The Next Food Network Star 2008
I’m not a fan of reality TV. This is one of the few I watch. The judges have been telegraphing for nearly a month who they were planning on giving the victory too so it was of little surprise when they named Aaron the winner. Between a few times he was inexplicably not eliminated and the uncomfortable moments where three white people were doing their best to tell him to be more black without actually saying “be more black” (featuring such sage advice as “I don’t believe you’re showing us your real personality”, “tell me more about your family”, and “I felt like you weren’t being yourself there”) it was hardly surprising when they gave him the victory even though he was the worst of the three. The fix was in by the time Aaron went to pitch his pilot where the following exchange occurred:
Aaron: *starts pitching ideas*
Gordon Eliot: Didn’t I hear you had a nickname?
Aaron: People call me Big Daddy.
Gordon: Why don’t we call it Big Daddy’s Kitchen? [later changed to Big Daddy's House].
Big Daddy’s House? Really? Maybe we should just call it The Stereotype Hour with Aaron McCargo Jr.
They pretty much should have ended the show there — it would have been less of a joke. Adam’s pitch and pilot was superior to the other two in every way. He was consistently the best guy in front of the camera and consistently had more charisma. On his pilot he was better in front of the camera, the food he made was way more accessible to normal people, he was funnier, and his show was different than anything else on the network.
Susie Fogelson’s reasoning was that Aaron would “reach a whole new audience for the Food Network.” Perfectly understandable, perfectly acceptable, and it makes total sense. But: if that’s what they were looking for then don’t frame the show as a fair competition. Just give the dude a show. Aaron performed worst for two consecutive weeks and still won. The judges continually tried to make the audience believe he was better than he was. After Vegas buffet, the three judges made a “shocking decision” and pushed all three contestants through to the final week. All Aaron brought to the table was a good promo and I’m pretty sure anyone, given a few hours and editors, could create a good 20-second spot. So, after carrying all three in to the finals, taping promos, taping a pilot, they didn’t even open it up to fan voting. The three judges just picked a winner because Adam likely would have won in a landslide.
Adam got jobbed in the name of diversity. You can’t take people with no charisma and shove them in front of the camera because it looks good. If you want to carry more African-American shows, just friggin carry them. Conveniently, you guys have your own network and everything. Don’t run a 12-week commercial and pretend someone won a show to do it. Viewers aren’t stupid. Aaron is Dan & Steve II… someone pushed through the competition so Food Network can say to… someone… “we had to put them on!!” I don’t understand 1) why they do this and 2) why I continue watching. So far they’ve gotten it right exactly one out of four tries and, surprise, Guy’s the only that’s lasted.
Enjoy Aaron’s show for the whole six episodes it’ll be on. Good job, guys.