Review: 'Food Network Star'

Did you know they're still making new episodes of "Pawn Stars?"

Nine years after the show premiered, the 15th season of "Pawn Stars" just wrapped, long after the buzz has ended. At this point in its life, it's cruising on memories and lethargy while it grabs just enough viewers to make it worthwhile to keep on the air. Even though every episode plays out the same way. 

Someone brings in a rare item to sell, something that you would never bring to a pawn shop if cameras and celebrity weren't involved. And then the dance begins with the predictability of a German military dance team. "Hi. I have this suit I'd like to sell. It's the one Lincoln was wearing when he was shot" "Hmm...do you mind if I bring in someone to look at this for me? I'll call Steve, our dead presidential clothing expert."

I bring this up because the 14th season of "Food Network Star" wrapped up on Sunday and if there was ever a show that could be described as reality television's answer to "The Walking Dead," it's this massive time suck of a competition series. This season was lackluster at best and annoyingly stuffed with contestants who somehow seemed unaware of how the show worked, despite having 13 seasons of prep to work with before they showed up. And the ending was the biggest missed landing since that Space X rocket blew up as it attempted to return to Earth after launch.

When most people think of "Food Network Star," the name that probably pops into their head is Guy Fieri. And rightfully so, since he is the Kelly Clarkson of "Food Network Star." He won season two and he's become a true megastar at the network. But like "American Idol," "Food Network Star" also created a number of lesser-but-still-legitimate breakout stars. Melissa d'Arabian, Aarti Sequeira, Jeff Mauro, Damaris Phillips and Eddie Jackson have all had various levels of success on the network. So you could legitimately argue the show in recent years has served more a Food Network farm team that a creator of stars.

Part of that change has been a byproduct of the way the Food Network has shifted its primetime programming mix from the star-centric days of "Emeril Live" to the current mix of competitions and "Hey, I'm traveling to highlight the best local foods" programs. As the network's needs have changed, "Food Network Star" has struggled at times to figure out the best mix of challenges that allows each season to find a winner that has the unique set of skills required to be more of a host with food knowledge than a talented cook who has a winning on-camera presence.

Another problem faced by producers of "Food Network Star" is finding contestants that have something distinctive to say. Early seasons of the show asked contestants to have a point of view that could be molded into a workable TV show concept. But as the recent seasons have stripped away the idea that the winners will end up with their own series, the primary qualification for contestants seems to be simply having a desire to be on the Food Network. 

The only distinguishing characteristic of most contestants this season was the type of food they're comfortable working with on a weekly basis. But that focus on a type of cuisine led to this season's frustrating number of times when a contestant simply couldn't function outside of their familiar type of food. Which seems like a bizarrely self-limiting quality for the cooks and ultimately the network.

I'm not going to recap the season because I'm assuming that if you're reading this, you've probably seen most or all of the episodes. Besides, my doctor is trying to keep my blood pressure below hot tea kettle levels and dissecting the season will likely set back my health regimen at least six months. Instead, let me point out a couple of examples of why this season of "Food Network Star" set some sort of record for pointlessness.

Before the new season of "Star" began, the Food Network aired a companion series entitled "Food Network Star: Comeback Kitchen." That series brought back ten former "Network Star" contestants and promised to give the winner a spot on the upcoming season of "Food Network Star." From the first episode, it was clear the only two contestants with a shot of winning were Adam Gertler and Amy Pottinger. And not surprisingly, the season finale ended by giving both of them a spot on the new season of "Food Network Star."

I have no qualm seeing either Gertler or Pottinger on the Food Network. But Gertler, in particular, had no business being any part of this process. Not only has he already had his own Food Network series, he's hosted several food shows for other networks. Adding him was an odd choice, especially since he was booted from this "Food Network Star" halfway through the season for fairly inexplicable reasons.

And all of this confusion played out the entire season. Some contestants seemed to lack even the basic on-camera skills or seemed befuddled by social media. Others refused to work outside their culinary comfort zone or seemed to have never watched a previous episode of "Food Network Star." After just the first episode, it was clear that other than Gertler and Pottinger, the two front runners were Italian chef Christian Petroni and firehouse cook Manny Washington. And indeed, the season's three finalists were Amy, Christian, and Manny. Along with "food novelist" Jessica Tom, who returned to the show after winning "Food Network Star Salvation."

The season finale took place in a Manhattan theater that included no actual audience. In fact, the finale didn't even include anyone from the Food Network other than hosts Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis. And when the decision was finally announced with a clumsy intro, both Christian and Jessica ended up winning.

This bizarre and awkward announcement was reflective of the entire season, which mostly seemed to be going through the motions. "Food Network Star" has been stripped of any pretense of being an actual competition, with most of the eliminations seeming to be almost random or based on "what type of person isn't currently part of the network lineup?" 

Amy's elimination at least made sense, since it was clear that she still hadn't beaten her nervousness and lack of confidence. But in most cases, there was no specific reason given for the elimination and that was especially the case for Manny. He seemed equally qualified as the two winners and you can argue he's much better suited for the job than Jessica. But was cut at the end, with no reason given other than an awkward "sorry."

I watched the entire season and apparently so did a lot of other people. But the ending left me with more groans than cheers and I'm not sure if I'll bother to watch next season.

There's still a need for a show like "Food Network Star" and there's a format that would keep viewers happy while actually serving as a launching pad for new network talent. But after this season, I'm not convinced the Food Network has any real motivation to change things. Which may mean that at least for me, I won't be back next season.