Monday, August 4
Big Daddy's In Your House
I haven't posted about Aaron McCargo Jr.'s show Big Daddy's House yet because I didn't get a chance to see the premiere episode yesterday.
And due to what's kind of a long story, I didn't even get to DVR it because my cable was down. It should hopefully be restored tonight.
Add all that to the fact that I'm still crying over the demise of Redlasso, the Internet godsend that allowed me to watch and clip shows at any time. (Why did you have to sue, NBC and FOX?!? Why?)
So, I'm basically left helpless... at least until next Sunday, upon which I can watch the 2nd episode. Thanks to you all for getting the ball rolling on the "Lisa Garza Wins" post below.
There were apparently some issues involving grease... and grapeseed oil?
Someone asked me in the comments to "come out" and write about how I feel about Aaron. Not having seen the first episode, I can't comment on that. As far as my thoughts on Aaron as a person and a Food Network host, he wouldn't have been my first choice. Like many of you, I found the way his pilot was presented in the finale to be verrrrrry edited. Aaron would say a few words and then we'd get an shot of the audience "reacting" over and over. He'd hardly get a full sentence out before they'd cut away to laughing or seat-jumping or whatnot.
It gave me the impression they were trying to sweeten up something that was probably a little sour to begin with—more so than the other finalists.*
Soooo, I was kind of upset about that.
Also, Aaron's food isn't typically the kind of stuff that makes me go gaga. That doesn't mean I won't watch a host like that, s/he just better have the kind of personality that will force me to sit there and watch, even if they're sautéing an old shoe. It's not easily defined, but I know it when I see it.
Based on Aaron's performance on The Next Food Network Star, I don't know if I see it. Maybe that'll change with his own show... but I'm not counting on it.
What are your thoughts? There seem to be people on both sides of the aisle. Too much gab about grease and grapeseed?
_____________________________________________
* Food Network has every right to do this, though. People seem to confuse this TV competition with something as honest and sound as the presidential election (okay, bad example). The fact of the matter is the show's producers reserve the right to do pretty much anything in terms of "story telling" and mid-taping rule changes. Ever notice how at the end of Project Runway you see: Judges considered both their scores and input from the Producers and Bravo in reaching their elimination decisions?
Bob, Susie and Bobby could have "legally" decided to just scrap the final three contestants and give the show to Kelsey. Now, that might not have been ethical, but they could have done it.
The show is edited and designed to get high ratings, and it does that quite well. So when people complain about if this was "the best talent they could find?", I'm pretty sure you'd get a confident "yes" in response from the producers. These were the best contestants for generating interesting stories and high-drama moments, all of which they hoped would turn into high ratings. And it did... nearly 4 million people watched the finale, beating all kind of records at Food Network. There isn't much more to it than that.
And due to what's kind of a long story, I didn't even get to DVR it because my cable was down. It should hopefully be restored tonight.
Add all that to the fact that I'm still crying over the demise of Redlasso, the Internet godsend that allowed me to watch and clip shows at any time. (Why did you have to sue, NBC and FOX?!? Why?)
So, I'm basically left helpless... at least until next Sunday, upon which I can watch the 2nd episode. Thanks to you all for getting the ball rolling on the "Lisa Garza Wins" post below.
There were apparently some issues involving grease... and grapeseed oil?
Someone asked me in the comments to "come out" and write about how I feel about Aaron. Not having seen the first episode, I can't comment on that. As far as my thoughts on Aaron as a person and a Food Network host, he wouldn't have been my first choice. Like many of you, I found the way his pilot was presented in the finale to be verrrrrry edited. Aaron would say a few words and then we'd get an shot of the audience "reacting" over and over. He'd hardly get a full sentence out before they'd cut away to laughing or seat-jumping or whatnot.
It gave me the impression they were trying to sweeten up something that was probably a little sour to begin with—more so than the other finalists.*
Soooo, I was kind of upset about that.
Also, Aaron's food isn't typically the kind of stuff that makes me go gaga. That doesn't mean I won't watch a host like that, s/he just better have the kind of personality that will force me to sit there and watch, even if they're sautéing an old shoe. It's not easily defined, but I know it when I see it.
Based on Aaron's performance on The Next Food Network Star, I don't know if I see it. Maybe that'll change with his own show... but I'm not counting on it.
What are your thoughts? There seem to be people on both sides of the aisle. Too much gab about grease and grapeseed?
_____________________________________________
* Food Network has every right to do this, though. People seem to confuse this TV competition with something as honest and sound as the presidential election (okay, bad example). The fact of the matter is the show's producers reserve the right to do pretty much anything in terms of "story telling" and mid-taping rule changes. Ever notice how at the end of Project Runway you see: Judges considered both their scores and input from the Producers and Bravo in reaching their elimination decisions?
Bob, Susie and Bobby could have "legally" decided to just scrap the final three contestants and give the show to Kelsey. Now, that might not have been ethical, but they could have done it.
The show is edited and designed to get high ratings, and it does that quite well. So when people complain about if this was "the best talent they could find?", I'm pretty sure you'd get a confident "yes" in response from the producers. These were the best contestants for generating interesting stories and high-drama moments, all of which they hoped would turn into high ratings. And it did... nearly 4 million people watched the finale, beating all kind of records at Food Network. There isn't much more to it than that.
Labels: Aaron McCargo Jr., food network
posted by jacob @ 2:29 PM
59 Comments:
aaron seems to be a very sweet and sincere guy. his little boy in the show with him was adorable. i just don't think, like many others, he had the chops to win this contest, although his 1st show was better than i expected.
he did use a ton of oil (grape-seed or not) to fry everything in and the food wasn't the most attractive in presentation. I will say this much: some of the yummiest stuff I have cooked for myself looked horrible but tasted great...but I am not on a TV show either!
i think most people are just sick to death of FN now. aND i think the way that show happened pissed off a lot of people. (the star show)....
The network is just consistently going downhill.... and the shows they put on and the people they choose to showcase and a huge snore and nothing new.and its all becoming totally recycled....same old shit with different people that are really annoying in their own shows anyway.....
aarons food was NOT appealing.... maybe once he gets dumped from FN, and he WILL, the exposure will have helped him out in whatever way he and his family needed the help...... I would venture to guess it was financial more than anything.....
I thought Aaron looked much more comfortable than I thought he would. He seemed just fine.
His child was too cute and him being on was very appealing.
The food didn't trip my trigger but maybe if I actually ate it I would enjoy it. I probably would.
I do wish him well.
I liked Aaron, but wasn't at all happy with the overdone (in my opinion) post production. The music was waaay too loud - I couldn't hear the ingredients very well several times - and the "snapshots" were annoying and not at all helpful. I've heard this before on FN - "stirring music", "chopping music", and so on - which always seems to be the same for that activity on a particular show. It becomes cliche very quickly.
I thought for the first few minutes that Aaron might not have looked at the camera as often as he could have, but it really didn't bother me. If I want to learn from something he's demonstrating, I'm going to be looking at what he's doing with his hands, and listening to what he says.
My wife and I recently saw what looked to be a much younger Emeril on a show (a Julia Child series on PBS, I think?), and he seemed to be just as "camera shy". It was obvious that he was more comfortable with the food than the camera, and Aaron might be the same way.
I'll probably watch Aaron's show again - I watch this sort of program for information and ideas, not overflowing personality and flash.
thank you for what you said about television and editing and production.
The main thing that bothered me about the show was that when he went to get the ingredients for his spice rub, he said that it included garlic powder. However, when he was tossing every spice and seasoning together, there was no garlic powder to be found. :-(
All things considered, Aaron's first show was great. He was not my choice for winner, but I enjoyed watching his show. I liked it much better than his guest appearance on the Neely's.
I am glad you touched on the FN judging and scoring, etc. IMO, any of the 3 finalists would have been a good choice (much better than last season's) and as long as the show is entertaining to viewers it doesn't matter if they showcase one over the other.
Meh.
Although I believe the show will spawn a drinking game incorporating the phrase "bad boy"...
You'll know what I mean when you view.
Jacob: You're exactly right that the purpose of TNFNS is to hype TNFNS, and anything else that comes out of it is (to Tuschman et al.) a bonus.
That being said, I have no idea what these people were thinking. What kind of an idiot would watch someone who CLEARLY HAS NO IDEA HOW TO COOK try an cook things that EVERYBODY KNOWS HOW TO COOK ALREADY????!?
If FN thinks Aaron is "charming" (or whatever), then put him on a show where he can run around and do charming things. But let's not put him on a show that's ostensibly designed to teach people how to cook when he can't cook!
I thought he did a reasonably good job in his first episode. He seemed comfortable in front of the camera, and had an easy, accessible style, although I thought there was a little too much stuff with his kids. Some people like that, but I'd rather spend the time cooking. I did notice several places where the dialogue was clearly dubbed in later.
Although the chicken salad was a little too "kiddy" for me, I thought it was a cute idea, and I liked the idea of using different colors of tortilla chips for contrast. And kudos for telling people not to contaminate your spice rub if you're using it for more than one thing. The fries looked really good, and I could see myself making those. They were a lot more appealing than most other oven fries I've seen on cooking shows. I was not as impressed with the pork, though - it felt like he was rushing and trying to do too much, and first he burned the pork, then he didn't let it rest before slicing it, and it wasn't juicy at all. The sandwich with the broccoli raab was a good idea, though, a nice change from the typical lettuce. But he tried to do too much in one show, which is a common problem on a lot of Food Network shows, unfortunately.
Overall, I'm not sure if I'd watch this show regularly, especially if he continues to focus on "kid" food, but I thought it was better than some of the other shows on the FN at the moment.
Whoever directs this show should take a hint from Tyler's director: great lighting and simple camera angles. The pause effect they use -- which almost feels like a Quentin Tarnatino movie or something -- is rather annoying, and the first episode had a horribly slow pace.
I loved this first episode and look forward to more. The chicken salad was exactly up my fiance's alley tastewise and a great way to work more veggies into his diet... it's also simple enough that i could see him attempting to make it on his own (a girl can dream right?:) )
all in all i was extremely delighted with how personable and comfortable aaron was in this his first ep... (anyone remember how awful ingrid hoffman and giada were in their early eps?!?) and look forward to the next episode... i think you'll be pleasantly surprised :)
too slow too fast too much not enough kids cute too much kid
food i would make food i wouldn't make can cook can't cook
OY!!~ glad i don't have a show to dissect!!
that being said i still don't think aaron should have been chosen.
> ... drinking game incorporating the phrase "bad boy"
No kidding!! But this also got me to thinking. Is Aaron the black Guy Fieri?
I definitely prefer Guy
Fieri on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives to his cooking show (and he has a clue). I wonder if Aaron will have a similar future?
BTW, Justin was adorable and I actually liked the idea of the two different tortilla chips for the chicken fingers (though I thought it amusing that they weren't smashed fine enough and he had to stand there crushing them with his right hand while getting ready to dip with the left).
I did think that his pronouncing paprika papper-eeka was funny, though his description made me want to try it in more things.
I think the judges said that none of the finalists had been on TV before? It's shameful you people that expect such perfection in such a short amount of time. I have watched many behind the scenes shows, many bloopers, and read much about TV stars and there are numerous re-takes in the business as well as even the best of stars that mess up on camera! I've read of even famous stars that still get nervous on camera and have to have a lot of re-takes! I think all the contestants did great on the camera part of it considering they had never been on TV.
I have also noticed some of the other chefs don't look up at the camera much when they are cooking!
Another thing that amazes me is all the food critics out there posting that Aaron can't cook! I don't think he would have survived being a chef for so many years if he could not cook! He has been a chef for several restaurants, OWNS HIS OWN RESTAURANT, as well as a Executive Chef for CATERING at the University Hospital. There has been many that have actually tasted his food (I am not talking about the judges) and talk about how awesome the man cooks.
And as far as grease VS Grapeseed Oil. So what? All the chefs use a lot of butter, grease, oil, whatever to cook with that most of the time is unhealthy! Yes, frying with butter is very unhealthy not to mention the cholestrol factor. So be critical of most all the chefs if you want in regards to cooking unhealthy! That would be more fair instead of showing bias against one person for doing the same as most of the others.
Sore Losers and yes it is exactly that or you would be happy for any of the contestants that get a great opportunity! Whether or not you watch their show or like them.
I think there is enough on TV for us all to choose from for each of us to like something on there.
I hope the man is very successful for years to come and then guess you can find something else about him to be critical of.
To me the ones that have the right to be the most upset are kelsey fans since she clearly got the most votes on the Foodnetwork poll, with Aaron in second place! But even Kelsey on her exit interview stated she wanted Aaron to win and then on the final show she stated she wanted Aaron or Adam to win. I know many have been critical of that, too, that kelsey would not mention Lisa's name but after Lisa was so mean to all of the contestants, INCLUDING KELSEY don't know what you would expect?
Bobby said he would hire Lisa to be bossy to others. The producer said he did not want her to come off as a smarty pants. Lisa reprimends the others for drinking Soda and makes everyone feel their kids should be sophisticated. Kids can eat healthy without being sophisticated. And don't forget Lisa was happy Aaron won since he needed it more because he was not at the level she is at.
No one is perfect but Lisa was the only one rude to the others! And my opinion on that is not from reading the comments but from watching Lisa myself on the NFNS and watching all the videos where I heard Lisa talk rudely to the other contestants or talk rudely about them.
I can also understand Aaron just fine along with all the others on Foodnetwork that do not talk real plain.
"I thought there was a little too much stuff with his kids. Some people like that, but I'd rather spend the time cooking."
I just think Aaron was introducing us to his family. I doubt he'll be schlepping his kids into the studio every week.
Blah, blah, blah. Why are Aaron supporters so angry?
Okay, there is a huge difference with cooking with real grease and using olive/grapeseed oil!!!!!!!!!
Anyone who knows anything about cooking at all, should recognize that GREASE is horrible for you and can kill you!! Olive/Grapeseed oil is healthier than pure shortening/grease/vegetable oil, etc.
I don't know why Aaron has so many haters out there.
honestly, his first episode was better than Guy's early shows or anything Amy ever did. Probably even better than some of the Giada stuff, if she was really as bad as they say. he was like a more laidback version of the Neelys. (they ham it up a bit too much) i enjoyed his show and his food looked finger-licking good.
What is the name of his restaurant ? Are you sure he owns one ? Why didn't the FN bimbos mention it then ?
I think you're making that up. I'd say prove it.
This is about Aaron's food-not about HIM.
The food on HD TV looked very greasy.You could see it dripping off the fries for example, and it was baked!
I don't care what kind of oil it is...it looked unappealing.
I honestly much preferred Amy's shows and wish she would have stuck it out for a second season. Amy made the kind of fresh food from fresh ingredients that I am personally attracted to and wish to know more about. I don't need or care to know more about how to fry foods in grease or grapeseed oil; honestly, one can get all the "frying" they need (and then some) from the Paula Dean show.
To the person/persons that appears to hear/read what they want to and not hear/read what they don't want to in regards to Aaron's Bio must not had been listening to Foodnetwork too well when they meantioned it as well as it is at the Foodnetwork site! But then again maybe the Foodnetwork person that stated it did not talk plain enough for some to understand them!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_am/article/0,3201,FOOD_32117_5909447_,00.html
Among the information there it plainly states:
"A family man who adores all things flavorful, Aaron's passion for cooking was sparked at the age of four when he started baking cakes in his sister's Easy Bake Oven. Always an entrepreneur at heart, Aaron began making and selling cakes and cookies to his childhood friends. At the age of 13, Aaron was as a Junior Volunteer in the kitchen at Cooper Hospital University. HE HAS SINCE WORKED AS A CHEF IN NINE NEW JERSEY RESTAURANTS INCLUDING HIS OWN (MCCARGO'S RESTAURANT), WHICH HE OPENED IN 2003. Most recently, Aaron served as the executive chef at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. He also attended Atlantic Community College's Culinary Arts Academy. Aaron is married with three kids and currently lives in Camden, NJ."
And before someone starts some more untrue rumors, he is a cater
chef for the university hospital, not a cook for the patients!
It's no wonder Amy left the Foodnetwork even though SHE WAS OFFERED ANOTHER CONTRACT!! She talked about all the nasty comments from those that were very critical of her. Don't know why anyone would want to be on the Foodnetwork by winning a NFNS as mean as many of the viewers are if their favorite does not win or if they are just a person that wants to find fault with everyone on the planet. Not hard to do, everyone has faults!
Yeesh, the haters come out in force once again...
Aaron's first show was a pleasant. I like that he used grapeseed oil, even if he used too much for the baked fries, and the use of Doritos chips and blue corn chips for chicken tenders is a clever idea I'll try at some point.
The sandwiches made with flipped cibatta buns might have been tasty, but they looked too unwieldy, like a lot of Rachael Ray's burgers and "sammies." Use of broccoli rabe was a nice touch, though.
I did notice he seemed to have burned the pork, not seared it. And perhaps he did try to cram too much into the episode. But overall it was fine.
Two quibbles: He chopped raw chicken on a wooden cutting board. Ugh!
And he mixed ingredients by hand while wearing a big, chunky, jewel-encrusted ring. Blech. Paula and Giada do this all the time; Rachael has been removing her rings in the new episodes at least. Isn't that unsanitary? Why would you want an expensive ring to be clogged up with batter or spice mix or oils? What happened to putting the rings on a chain around your neck or in a little bowl to keep them clean?
Those are quibbles, though. It was perfectly fine; he was certainly more at ease than Bobby Flay or Tyler Florence in their early shows.
His guest appearance on "Down Home with the Neelys" was charming, too.
A few things...
Turtle - not jumping at you, but I think it was Cook's Illustrated showed that wooden cutting boards are OK for cutting chicken. Apparently, the germs don't go any further into the board than the cleaning solution can get, so there's no long-term contamination.
Was I the only one who found it odd that they kept showing one kid "live" in-studio, and then kept showing a picture of the other one? And his bio says there are three kids? Is the picture one the one who ran away? Or was that the mysterious third one?
I thought the sandwich looked like a great recipe, but I'd do the bread a little differently. The oven fries were definitely the oiliest oven fries I've ever seen. I thought part of the point of oven fries was that they were marginally healthier than fried fries?
I did not like the show. It was waaaayyyy too "busy" for me with all the snapshots popping up all over the screen. The camera shots kept changing, too, very quickly. Not a show I will watch again.
I am sure his show was pieced together to make him look good- just like Gordon Elliot did for Aaron's demo.
Kelli in TN
I watched the show.
First he steals the NFS now he is stealing kitchens, LOL. He didn't steal he was given the title. As far as the kitchen goes, maybe the Neeley's will never come back from their road trip and won't need the kitchen. You think they could have given him one of Emeril's old sets, he's not using them.
I noticed that when I could understand what he was saying his face was not on camera. If I saw him talking on screen it was in mush mouth or with his back to the camera.
Good idea to have the kid on, it took us away from looking at the food. Fortuantely it, the food, is fading out of my memory. Except I have visions of the black stuff on chicken and keep thinking that that is burnt stuff, I know it is just tortilla chips. I wonder if maybe I should watch the show in my bedroom on a relatively small screen, 16x9 1080 50 inch HD is just maybe too much "Big Daddy". BTW the Adam Sandler movie was on Sunday, and I almost taped it instead.
I will be so happy when Ina gets on, it will be nice to see food that looks good and I bet tastes great.
I've seen the first Mario Batali show and he was pretty disasterous, but he went in pretty blind. I think is was the same for Emeril and Bobby. They were all just chefs brought in off the street and put on camera. They didn't get all the practise time on a game show first.
I think FN did as good a job editing the show as they could and that a lot of post production went into putting what we saw Sunday be as good as it was. You watch all the shows and you know that they run through each episode 3 times to make it. Then watch a Emeril Live, which is done in one pass and realize how far he came from his first time on TV. I don't think we will be seeing BD doing that.
I will be watching next week to see if we get food that I might make or that it might be a show I will want to watch.
Somehow I have a feeling that it is going to be "Loser, Loser, Liver Gizzards."
I was very ambivalent about the show. Aaron wasn't my choice for the winner of TNFNS. I agree with the above remarks about his repetitive use of "bad boy"; it got to be annoying. I saw him on Down Home with the Neeleys and wasn't impressed with him there. I did notice that on his show, there were a couple of times he did not look at the camera when he should have, IMHO.
Aaron’s show was great. As a matter of fact, his show was the smoothest one of the day. Some of the veterans stumbled. Having said that, I don’t want to watch a robot that never says the wrong thing or grab the wrong pot. That is the human factor. That is what Lisa was missing.
No one has mentioned that Aaron was on CBS and was a hit. His personality and his passion to cook will continue to make his star shine (it’s the IT factor you hear so much about).
I am not the food police. People are going to eat what they want (good or bad). Mon-Sat, everyone in my household watches what they eat. Come Sunday dinner, OMG, we fry it, sauce it, butter it and salt it to death.
I have to admit, I didn't see Aaron's first show, and I didn't give the posted comments more than a quick scan.
I'm still trying to figure out why folks are watching the FN-- because I watch it too, and I have no idea why.
'Watching' may be too much; maybe a TV clicker drive by with a small loiter may be closer to the truth, but loiter I do.
Outside of Alton, and that Iron Chef thing (and both of those have a really short shelve life) there is nothing on the FN that does much besides annoy me.
Don't care to hear "bam" or 'yummo' or 'dude' or 'ya'll' or whatever else passes for connecting with an audience.
Not terribly interested in hearing stupid stories, watching someone chop veggies, wash their hands, or swoon upon tasting their finished dish.
Maybe something more down to earth. How do you tell when that piece of meat, poultry or fish is done. What do you look for; how do you test it? What are the standards these days? Pork and fish seems to have gone more to the rare side-- is the same true of poultry?
I won't make any of the 'recipes' that someone makes on a TV show-- as if anyone was sitting there, pad in hand, writing all this stuff down to begin with. None of these 'TV star'people are really entertaining-- more like really annoying.
I flipped past the show. I can say that I am not a fan. I perfer the good ole days when the show was about teaching me "how to cook", not trying to entertain me.
FN is going the route of MTV and VH1. Before long the shows will stop focusing on how to cook and become more entainment based. I wonder how long before FN develops their own reality TV show. . . perhaps FN will start showing music videos.
Did anyone else find it funny that when Aaron turned his back on Rachel Rays show (his live cooking demo) he was told that, that hurt him.
In his show his stove and all his ingredients are in the back and he spends a lot of time looking away from the camera.
He has a great personality, maybe he can take over Marc Somer's position. However, the food looked gross and I think the trend now is more organic living and this was more Fast Food. I'm sure its tasty though.
Hi everyone and congratulations to Aaron. I have said in my comment on the judges blog and I say here again TNFNS is not really an elaborate audition - its about ratings people, ratings - and these contestents who we love dearly or love to hate create such an emotional attachment, we the fans have so much invested that we are glued to our screens, for the episodes, for the reruns and for many who want to see him make it and those who predict he'll fail - glued to our screens for Aarons first show. What a successful series.
Why do we and I have so much "invested" in this show and not in say the winner of Lost or America's next Top Model... Because the Food Network means something infintely more to my life than just entertainment - it's about food..I love food, it can teach me, it has expanded my horizons somewhat and inspired me to do so being more creative, adventurous in restaurants and in the kitchen, to try new ingredients, develop my palate etc. So it means and can mean more than just TV.
However some blogger wrote that the FN was dumbing down food - and you know that as much as i have been a big fan - I am finding myself increasingly dissapointed in the the offerings of the network, and by extension the choice of TNFNS. Oh for heavens sake how many rubs can we rub, how much bacon can we fry, how much butter need we eat, and how many down home food shows must we see or those that script like travel infomercials.
And for these reasons I supported Lisa whole heartedly for what she represents - real education in food, in depth - teach me about layers of flavour, how to develop a stock, what really makes a good french toast, what true food quality is - no offense to Aaron at all eh...he can cook yet but his genre does seem a little overexposed at this time. Come on FN open up the offerings
If Aaron was intended to give everyone a "black fix" I think that's great. Maybe we will never ever have to see the Neely's ever ever again.
As for a FN reality show, if that ever happened, I swear I never watch TV again and I will devote my life to making sure the executives responsible pay dearly.
that comment just made about a "black fix" is so racist!!...it shows me alot about this society
There are already several presonalities/chefs on the network that offer excellent "education".
From healthy to comfort food, every variety is available.
BUT.... there likable, Viewers can relate to them. They don't come off as "better than", such a turn off. Ratings?
it shows me alot about this society
No it shows you about 1 moron who doesn't speak for me let alone America. Then again if you are trying to justify your personal bias I guess you can do as you please.
Hey anonymous,
Leave you name if your so intense.
You need a " Mind fix" and "Heart fix".
So you'll devote your whole life to making the exectives pay dearly.
I think you need your own reality show from PRISON.
Good luck in life your going to need it!
"I just think Aaron was introducing us to his family. I doubt he'll be schlepping his kids into the studio every week."
I hope you're right. I don't want to see "brats" on any FN show.
And Aaron needs to get an education in basic literacy.
I didn't see Aaron's show. I am just not interested, but some of these comments make it seem like he got an awful driector and awful lighting! Why would they do that to the guy they picked?
The only problem I had was how much fat was put on his food. Fat is fat. Cooking with oil that is good for you doesn't mean you can put as much as you want. Even Rachael Ray gives the wrong idea. She would just put a quarter cup of her EVOO into the pan and say it's good for you, which is not.
what do you want to bet Aaron has no idea what it means to be able to read the date on a dime in the bottom of a stock pot??
WOW....i am so impressed....i guess someone here is a real chef.!! what an asshole...give this one some stripes for attending culinary school ...and for the moron talking about Aaron getting some literacy....tell your mother to as well!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aaron did an amazing job. He did it in a short period of time. I don't know what the naysayers are talking about.
I can never understand people who put themselves through watching a show you have no interest in. You already knew the type of food that was going to be cooked. Turn the channel and wait for a show you like. Better yet, since some of you are great cooks, producers, and directors, start your own network.
I am a great cook. I only watch certain shows but I don't expect the network to show my shows only.
Aaron is a big guy I am sure he can take whatever comments come his way. I however, am very upset at the comments regarding his child. I hope everyone on this blog has had an opportunity to take your child to work with you.
Become your child’s role model.
I haven't seen the show but I will probably tune in even though I thought he was awful on the Neely's show. At least the Neely's have decent language skills.
I think some people are being way too harsh on Aaron. Yes, he was not my choice and no, I didn't see anything on his show that was particularly new and innovative. But having said that:
1) He certainly did not make a fool of himself. He has a good personality, seems to have done much better with the camera, shows a real warmth etc. The idea to bring the adorable kid on really was a good idea as it made him more relaxed and seem more approachable.
2) For everybody who says, "Aaron wasn't my choice", I say, Why punish the man for winning a competition? He was the one the judges chose so I really don't understand all of these comments of the type "He's so bad..." or whatever. They picked him. Now he has to sink or swim along with Robin Miller, Ellie Krieger, Sunny Anderson and the rest. Plus, as it has been said many times, this competition was about drama and high ratings, a successful network star is a rare, additional added bonus. If they want star power, they can have Jamie Oliver do a series or whatever.
3) Before people judge him too harshly: think about some of the "chefs" on food network: Aunt Sandy, Paula Deen (who here thinks they could pull off half the stuff these people did in the challenges with those time constraints)or Guy "TGI Fridays" "Feeyety", or people who were really green when they started, like Giada or April or even Dave Lieberman.
4) Often what we think will be the case is not. Many at this site were strongly for Amy last year. Obviously we were wrong in our judgement because she was not emotionally capable to do a whole series. So maybe there are aspects of the competition we don't see.
5) However, from a presentation point of view, they are at least hitting the ground running - putting the winner on the Nealey's, then having him premiere 1 week later, not 2+ months later. In my opinion, the reason why Guy Fieri was a bigger success was not necessarily that he was better than Dan and Steve or Amy but rather that they gave him immediate exposure, had him on other shows etc. With Dan and Steve, it was like, yes, here they are, watch the show that premieres months later. With Amy, it was much worse. They should establish the person as a personality even before their show starts. I know logistically that could be hard. But once they air, have them be on everywhere - be a judge on Iron Chef, show up to assist Bobby Flay on Show Down, drop in on Ina unannounced (well, maybe not that...) So at least in this respect, they are marketing Aaron better.
Now the problems: the food just did not seem that appetizing and his approach not particularly novel. This "bring it all in with personality" thing only goes so far. The "chicken finger salad" was not something I could imagine eating.
I watched it and wanted to like it - but didn't. I like Aaron, he seems like a decent guy. That said, the food was nothing exciting (we can do better for our kids than chicken covered in processed nacho cheese dust tortilla chips and all that ranch dressing) and I really didn't learn anything new.
I will watch one more and hope it improves, but I don't think it's happenin' for me.
Doritos? Really?? C'mon, Aaron.
Aaron was not my first choice for winner, but I was pleasantly surprised at his recipes and how well he did on the show. I did find the musical background and weird camera work very annoying; and I also thought it was uber-cheap of FN not to build him a new set (or at least let him use - as someone mentioned above - the set from a defunct show rather than a new one).
I really liked what he did with the chicken, and will do my own variation of that recipe (but will mash my chips better than he did - you could tell he was rushing); I would probably try the sandwiches, too, but more as something to do with leftover pork roast than buying an expensive pork roast just to make sandwiches. (Side note: Aaron mentioned he went to his butcher to get the roast. WHO has a personal butcher in this day and age? Not me!)
I would not, however, make those fries as they were just sopped in grease. I would also use my own oil, not grapeseed which is so expensive. I'm not quite in love with Aaron yet, but being as skeptical as I was I was surprised at how much I liked the look of his food.
Grapeseed oil too expensive? Well, certainly depends on how you look at it. I am NOT making any health claims for anyone else but I know what Grapeseed oil did for me! As I posted elsewhere, For years I could NOT get my cholesterol down no matter what I ate or didn't eat until several months ago I started using Grapeseed Oil and my Cholesterol came down to normal for the first time in MANY years!! Now, talk about expensive; if I had to go on those drugs the doctor was fixing to put me on if my Cholesterol had not come down, those drugs would had cost me a lot more than Grapeseed oil did.
Grapeseed oil might not do it for anyone else and I am certainly NOT saying it will but for me the grapeseed oil cost was not very much at all and I had tried other healthy oils and healthy foods but nothing else worked for me, however, I was not cooking with Grapseed oil so it might not had helped as much if I had.
Sure sad to see so many still bashing Foodnetwork and Aaron but for those that are watching his show just to find fault, keep watching and help keep his ratings up! I really don't understand why those that don't like him just don't watch him but if you want to help his ratings by all means do!
No disrespect meant, but you seem not to understand the ratings process. I don't actually think there are a lot of folks watching Aaron's show merely to find fault, but even if that were true that would not impact his ratings one iota unless those folks were also in possession of either a Nielsen diary for that particular week (and actually wrote down that they watched his show - highly unlikely if they're really that spiteful) and/or have a Nielsen set meter and decided to tune in despite merely wanting to merely find fault. And that seems illogical: if they want to find fault surely that also means they don't want him to succeed so why would they tune in to his show if they indeed had a set meter?
More unskilled, loud mouthed, uninteresting Trash.
Some people ain't gonna like this!
Big Daddy's House, premiering Top 5 in its time slot for target W25-54 demographic
http://www.cynopsis.com/content/view/3710/53
Aaron does seem like a really decent kind of guy. However,he is difficult to watch and even more difficult to listen to. The Food Network should hire someone to work with Aaron on diction. (His show should be Big Daddys Kitchen ,not House, as it sounds like a prison.)
His giggling and silliness are ridiculous. I give the show a season at best.
I enjoy seeing others act happy or silly! As long as they are not harming anyone, what's wrong with someone laughing and enjoying themself? That was the one thing I liked about Adam was his humor or silliness. We live in a stressful world and laughing and being silly is much better than frowning and being so unpleasant to be around.
Some people always have to find fault when someone is successful.
I have no problem understanding Aaron or the other chefs on Foodnetwork that doesn't always talk plain!!
I'll NEVER watch and he'll NEVER be in my house! The NFNS was a sham and I'll NEVER watch it again! I've been a FN viewer for years but this crap is making me change the channel. Am I the only one who thinks this guy is FAKE? Please...
Wake up folks! Not everyone can get what they want or who they wanted. Everyone had their favorites on NFNS and guess what? Not all the viewers wanted the same person. Hello! Aaron had a lot of people wanting him to win as did the others. Sore losers, can not do anything but complain and find fault. Why do you have to like every show on Foodnetwork? There is a variety, something for most everyone, as it should be.
All the contestants stayed with each other for several weeks and they all had good things to say about Aaron! Nothing fake about that. Lisa was the only one most of the contestants did not seem to like (probably because of how she treated and talked about them) but even Lisa talked about how much Aaron helped her.
I just want to know whaT happen to Aaron air time, I get home from church in time to see his show and now Guy has that spot. I really enjoy the new kid on the block, he made cooking look so easy and fun. I love trying new ideas for my grandkids.
nbrady-Chicago, IL
These affirmative action fools will accept anything given to them legitimately earned or not. Speaks volumes.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home