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'Next Food Network Star' Runner-Up Adam Gertler Gets His Own Show

20080804-nfns-adam.jpgThe Next Food Network Star runner-up Adam Gertler, the one who cracked jokes and goofballed his way into the top three, will host his own show on the Food Network called Will Work for Food premiering Tuesday, September 30. That means, he basically won the series too since the goal was to win your own television show. Gertler's half-hour program will investigate the world of lesser-known food jobs. According to the press release:

Whether he's protecting his fingers while feeding sharks, closely examining potato chips for flaws or trying his hand as a dog food taste tester, Adam will stop at nothing to learn how each job is done.

Adam is the former owner of The Smoked Joint, a Philadelphia barbecue spot he ran with his brother. But as Gertler mentioned in the final episodes, he had no job or girlfriend to go home to if he lost. Now he just needs the girlfriend part, apparently.

This also means Lisa Garza, a fellow runner-up, is the only contestant in the top three winner's circle that wasn't offered her own show. She had the couture aprons, former beauty queen resume, and could cook pretty well—what gives?

32 Comments:

This is another reason why I think NFNS is a sham. I understand FN trying to maximize their revenue, but this is a blatant slap in the face to anyone who actually took the time to watch the show.

I don't see a problem with more than one show coming out of the series. The whole goal was to find talent.

As far a Lisa not getting a show...personality. FN has dumbed itself down over the last couple of years. Lisa's food and approach was not targeted to the everyday home cook. That is the audience FN is targeting. Cross-demographic, cross-culture, but not fine dining.

Really shows a lot of faith in their winner, doesn't it?

good for Adam! All 3 finalist could have a successful show.

I joined Serious Eats just now JUST so I could comment on this post.

I KNEW IT!

I said he'd get a show to my family when we watched.

Okay whew. Got that over with. I'm sure I'll enjoy the newsletter as well. So thank you.

I'm kinda glad actually, despite it knocking holes in the whole 'one winner per run' concept, Adam deserved a shot at a show, he has a lot of charisma and decent cooking skills as far as the editing showed. Besides, it isn't like most of the winners last past one season*, so they might as well hedge their bets.

*Except Guy of course

I'm irritated. I liked Lisa more than EITHER of the other two. FN shows have gotten so ridiculously dumb, it is really turning me off. I WANT to learn how to cook more intricate items, not watch more shows on how candy is made or learn how to make dinner with 4 ingredients in 10 minutes.

I'm not surprised, and I don't see a problem with it. The winner gets a show as specified in the contract (a cooking show, x number of weeks, x number of dollars) and any other contestant has the opportunity to get a contract for a different show -- just like anyone who didn't compete can try to get a show. It's not like the whole network is staffed entirely by contest winners. The difference is that the contestants have an "in" with the FN people, so it might be slightly easier for them to get a show. This happens with other reality shows, where the winner gets the stated prize, but the others have a better chance than the average person to snag a contract for something else.

Also -- remember that there was that online vote for your favorite contestant. If Adam scored high on that, it would be silly for FN not to offer him something. Why throw away a person that the target audience has expressed a fondness for?

what gives? the word, pretentious comes to mind...

I don't mind Adam getting a show (I think he did have an appealing "on-air" personality), I just wish it would have been a COOKING show. This sounds like "Dirty Jobs" for foodies.

And I really hope Lisa gets a shot, too. FN may be 'dumbing down' somewhat, but I think there's a lot of people who would tune into a real 'cooking' show. I think Lisa would be great to fill that missing Ina/Nigella niche.

The reason I feel Adam didn't get first place, aka a set type of show, was proven to me in the show preview I saw the day after the contest results. There were previews for an internet type show like the one he was piloting. Not exactly the same, but the general idea. Whether or not they took his idea, or they had already been planing one like this, we will probably never know.

In my opinion, and my boyfriends, we think they felt they "needed" more minority on the network as well, so they chose the other dude.


I was rooting for Lisa. I didn't like her in the beginning, but she grew on me.

Btw, this is the preview I was talking about seeing:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ai/

Ask Aida

I sooo hope Lisa Garza gets her own show.

@suthungirl: I completely agree with you.

I actually wanted Adam to win, and felt like he was just overall *better*. His concept was completely original (though as Tahitinova said, we'll never know which came first, Adam or Aida - my money's on Aida), and he made me want to watch, and made me feel like if I wanted, I could be a part of his show.

On another, similarly related topic: what did everyone think of Aaron's show?

I didn't think it was bad per se, but, it seemed kinda choppy in the beginning, with lots of quick camera cuts and edits. Also, I just don't think Aaron has found his groove yet in the show, but, it was also his first episode.

Okay, okay, I'm a n00b, didn't see the Talk piece about Aaron's new show...

Those bastards over at The Food Network ripped off Adam's pilot idea he had for the finale of TNFNS. Ask Aida? I watched that crap. . .really? It was ridiculous. I am so close to writing off The Food Network for awhile. I'll just blog instead of watching crappy, cranked out food shows. I don't think I will watch Adam's new show in September. If there's no cooking, I don't watch. Too bad. . .

We watched Aaron's show yesterday. He had some neat tricks, and other than being really annoyed by the darn still shots they kept showing we liked it. I'm glad Adam is getting his own show! Our two favorites were Adam and Aaron.

Lisa Garza just annoyed me. I love fine dining, I like playing with my food and coming up with new ideas - I just don't like over the top, pretentious food and I frequently got the impression she cared less about the food than her appearance. I'd like to see her put on her glasses (so she doesn't have to squint) , a tee shirt (or kitchen scrubs), a pair of jeans, and some crocs and get in the kitchen and cook like a real cook - not a beauty queen. I don't care about designer aprons and clothes on the person who is cooking for me - or showing me how to cook something.

JMHO -

I thought Lisa was really talented and really seemed to know her food well. And Adam's show, from the sound of it, doesn't seem to involve actual cooking. The way I figure, both Lisa's and Adam's pilots in NFNS involved actual cooking, which is not something the Food Network seems to be interested in showcasing a lot of these days.

I always thought Adam would do best on a show like this or Secret Life Of... something like that. I'm so happy that he is getting a show, go Adam! Good luck to him and I hope his show does well - I'll definitely be watching it! I was rooting for him to win NFNS, but Will Work For Food is supposedly getting a 13-episode start-off whereas the NFNS winning show only gets a 6-episode start-off. Sort of weird but hey it's Food Network, what would you expect...

that guy wouldn't last two weeks as a line cook on my street in NYC and he got a show on national tv.

I think it's totally fitting that he got a non-cooking show. People like his tv presence, but he couldn't cook eggs.

And Lisa didn't get a show because the FN demographic is not actually foodies, it's people who love Paula Deen-types. And Lisa is way too uptight. I certainly had the impression that she knew her food, but I just didn't find anything about her or her food to be that interesting or charismatic.

I think food network is becoming kind of like Microsoft, very bottom line thinking and forgetting to innovate, but rather playing to large market segments ... foodies are ignored ... I would have watched Lisa, I could have learned something from her ... Aaron can cook, but I probably won't watch ... Adam fits the Rachel Ray mold of TV cook, they'll give him a cooking coach and if anyone watches, before long maybe he'll be demo-ing someone elses recipes

Think I said this before, but Lisa needs a lot of work on air, she squints at the screen and has trouble reading from the teleprompter. Very diverse and talented, but not a good television personality...

Yawn. Another stupid FN show. I'd watch if Martha Stewart guested. It would be fun to see the horrified look on her face again if Adam serenaded her.

Lisa and Shane - I'd watch.

Lisa doesn't want an FN show. The network is part of a group, and she'll be on Fine Living or something. She told me before the final aired that "sometimes you win by not being the winner." For one thing, she is working on a cookbook, makes real coin catering, and those would be disrupted by TV. She accomplished her mission.

Also, she is awesome in person. The producers consistently strove to show her in a bad light.

I'm not surprised that Adam got his own show. He was the only one of the final three who had actual personality. It's PAINFUL to watch Aaron's show - regardless of whether he can cook well or not. Aaron has all the perosnality of a limp carrot. Lisa.... same deal, but at least she had personality in her promo show. Aaron's promo showed that even when he's trying to have personality, it's forced. He doesn't have any original ideas - even the idea for his promo show was mainly thought up by others. His vegas 'commercial' was the easiest of the final three - almost as if the people making the contest realized he had no personality or acting talent so they gave him something where you didn't need much to begin with. He should have been dumped from the Next Food Network star back in Vegas when he was hands down the worst contestant, even according to all the 'Vegas' people trying the food. But the judges had a lovefest with him so... eh. One of them saying "The runner stumbles, do you remove him?" Yes. Yes you do - it was a competition - he lost. He should have been dumped.

With Adam, being comfortable in front of the camera seems to come naturally. He's sort of like Guy Fieri. You just -want- to watch him, regardless of whether he's cooking or not. And according to the people in Vegas, he seems to be a good cook as well (according to the Winn chefs). But guess what... you can't transmit taste through the TV. What remains? Personality.

I can't wait to see his show - it's like Dirty Jobs...but with food. Now if they only would realize they chose a dud as the winner. Congrats Adam! And congratulations Food Network on partially fixing your mistake. Finish it by not renewing Big Daddy's Kitchen... House... whatever.

Someone else brought up something as well. Yes... the food network did rip off Adam's idea for online 'question asking' in a show. Adam has good ideas. Lisa has excellent-looking food. Aaron... I have no clue how he won. Except for the whole 'lovefest' thing the judges were having for him.

Is it because he's black? I don't know. But they werent thinking like network execs when they picked him - you pick a TV star based on people wanting to WATCH him or her.

Even Adam's backstory was better than Aaron's. Losing his restaurant, having nothing left. Then WINNING? That would have been inspirational. As it is, this is still inspirational as well. Going from the bottom back up.

I wouldn't be surprised if they gave Adam a second show if 'Will Work for Food' does well, just like they did with Guy's Off the Hook after the success of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (though that makes 3 shows for Guy if you include Guy's Big Bite)

Sorry I'm late ... sorry to Serious Eats, I should say, not sorry to Food Network. I slid by Food Network last night and saw that Adam had a show. I thought it was new! I had no idea he'd won it last summer! Tells you how much I watch FN anymore. First though, good for Adam. Anyone lamenting the fact that Lisa didn't win should look at the current offerings and realize that Lisa cannot save FN with her haute cuisine. If FN wants to fill their schedule with the umpteenth version of "Follow That Food with Gordon Elliott" so be it. The focus is no longer on recipes, at least in primetime where we get to watch people Work For Food, Follow That Food and ask the seemingly endless query How Did That Get On My Plate? +YAWN+

Good for Adam.....his personality on tv seems to be pretty true to his real persona. I went to the same college - don't know him well, but hung out with him enough times to get a sense since a friend of mine dated him. He was a drama major at Syracuse, thats why he's so good in front of the camera. He's always been more of a performer than a cook. Haven't seen the show yet - but if i pass by while flipping channels i'd definitely stop. I agree with previous opinions of aaron and lisa - i could totally see lisa do a martha stewart - esque show...and I can't see aaron being very interesting, though i have not seen his show. I'm also a big alton brown fan - so i guess it makes sense i'd be a fan of someone approachable and fun like Adam. Goodluck with the show adam!

Drama major? No wonder he is so comfortable in front of the camera. So far, the show doesn't suck.

Seriously, this format has been done ten times over, and this version is neither informative nor entertaining. It's boring. Period.

I loved Adam. I have watched his new show several times. His humor is fun and he is great on camera but I would definitely like to see him do a cooking show. He is like Guy in that his real appeal is as a personality. I think he will be another star like Guy and will be one to watch- I am sure that Will Work for Food is just the beginning.

I have to agree about Aaron. He just isn't that interesting on his show- I have seen it several times and am just not that impressed or interested in watching it again. He still feels stiff and forced on camera to me and doesn't really have anything compelling to teach as far as food goes. He is another FNS dud like all the others execpt Guy. I think they have had a hard time picking the right winner every season but the second. JAG should have won Season 3 but he took himself out. I would still love to see him get a show on FN. I would like to see Lisa get a real cooking show too. She actually knows food and would bring a different element that is currently in short supply on FN. Aidia, Sonny, Aaron-- all duds

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