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Tuesday, April 7

Next Food Network Star Returning in June - Ina Makes an Appearance!

HOW BAD CAN THIS BE?

At some point during season five of The Next Food Network Star (premiering June 7 at 9pm ET), Ina Garten will be saying to the contestants:


(I actually knew about this since February, but I stupidly kept my mouth shut.)

That's right! Ina Garten will be making her first-ever appearance on the show that aims to find the next Food Network star... or something like that.

She'll be joining the likes of Rachael Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, Alton Brown, Guy Fieri, Emeril Lagasse, Gina and Pat Neely, Masaharu Morimoto, Ted Allen, Tyler Florence, Michael Symon, and Aaron McCargo Jr. in the shows lineup of special guests. (And even though it doesn't say it in the release, Anne Burrell told me she taped something for it, too.)

You know they rolled production into East Hampton for the day, as I can't imagine Ina leaving her compound just for any old reason, even if it is the most-watched show on the network.

According to the release:
Challenges include catering a party for a roomful of Food Network stars, impressing the "Barefoot Contessa" herself in the Hamptons and preparing a comforting meal for returning soldiers on the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum. The show also flies to sunny Miami – for the first time – where the finalists must survive a beachside wood-grilling challenge for Red Lobster and create a delicious dinner for a group of culinary elite at a screening of Columbia Pictures’ movie Julie & Julia (in theaters August 7). Throughout the season, they will also have to prove they have star quality and dazzle a variety of media outlets with their personalities, including Access Hollywood, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Food Network Magazine, and USA WEEKEND.

(Of course this isn't the first time the show has flown to Miami. Season 3's final episodes which were shot down in Miami had to be scrapped after JAG bowed out of the competition.)

I'm seriously hoping for a little Ina attitude, just like we've seen when Giada has appeared on the show. Remember this?


You know Ina's got some glares in her, too.

Following up on my blind item I announced back in December, it looks like I was right on my prediction that one of the contestants had appeared on the network before. Take a look at the list:

The 10 finalists include: Brett August (Washington Heights, N.Y.), Katie Cavuto (Philadelphia, Pa.), Melissa d’Arabian (Keller, Texas), Teddy Folkman (Alexandria, Va.), Eddie Gilbert (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), Jen Isham (Orlando, Fla.), Debbie Lee (West Hollywood, Calif.), Jamika Pessoa (Atlanta, Ga.), Michael Proietti (New York, N.Y.) and Jeffrey Saad (Los Angeles, Calif.).

Could that Teddy Folkman be the same Teddy Folkman who's Executive Chef at DC's Granville Moore's, who also appeared in the Mussels episode of Bobby Flay's Throwdown? YES!

As for the other contestants, I have no idea who they are. Google away, people. And get excited!

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35 Comments:

At 4/07/2009 1:02 PM , Blogger Angie said...

Interesting. I always thought that it spoke volumes that Ina never appeared on TNFNS. I'd love to see Ina sling some glares and zingers like Martha Stewart last season.

 
At 4/07/2009 2:16 PM , Anonymous Alec Smart said...

Aaron McCargo as a mentor ? Is he going to teach people how to refer to themselves in the 3rd person?

Gina Neely can always teach them how to dance while on camera though.

This should be better than Princess Giada's eye rolling routine.

 
At 4/07/2009 2:18 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks again for that blind item...it definitely got us thinking that Teddy would be competing.

Glad to see he'll be on in June - he's got a great personality for TV.

 
At 4/07/2009 2:27 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's not "who will appear" -- it's "who did they leave out?" Sounds like the entire lineup will be appearing this season. It makes me think most of them will be appearing in one episode together, as they did last year when they had to cook for quite a few of them at once. I think it would be great if they replaced Bobby with Tyler, or at least had him on the show more. He seemed to be the only celeb chef who showed from sympathy for these people, and even gave a pep talk to one of them.

As much as we bitch about this show, I'm sorta/kinda looking forward to seeing it again. I'm sure it will be frustrating, but it's better than watching another friggin' cake challenge.

 
At 4/07/2009 2:49 PM , Blogger Christa said...

Sooo excited that Ina is going to be part of this!! Woo hoo!!

 
At 4/07/2009 3:08 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Aaron McCargo as a mentor....OMG....What a joke.

The rest of them rock but this dude has got to go!

 
At 4/07/2009 3:55 PM , Anonymous Laura said...

I love Ina. I watched her show over the weekend that featured her and her cohort preparing the house for their friends arrival home. At the end she pumps her arm and says "YES". So not Ina, so it was funny. Glad she will be on this season as well. I had forgotten how nasty Giada was last season. Thanks for the reminder. Although I think the rudest person on the network is Carrie Vincent(sp?). How about a post on her, Jacob.

 
At 4/07/2009 4:08 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

I hope Ina rolls her eyes and glares aplenty. I also hope Jeffrey thoroughly searched every one of the riffraff as they left the compound, making sure they didn't steal anything.

 
At 4/07/2009 4:09 PM , Anonymous Danny said...

If anybody wants photos of the contestants, as well as their cast bios, FoodNetworkHumor.com has the exclusive scoop:

http://foodnetworkhumor.com/2009/04/fnh-exclusive-next-food-network-star-season-5-cast-photosbios/

 
At 4/07/2009 4:22 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Don't link to Food Network Humor here. That site is moronic. They make the same three jokes over and over again. It will never last. They're also total hypocrites -- they nitpick the shows and people on them to death, but have a heart attack if you dare point out the inaccuracies in their "satire."

 
At 4/07/2009 4:31 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Went to their site to see the photos. They write: "While all of the 'other' blogs are simply reporting their names, we decided to take it a step further and dig up their bios and photos as well." What douchebags. And why is "other" in quotation marks?

It's a joke. Every photo comes with a nifty "Courtesy: Food Network" stamp. Meaning someone from the FN leaked this to them (all the bios are obviously official FN bios). So either someone down on the food chain leaked this, or FN actually thinks it's a good idea to help out a site that kills it on a daily basis (often unfairly).

 
At 4/07/2009 6:28 PM , Blogger Karen said...

After watching that Throwdown recipe, I borrowed Teddy's recipe (the one with the cheese), and they were great! Best mussels I've ever made. So I'm looking forward to seeing him on TNFNS.

 
At 4/07/2009 7:04 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh Jacob, clearly commenting on your own blog, throwing a little hissyfit that FoodNetworkHumor got to the pictures before you did.

They were posted there, hours before you posted them here. That's what an EXCLUSIVE Is, you pathetic loser, when they're posted at point A before everyone else on the internet catches on and gets them too.

 
At 4/07/2009 7:22 PM , Anonymous Dan said...

This is hysterical. The proof is in the pudding. Go to Alexa and look up FoodNetworkHumor and then look up FoodNetworkAddict.

Even though FoodNetworkHumor has only been around for three months, it still has laughably better statistics than this site.

FNH: Traffic Rank 1.3m (and growing by the hundred thousand every month), average time on site per user, 6.2 min

FNA: Traffic rank is a sad 1.9m (and sinking every month), with average time on site of 1.3 min a day.

Translation: this site is trending DOWN... with good reason. Talk about making the same 3 jokes every day!

Seems like Jacob, you're a little sad that there's some valid competition on the scene. You're not the only little brown nosing asskisser on the block.

Sorry, but this site might have been good in its hay day, until other more interesting more talented peeps came on the scene.

Too bad, so sad.

 
At 4/07/2009 7:47 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Go take some more pics of your TV screen, FNH.

 
At 4/07/2009 8:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jacob isn't commenting on his own site, you scumbags. That was me ripping the A-holes at FNH. And an exclusive is not "posting something first," it is aquiring something no one else has. All you did was take something widely available.

 
At 4/07/2009 9:34 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

i check out a LOT of food blogs because I have a great interest in all things food so I HAVE gone to the food network humor site now and then and honestly i have found some of their stuff totally HILARIOUSLY funny.

do we have to be so bitchy bitches??
i guess so.....

 
At 4/07/2009 11:39 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ccccaattt fight!

 
At 4/08/2009 12:00 AM , Anonymous Dan said...

People have found FoodNetworkHumor hysterically funny, because it is! Everyone thinks so. Nothing to be ashamed of.

I'm here commenting, because Jacob is a douchebag brown nosing dweeb who started this attack against a site I've grown to appreciate because it makes me laugh. So I will say this now, Jacob: Stop being bitter and jealous, because it's ugly. FNH has talented people who know how to use photoshop and how to design web pages and how to be really funny. You have a blogger blog, with no web skills, no writing skills, no humor skills, nothing but the ability to right click on an image from another website and steal it, and add green text to it. Lame.

I'd rather see clear, original photos of a TV screen over there, then whatever stolen photos you have, with green writing plastered all over it over here. Laughing my ass off.

Cat fight is right. If Jacob thinks FNH fans are going to let him crap on a blog we appreciate, he has another thing coming. And there are thousands more people where I come from. This is a crap storm you dont want to start, trust me. Run along and apologize to the nice people over there.

Dan

 
At 4/08/2009 12:08 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Everyone thinks so" - lol, really? Spin all you want, I can assure you not "everyone thinks so" - there's a lot more to a successful "humor" blog than snark and using the word douche over and over and over and over...

 
At 4/08/2009 4:06 AM , Blogger Prohomemaker.Com said...

Dan, you should be ashamed how rude you are. Must be easy hiding behind the 'net. How sad a person you are.

Onto more positive things, I am *amazed* Ina is gonna be on the show. She usually shuns everything FN. Great news tip!

 
At 4/08/2009 9:05 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

This site and many of the people on it take FN too seriously it's nice to see a site that points out just how stupid FN has become.

 
At 4/08/2009 9:20 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for tellling me about Foodnetworkhumor.com. It's really good.

 
At 4/08/2009 9:31 AM , Anonymous TEN said...

Back to TNFNS -- I'm not surprised Tyler was nice to contestants. He did a book signing dinner here in DC once and the restaurant's chef had to be away at the last minute; Tyler worked in the kitchen most of the afternoon to help get all the food ready. He barely had time to put on a clean apron and come out to greet everyone, but when he did he was very nice and gracious to all of us star-struck folk waiting to talk to him. Although I think his last book needed a whole lot more editing (and correction too), he is a thorough professional and FN is lucky to have him.

Neither Giada nor Ina had to go through a TNFNS process to get their shows, but they both had successful businesses -- no doubt they had pressure-filled situations that ought to make them more sympathetic. I hope Ina at least can remember back to the times that she had to scramble to get things done in a hurry (like running out of ingredients 10 minutes before the store opened and there was already a line of people waiting, or all the products that turned out not so well or the delivery trucks that didn't make it in time). It looks like Giada has moved way beyond those memories, since she couldn't bother to be nice. Sad.

In reality, nothing is more scripted than a FN show, these quick challenges aren't something that guarantee that the host will make good food, and the desire to have them camera-ready is laughable. Do you remember how stiff and relatively unappealing Giada was in her first shows? She was lucky enough to have the opportunity to improve without so much scrutiny. TNFNS contestants don't get that luxury.

 
At 4/08/2009 10:21 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Giada is the biggest female douche on FN . She thinks she is the second coming of Gina Lolabridigda and everyone wants to boink her.Wrong.
She probably blew a bunch of Scripps programming guys.

 
At 4/08/2009 4:24 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

honey i doubt ANY man would put his peener into Giada's huge mouth with those 2500 teeth around it!!!

no offense G I LOVE YOU!!!

 
At 4/08/2009 4:31 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not like she's ever had to really work for anything. She gone quite far with no talent what so ever.

 
At 4/08/2009 5:13 PM , Anonymous SB said...

Goddamn, you really should delete these comments from the "anonymous" FoodNetworkHumor people. So childish.

So what, who cares? Am I right people?

 
At 4/08/2009 5:59 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Speaking of nastiness, what about when Paula told a contestant that she "hated" her food? Ouch. And I love it when Giardia shows how much of a beeatch she really is. Too much fun!!

 
At 4/08/2009 9:50 PM , Blogger Charles said...

Dan your such a hypocrite. Who's the brown-nosing douche licking the ballsacks of the girls who run that "other" blog?! You have to come here and write like a full page article defending FNH? Wtf? Start a fucking fan club already you dick.

 
At 4/08/2009 11:09 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, SB is right. Back on topic please folks. Let's bash the FN stars instead of the guy who writes the blog that we're obviously all reading.

 
At 4/11/2009 1:59 PM , Anonymous Dan said...

Charles, learn English, you ignorant hick. It's "YOU'RE a hypocrite." And it's you losers who are still carrying on, not me. Get a life, you are all pathetic.

 
At 4/12/2009 11:15 AM , Blogger xlrbnc said...

Hey Jacob - I am a very longtime lurker on your blog but have never posted, but after viewing some of the vitriol above I wanted to pop in and thank you for doing what you do. FNA is in my daily rotation and I remember when I first found it (admittedly, after watching a certain notorious episode of Semi-Homemade and googling "Sandra Lee's boobs") I was delighted and haven't stopped reading ever since. Keep up the good work, and thanks for all you've done so far. Before this, I thought i was the only young guy in the world to watch food network, and though Bobby Flay is the God of my life and he doesn't get much focus here, I have to admit you turned me onto the wonders of Ina. Have a good one, dude,

Keith

 
At 4/12/2009 3:00 PM , Blogger Charles said...

Gee thanks Dan for schooling me. I jus di-int no any beter c-ing that I's a dumb ole' hick. BTW, you actually didn't have to spell out "laughing my ass off" in your prior post. You could have just did this: "lmao". In case you didn't know, you esnes.

 
At 4/12/2009 5:57 PM , Blogger jacob said...

Thanks Keith!

 

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