#bobtuschman

Food Network Star 11: Finale

Tonight’s “live” finale, though clearly taped live, has the polished sheen of a cooking utensil infomercial. Pretaped live then, since the truth is there’s no need to do it live once the audience voting segment is removed. While the episode recaps the last ten weeks of episodes, it should be noted that this Top Three is a first in eleven seasons. We’ve never had an all male Top Three. We’ve had a…

Food Network Star 11: Good Chefs Have Bad Days

Tonight’s episode of Food Network Star saw the winner of Star Salvation rejoin the competition. But, unlike the last two years, where the show merely referenced that there was this other competition going on at FoodNetwork.com, the channel decided, prior to tonight’s episode of the main program, to do a special one hour presentation of all six episodes back to back. Interesting, as this is also…

Food Network Star 11: Holiday Helplessness

It’s Top Five Week at the Food Network Star. And I’m with Arnold–holy sausage fest. This is the first time in 11 years the Top Five has been all guys. I wonder if that’s why Star Salvation did a 180 last week and now has only women left, after working so hard to rehabilitate Matthew. Not that they’re rejoining the competition yet. We’ll have to live with the sausage fest for at least another week…

Food Network Star X: Finale

It’s our final episode of the season. You’ve seen the pilots. If you cared about who will be rewarded with a thirty minute show on Saturday mornings, you voted. Now it’s time to sit through 55 minutes of filler while we wait for the results to be announced and the confetti cannons to fire.

We start with scripted banter in the car as the finalists pull up to the Chelsea Market. The taping of the…

Food Network Star X: Gods and Goddesses Help No One

This week, the production is still out in Vegas. With only six contestants left, it’s time for one of the most dreaded challenges of the season–the group meal.

Team competitions are a standard reality competition trope. It also prepares our competitors for the reality of Food Network’s line up, where the faces of the Network Brand are regularly thrown together in random configurations, whether it…

Food Network Star X: Product Placement

This week, Food Network Star has our cheftestants focus on merchandising. It’s the Make a Personally Branded Product challenge. The show only came up with this last season, but it’s effective. After all, how do we spend our money on Food Network stars? By buying their branded products at our local megamart.

Giada and Bobby meet our remaining seven in the Food Network Studio. Alton joins via…

Food Network Star X: Hollywood Premiere

Season Ten of How Your Foodertainment Gets Made begins tonight. They promise us this will be the wildest, unpredictable season yet. We shall see. Despite having dropped the “mentor” format after only one season, Alton, Giada and Bobby are still referred to as “mentoring” the twelve contestants. I prefer it when we call them “The Selection Committee.”

We meet our twelve contestants as they enter…