Survivor

Quote: Face

It's been a loooong time since I've watched Survivor, but I thought it was standard strategy to boot the good players first. The strong, the smart, the capable. If you keep the best and make it tot he end, then you have to go against the best.

Or have things changed since '99?

It is the same strategy for any of this type of show. I haven't watched "Survivor" since Season 1, but "The Next Food Network Star" works the exact same way. Though that show does not have players voting, they do give advantages from time to time, and players stick it to the strong player. But on TNFNS it usually backfires on them.

OTOH, even the judges on TNFNS have been known to do this if they have a favorite. The year they had that Indian girl, Arti, on they either liked her or wanted a show on Indian cooking because the fix was in. If a good player had a bad week they axed the good player, clearing the field for her over time. It was obvious.

It was obvious last year on NFNS, when they
kicked the Italian guy off immediately. He
was the most personable by far, and they
gave him a chance for a comeback, which
he did. It was all planned. Then the winner
was that dickhead cowboy? He was a moron,
blubbering at the end and telling the CEO
of FN that he loved her? He'd never even met
her before that day. There were so many better
chefs than him.

Quote: Evenbob

It was obvious last year on NFNS, when they
kicked the Italian guy off immediately. He
was the most personable by far, and they
gave him a chance for a comeback, which
he did. It was all planned. Then the winner
was that dickhead cowboy? He was a moron,
blubbering at the end and telling the CEO
of FN that he loved her? He'd never even met
her before that day. There were so many better
chefs than him.

Aw, come on, I liked that cowboy guy! He tried whatever it took to win. I just watched 2 seasons on Netflix and picked the cowboy and pie guy as my favorites early, both made the final-2.

It is harder to rig now since they poll the audience for the winner. Of course they could fix that, but a tad harder.

I really hope Netflix keeps getting more FN shows, as they seem to be doing. FN shows cry out for binge watching, and it is one of the 5 or so channels I actually watched on cable.

Quote: AZDuffman

Aw, come on, I liked that cowboy guy! He tried whatever it took to win..

He wasn't a talented chef and he had
the personality of a redneck jerk. I
didn't like the Indian girl either. Or
the sandwich guy who won. They
aren't great cooks. But neither is Guy
Fieri, he's all mouth. I like hearing what
Anthony Bourdain says about FN. He
used to work there 10 years ago. He
really can't stand Bobby Flay and Guy
Fieri. He's says Flay has an awful temper
and is often cruel to his people. And
Guy is a hack, plain and simple. He
likes Alton Brown and Giana because
they can actually cook.

Quote: Evenbob

He wasn't a talented chef and he had
the personality of a redneck jerk. I
didn't like the Indian girl either. Or
the sandwich guy who won. They
aren't great cooks. But neither is Guy
Fieri, he's all mouth. I like hearing what
Anthony Bourdain says about FN. He
used to work there 10 years ago. He
really can't stand Bobby Flay and Guy
Fieri. He's says Flay has an awful temper
and is often cruel to his people. And
Guy is a hack, plain and simple. He
likes Alton Brown and Giana because
they can actually cook.

Guy isn't a cook but he is a great host for what he does. I can see a star chef having a temper. I know a guy who knows a guy who was on that local-challenge show of Flay's and had a few beers with him after. Said he was a good guy but OTOH he didn't work for him.

I like Alton because he knows food AND production. I never heard if he was a producer who learned food or a food guy who learned production. Giana I just know is a hottie, never saw her cooking show.

Guy's restaurants get terrible reviews from the foodies, and so-so ones from the enthusiasts of his style. I like the idea of his show, but would prefer it to be without someone quite so... bro-dude. The problem with it is that everywhere is GREAT, and reading puff pieces for restaurants is tiring anyways, and seeing it live gets tedious after a while... I'm never going to visit anywhere he visits, and unlikely to cook the dishes on the industrial scale. So an unending stream of hyperbole gets dull after a while.

Alton and Anthony Bourdain are firm favourites of mine to read or watch.

Quote: TheCesspit

Alton and Anthony Bourdain are firm favourites of mine to read or watch.

Because they're knowledgeable real people.
Guy's show DD&D is one long ad for local
restaurants. According to him, they're all
unique and remarkable and just great. Of
course, this means none of them are. The
only way you can get permission to shoot
in a kitchen is to promise it will be a puff
piece, or nobody would let you in.

I can't stand any show Robert Irvine is on.
He has no patience, no humor, why he's
even on TV is a mystery. He has no TV
personality. A couple of the restaurants
he 'saved' with all his sage advice have
gone out of business. That was the dumbest
show on FN.

Quote: Evenbob

Because they're knowledgeable real people.
Guy's show DD&D is one long ad for local
restaurants. According to him, they're all
unique and remarkable and just great. Of
course, this means none of them are. The
only way you can get permission to shoot
in a kitchen is to promise it will be a puff
piece, or nobody would let you in.

Indeed... and this is why AA Gill's restaurant reviews are worth reading for the sake of the pleasure of reading them, while I only flip through the industry magazines to see what sort of food I might expect at the new place down the road. And then go to Urbanspoon for a far better idea.

Something about Guy that drives me up
the wall is, he hates eggs. He won't eat
them unless they're buried in some recipe.

Just the sight of a fried egg almost makes
him sick. This is a true sign that he's no
chef. Professionals get used to eating
everything, even things they dislike. Though
most of them don't dislike much of anything.

I just made my traditional Survivor bet with my mother. I have Rodney or Mike to win and she has the field. The wager is $5, which is a lot for my mom.