'Chopped' Season Premiere Rechat
"I want to care more about these people, can't someone say something funny or bitchy or edgy?" —Ed Levine
"Animal Crackers in My Soup." Trust me, all will become clear if you keep reading.
Three of the Serious Eats gang sat down to watch the premiere of the new chef competition show Chopped. We chatted via IM about it as the episode unfolded.
Adam: So from what I understand, it's four competitors each show, three courses, one chef eliminated with each course? So no recurring stable of contestants to whittle down over the season
Ed: Yes, it's all about cooking, but I miss the artificially induced drama. Ted Allen is rather bland. It has some elements of Iron Chef and some of Top Chef, but it's not as distinctive as either of those shows
Adam: So I take it that judges change with each episode, too? Or maybe it'll be like Iron Chef—a rotation of regulars? Without recurring judges, though, I wonder if any single judge will become the "mean, credible judge"
Adam: With Iron Chef, Steingarten as a recurring regular seems to fill the mean judge role who lends the show credibility
Ed: Colicchio does it on Top Chef
Ed: Ted Allen is a host—not enough of an expert; the chefs are just cooks, you never get to know them as people, so it's hard to care and root for them
Adam: Also, the judges are chefs, and not super well-known ones—at least not to mainstream, non-food-world-obsessed Americans, so I wonder if they'll be more reluctant to get mean. It's easier to be an asshole if you've already got five restaurants nationwide
Ed: Good point, Adam, I felt they aren't very discerning—not because they didn't know better (because in fact they know a lot), but because they want to be nice
[Warning: Spoilers follow!]
Ed: So long, Summer; how could she concentrate on the flavor? None of them had ever worked with baby octopus before
Adam: I know, especially "I'm a vegan vegetarian chef." Uh oh. Vegetarians/vegans, I have nothing against you, but you can't bring that to a competition that throws unknown ingredients at you
Adam: Good one, Sandy: "There's nuthin' better than a potato fried in duck fat. Nuthin' better."
Ed: Sandy is right about potatoes fried in duck fat, there is nothing better
Ed: Where's Alton Brown when you need him?
Adam: They also put a blur over the mouth when they cuss. I guess that's for lip-readers
Ed: I want to care more about these people, can't someone say something funny or bitchy or edgy? Everyone is so nice on the show—maybe too nice
Alaina: I can't tell if it's the editing or the production, but the show seems to be missing a little pizzaz
Alaina: It's a weird top Chef/Iron Chef hybrid
Ed: I long for some drama, some tension, something to keep me awake
Alaina: So I'm not clear on how this plays out over the season. You don't get to know a contestant in this format. So you aren't emotionally invested
Ed:I need to care about these folks and the judges, and I don't as of yet. I also want someone to say something funny
Ed: I am starting to root for Sandy, I need to root when I watch these shows. It's like when you're watching a game, it's a lot more fun when you have a strong rooting interest
Adam: He has a charming accent. And he said the thing about duck fat
Adam: And for the dessert dish ... Adam: Animal crackers and prunes?!?
Adam: A dessert for young and old alike
Alaina: Or a dessert that appeals to no one!
Alaina: Ed, please explain the Shirley Temple and elephants reference
Alaina: Oh, Anil says "Animal Crackers in My Soup" is the name of a song she sang
Ed: Yes, Sandy sang the song in the beginning of the dessert-making
Alaina: In the 1935 film Curly Top, Wikipedia says
Adam: So this kind of elimination may end up favoring the weaker cook—because if the stronger one bombs (or even is just barely edged out) in the dessert
Adam: Ah, wait, they're doing final judging ... so they *do* take some of the overall into account
Ed: This is too much of a lovefest. We need a nasty judge
Alaina: Where's Toby Young when you need him?
Bonus Video: Shirley Temple Sings 'Animal Crackers in My Soup'
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
16 Comments:
Big "eh" from me. I watched it in HD, but they created the "high definition" version by stretching out 4:3 video -- such an amateur move. Tsk tsk, FoodTV.
mschlock at 1:11AM on 01/14/09
You want fireworks and controvery, put in Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell as judges. "You're fired. And you're fat and ugly and your food tastes like pond scum." "Oh yeah, well maybe you'd know fat and ugly if you combed your hair transplants out of your wandering eyes." And so on and so on. I wouldn't watch because I can't stand those people, but it wouldn't be boring.
PerkyMac at 1:14AM on 01/14/09
Yea, I didn't think the chefs or the mystery baskets were particularly interesting and entertaining. I wasn't thrilled with having the judges there and commenting on the food while the chefs were making it.
Also the color palate of the entire show is a bit too dark and monotone, which may not bother some, but made the show almost look cheap and hastily done.
Phil W. at 2:05AM on 01/14/09
I do think the results would have turned out completely different if all of the judges were 90 years old and knew that Shirley Temple joint.
anildash at 4:32AM on 01/14/09
I don't have cable, so I didn't see it.
However, I have seen "Curly Top"--from watching it with my grandmother and mother on TV as a child. Perhaps that was the case with the person who mentioned it, hence the prunes/animal cracker reference.
One thing that always bothered me about that song: aren't animal crackers really cookies? I always found the idea of eating a box of Barnum animal crackers in a bowl of Campbell's pretty rank.
HeartofGlass at 8:04AM on 01/14/09
@mschlock Thank you for the comment on aspect ratio, one of my pet peeves. I had to switch to the standard definition version. Is it me or was the show very poorly lit? Definitely seems low budget.
As for the show it so was dull that I dozed off half way through. Ted Allen is just plain boring.
Nick Solares at 9:09AM on 01/14/09
While Ted Allen may have been able to lend culinary panache to Queer Eye, I don't think he's got enough chops to be taken seriously when tossed into the unforgiving Bermuda Triangle that can be culinary media. Witness the beating Giada takes for her cleavage and Ina for her fussing over her husband and/or her weight - and these two ladies are amazing cooks!
As for the lack of drama, I found this to be a breath of fresh air. I got (what I thought was) permanently turned off of cooking "reality" shows by Rocco DiSpirito and "The Restaurant" debacle. I was waiting for the focus to be in the kitchen where it belongs. Instead, we were treated to the trials and tribulations of the love lives of the waitstaff and the drama that is FOH. Ugh.
I've also noticed that if a show doesn't WOW 95% of its intended audience, it's unceremoniously yanked before it even has a chance to spread its wings. For crying out loud, M*A*S*H took about 3 years to catch on and wound up being a legend. If TVFN is willing to do a show about REAL cooks, let's give them a chance to work out the kinks before we riddle it with bullets.
...aren't animal crackers really cookies? I always found the idea of eating a box of Barnum animal crackers in a bowl of Campbell's pretty rank...
A detail that never sat right with me either. Maybe there were savory or plain animal crackers at one time?
PS, I know that joint and I'm not 90 ;)
therealchiffonade at 9:47AM on 01/14/09
Although I enjoyed Ted Allen in print media and as a component of queer eye, as a solo act he is just falls flat. His monotone voice needs training. If I were him I would hire a voice coach. When he is voicing excitement he is monotone but louder. I am going to rue the day I said this, Guy Fieri sounds better (I know, I know, sad day right) I have not given up on Ted, someone needs to teach him how to get some game ffs. He doesn't convey well on camera and with all the damn expert help they have on Food Channel (ha ha) you think they could get someone to mentor him.
Hint Hint someone take Teddy out back and give him some pointers. Hell if they can keep Aunt Paula in her knickers and not molesting the men in the audience they could do this.
JerzeeTomato at 11:08AM on 01/14/09
The way it's formatted now, the show could have been a brisk, fast-paced half hour. Instead, we have a bunch of boring, repetitive recapping and guest judge/chef blabbering.
I don't HAVE to know the competitors - they're gone after one ep anyway, but if the show is going to be an hour long, why not steal from Iron Chef (they're doing so already) and produce a two-minute bio package for each competitor, showcasing their current work/achievements.
I agree with what someone above said about the too-dark set, and yes - Ted Allen needs some hosting lessons. I don't need him front and center, but I'd like to see him a bit more refined and...host-y.
Anyone besides me feel the mystery baskets didn't present much of a challenge? The ingredients were all pretty complimentary and straight forward. Wouldn't it be more of a challenge for them to throw in a really off-the-chart ingredient for a twist?
Sure, they all seemed thrown by the baby octopus, but oddly - for chefs - though they all seemed flummoxed by it, not a single one of them tasted it first to see what they were dealing with.
Anyway. I'll give it another chance next week, but I have concerns with how long it might be around.
kimonkey7 at 11:17AM on 01/14/09
Not impressed at all....ripped off Top Chef and not in a good way! Mystery basket after mystery basket....not nearly the creativity in Top Chef challenges. Don't know if I will watch again, only if I get snowed in.
dsquared at 11:32AM on 01/14/09
I thought Ted was brilliant on Top Chef, and I'm sad he left to do his food network shows but I understand that he wants to break out on his own as a bigger personality.
With that said, Chopped is pretty boring.
tricia_m at 8:57PM on 01/14/09
@chiff--it's nice to know that my mind is 'thinking alike' like you, gives me hope for my culinary future ;) I guess tomato soup and sugary cookies together made Shirley Temple a pioneer of culinary fusion.
Speaking of animal cracker cooking--America's Test Kitchen used animal crackers for a lemon cheesecake crust. Looked yummy. No prunes, though.
HeartofGlass at 5:54AM on 01/15/09
I cannot bring myself to watch this. Fake drama does nothing for me. And as for Ted Allen, he's sometimes insightful on Iron Chef but it seems that in every other appearance he makes he's simply reading off the teleprompter. What does Food Network see in this guy?
mrlancestuckey at 11:23AM on 01/15/09
@mrlancestuckey: There is no fake drama because there is no drama at all.
Adam Kuban at 11:28AM on 01/15/09
Lemme see if I got this straight... we are hammering a TVFN show for sucking?! This is akin to judging hitler to be evil..... Where's the weenie? These people have already put in stone that they could F$%@ -up a one car funeral!
Pavlov at 7:45AM on 01/16/09
I love the food network and I watch Almost everything on cooking. I am sad to say watching "Chopped" is a joyless experience...There is nothing fun about this show! Ted Allen always seems like he wants everyone to have a sweet and wonderful time, but not here ! I think in these times we need some lightness and FUN!! This show should be exciting and inspiring..not ridiculously unfair in judgment and bland..It is not too late to change the format..hopefully!
johanna0707 at 1:49AM on 03/04/09