team Guy:
- Vanilla Ice (pop icon, rapper and reality star)
- Chris Kattan (comedian, actor - SNL)
- Tiffany (singer, actress)
- Herschel Walker (former NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner, MMA fighter)
- Florence Henderson (actress - The Brady Bunch, singer)
- Penn Jillette (magician, comedian)
- Judy Gold (actress, comedian - has appeared on celebrity edition of Chopped)
- Jake Pavelka (reality star, The Bachelor)
There will be six episodes this season, and if you want to watch tonight's episode early, it is featured On Demand by most cable providers (Episode - Chefs of the Round Table). While some people may take watching this show seriously, I think it is worth more for its unintentional comedy. The 'celebrities' taking the competition seriously and having to do ridiculous skits, while Rachael and Guy try to coach them and stay positive with their critiques.
The episode descriptions of each episode are below, which also lists judges for each episode.
Episode 1 - Chefs of the Round Table
The eight celebrities arrive in New York City as Rachael Ray and
Guy Fieri select their teams. The celebrities get right to work for
their first cook-off challenge as they have 90 minutes to prepare a
Medieval Feast and then perform for a stadium full of hungry spectators.
Rachael and Guy are joined by special guest judge, Chef Lee Anne Wong,
who will decide which dish does not make the cut.
Episode 2 - Leis in the Fray
Rachael and Guy challenge the celebrities to make Hawaiian-inspired
hors d'oeuvres and a team cocktail to serve 50 guests at a luau party
in only 90 minutes. The guests fill out comment cards rating each team's
dishes, as special guest judge Chef Marc Murphy ultimately chooses the
winning team and which celebrity will be eliminated.
Episode 3 - Supermarket Smackdown
The remaining celebrities on must create, shop, cook and package
their own signature food product that best reflects their personality.
Each team then has to promote and sell their products to the public for
tokens, and the celebrity with the most tokens from each team wins a
cash prize for their charity and is safe from elimination. Guest judge
Madison Cowan rates the quality of each team's products to decide which
celebrity will not be moving on to the next challenge.
Episode 4 - Big Game Grub
Team Rachael and Team Guy go head-to-head over two rounds to create
the ultimate game day grub with guest judges Chef Alex Guarnaschelli
and Josh Elliott of Good Morning America determining their fate. The
first round is a head-to-head chicken wing cook-off, with each team's
MVP winning immunity and a cash prize for their charity. In round two,
the celebrities must create the best elevated game day dish by coming up
with a unique team plate of nachos. The teams are judged on both
dishes, with one celebrity taken out of the lineup leaving the remaining
celebrities one step closer to winning the grand prize.
Episode 5 - Boardwalk Bites
The remaining celebrities arrive at the iconic Coney Island where
they face-off in a mini challenge to create their own twist on French
fries to win an advantage in the main challenge. Next, the celebrities
will make their own signature hot dog to serve to a boardwalk full of
hungry customers. Guest judge Chef Amanda Freitag joins the crowd to
decide who is top dog and who will be sent home.
Episode 6 - Sink or Swim
In the final episode, the remaining celebrities from Team Rachael
and Team Guy have to prepare a three-course dinner with a five-minute
presentation aboard a dinner cruise ship to entertain a panel of judges
including Sunny Anderson, Scott Conant, Todd English and Aaron Sanchez.
Everything is on the line to win $50,000 for their charity and receive
bragging rights as winner of the Celebrity Cook-Off!
I watched and wanted to throw sharp objects at Chris Kattan. Props to the other contestants for putting up with him. Also, not going to spoil anything, but the ending and "elimination" was lame.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awful cast. They might as well use road-kill. The shine is definitely coming off Guy Fieri. More of his clown-face is not better.
ReplyDeleteTonight's episode makes for a great drinking game. Do a shot every time you can't believe what you're seeing.
ReplyDeleteYou'll be out cold in ten minutes.
I agree with everything you said, Abby.
ReplyDeleteI'm rooting for Vanilla Ice. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's great if you need a laugh :)
ReplyDeleteAs did I, but I was only watching at all to see Lee Anne Wong, and of course, I missed her. Don't feel as if I missed much else, though.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/the-taste-nigella-lawson-bites-but-does-she-want-seconds-9026275.html
ReplyDelete"Bourdain explains the difference between the UK and US versions of [TheTaste]: “Much more focused on the food and less interested in the interaction between the contestants and their story. Frankly a higher level of cooking because this such a food-crazy country now, so deep an
appetite for real food-related programming as opposed to food-based entertainment.”
The US? Food based entertainment rather than real food-related programming, according to Anthony Bourdain.
Any surprise then why TFN works to create "food based entertainment," no matter what the posters here want?
Ratings for The Taste have been pretty terrible, so maybe his perception is wrong.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing they did audience research on last season, and this season will include more backstory on contestants.
ReplyDeleteWhen people who have big bucks invested in projects tell you what they have learned, usually those were expensive lessons they learned.
The biggest mistake in marketing is assuming that the audience is just like you.
You are correct, though. The people who feel betrayed by TFN and post on here tend to agree that TFN should go back to the good old days. I'm just not sure they are in the demo or would bring enough useful viewers back to TFN.
You really have to wonder what the network thinks people under 35 *want* to see. Just game shows? God forbid anyone younger would also want to cook better. It's disgusting that everyone who wants cooking is just written-off as old hands. Given the way ratings have gone the last 2 years, I'd say they need new blood in their marketing and programming depts. Notice that the posts online that call for a return to cooking are the ones that get the highest thumbs-up's, not things like Grocery Games or DDD.
ReplyDeleteWell said! Does the network even care about it's original mission anymore? Doesn't look like it. Too sad. Meanwhile, the numbers sink.
ReplyDeleteRatings are in and RVG 3 got 1.479 million viewers/0.5 18-49, down 38% in viewers and 44% in the demo from Season 2's premiere (2.376/0.9), which was on Sunday nights. On the positive side, the entire Monday night lineup got traction. As a side note, episode 2 of RVG season 1 (1/8/12) rating (3.2 million, 1.0 demo) was the last time a FN show managed to get more than 3m viewers (Source: Futon Critic).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info! Did you see Cutthroat Kitchen got above avg. ratings on Sunday night because Giada was on it? They also did a lot of promoting it on TV and online, so maybe that helped.
ReplyDeleteThe Kitchen got off to a great start. Saturday's 11AM premiere got 1.16 million viewers, retaining 86% of Trisha's Southern Kitchen audience (1.35 million). The Sunday 12PM rerun got 840,000 viewers, a nice number considering its lead-in was a Barefoot Contessa rerun, which I presume got a lower number than the 11AM Giada at Home original (1.04 million). Considering that most of The Kitchen hosts don't have Trisha's huge fan base and the show wasn't as promoted as other shows, like GGG, RVG, Cutthroat, DDD 11PM, and given the fact that FN doesn't promote its daytime shows during primetime hours, this is a solid start. Also, Sandwich King's season 5 premiere (at an earlier time) got almost a million viewers, 8% up from season 4's (926,000 on 4/7/13 @11AM).
ReplyDeleteDaytime Sat/Sun ratings (source: ratings blogger/TVMediaInsights contributor @SonoftheBronx):
Saturday:
10:30AM Trisha's Southern Kitchen (new): 1.35million viewers
11:00AM The Kitchen (premiere): 1.16million viewers
Sunday:
9:30AM Rachael Ray's 3 In A Bag (premiere): 797,000
10:00AM Guy's Big Bite (season finale): 894,000
10:30AM Sandwich King (season 5 premiere/new time): 996,000
11:00AM Giada at Home (new/new day and time): 1.04million viewers (source:TvBytheNumbers)
12:00PM The Kitchen (rerun): 840,000
It's obvious that FN is banking huge on Cutthroat, more than its tentpole game shows like RVG and Chopped. A promo for it pops on every break at all times so, with Sunday's ratings it wouldn't be hard to expect more Giada appearances and using other hosts as judges, like Bobby or Anne for example. Don't count out a Celebrity Cutthroat and a FN/CC Cutthroat with people like Justin Warner and/or other talent on the bench.
ReplyDeleteIf Warner is considered Talent, I'll just shut the TV off and go out for a microbrew. Is he gone yet? Anymore, when I see celebrities popping up on each others shows, it reminds of people just wanting another photo-op. Yawn.
ReplyDeleteI watched Cutthroat Kitchen. It was ok for a few times but doesn't hold my interest. Put someone else in charge of making new shows besides Alton and have more cooking shows. Put some of them on in the evening.
"Talent" as in Food Network employee...
ReplyDeleteAarti's last name isn't "Party;" "Aarti Party" is the title of her program. Her last name is Sequeira.
ReplyDeleteBourdain was on a Grantland podcast recently and said flat out when approached by FN for a show (years ago), they made it plain they weren't interested in food.
ReplyDeleteDo you work for Food Network?
ReplyDeleteOkay, given your constant pro-FN posts, you're clearly a network plant. Welcome.
ReplyDeleteRead all my posts. As I've been supportive of some FN shows and hosts (I've been clear that my favorite is Jeff Mauro as I read yours is Ina Garten, so I'm biased there), I've also been ironic and critic about things FN does but, the unfavorable opinions I have about hosts or shows, I'll reserve them to myself. When I criticize, I do in a way that doesn't have to be destructive or mean.
ReplyDeleteHave you noticed the commercials for Cutthroat Kitchen? They seem much more about close-ups of Alton doing his sly-looking mwuuahaha expressions than it does about what the show is actually about. I think Alton has a horribly unfulfilled desire to be an actor and so he hogs the camera whenever he possibly can. I saw it twice but it's just more reality-tv so I won't be watching.
ReplyDeleteStella is right. She has you nailed.
ReplyDeleteGlad that party is over.
ReplyDeleteMight be the spouse of someone on the network? Or a best friend? No one is truly honest unless they are willing to say: that sucks!
ReplyDeleteI won't tell anyone what that has to be about but if there is nothing, if it is only positive, then they lack credibility.
NY definitely isn't a "network plant"
ReplyDeleteThat may be but it is no guarantee of being any more accurate in the comments than those who disagree.
ReplyDeleteNot only was "The Kitchen" almost devoid of interesting content (and I feel Jeff Mauro was the only truly interesting cast member despite my long-standing food crush on GZ) it was also poorly produced. The sound quality was very poor and it just felt low-rent.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with what you said here about Alton Brown. I still like the show, although I think it would be much better with a different host.
ReplyDeleteAs long as it isn't Fieri again.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAHAHAHh touché
ReplyDeleteWatching this for the first time. Food Network version of the View. Have no problem with a food mostly-talk show. I kinda like the mix of co-hosts EXCEPT Katie Lee. She's awful. For this kind of show especially, you need a personality.
ReplyDelete"Celebrity" lineup very disappointing this year. Not even D list.
ReplyDeleteThey need to change the title to Rachael vs. Guy: Battle of the Has-Beens, except that I can't figure out Penn Jillette fits in there as he's quite active in Vegas and doesn't—as far as I can determine—need the additional exposure.
ReplyDeleteThen why are you posting on here, if you don't watch i??
ReplyDeleteI want to see Chris Kattan and Vanilla Ice gone, they make me ill, and make me not want to watch this show any longer! They could of picked much better people for this show!
ReplyDeleteOne down!
ReplyDeleteVanilla Ice is such a douche, if this show wasn't a complete setup he would be next. Since there will never be two people from one team eliminated back-to-back because the Ferry/Ray egos wouldn't allow it, I think I'm stuck with him for a couple more episodes. And I think we all know that team Rachel will win this year because team clown face won last year.
ReplyDeletejake pavelka makes me sick ..his arrogance ...as he has on everything he has done since the Bachelor...he is NOT a celebrity and needs to go back to flying!! His day in the sun has been over for a long time!
ReplyDeleteOMG, the final 4..I just knew PJ would make it, is this redemption for Celebrity App?
ReplyDeleteHe, Herschel and Penn would be my guess at the top three. Judy and Kattan are clearly cannon fodder. Florence, Jake and Tiffany are the fillers.
ReplyDeleteDidn't watch it - won't watch it. Rachael and Guy are overexposed and full of themselves. Don't watch anything either one of them are involved in.
ReplyDeleteLOL, that made me laugh. Fell asleep and missed the entire thing. Sounds like I didn't miss much!
ReplyDelete