2 Hour Season Premiere Tonight:

Here are your contenstants:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/the-next-...age/index.html

Bobby Flay is still the host, but this season Giada De Laurentis is the co-host/mentor for the contestants.

I watched this last summer for the 1st time and had alot of fun with it.

Hopefully, Motherhood mellowed her out and Giada won't be as nasty and condescending as she's been in the past.

Been looking forward to this for a while...definitly gonna check it out tonight

Me too.

(Thanks for starting the thread DJariya... I was going to start it yesterday but the day got away from me.)

LOL, I recall you started last seasons thread. I searched and searched but couldn't find a decent picture of Flay, Giada and the contestants for my usual pictures in Post #1.

I don't think it's just her. I'm not sure if it's due to the way the show is edited, but all of the personalities seem to be real assholes towards the contestants. It's as if the producers tell them to do it to create drama. Wolfgang Puck was quite nasty with that flamboyant one last night. True, raw donuts are no fun, but for God's sake you don't need to kick the dude while he's down.

I kind of think that Bobby and Susie have toned down their personalities a little. Bob has always been a little tame IMO, but Wolfgang was ridiculous. With that in mind, this show is way overdone now. I liked the challenges, but the sets, lighting, drama etc. was a bit too much. Initially I didn't want to sit through a two-hour show, but the time went by rather quickly. With 12 contestants, they had to take time to focus on each one individually with each challenge, so that took up most of the time.

My favorites are Aria and Aarti. Talk about human sunshine! Brad is great, too. Herb is already working my nerve. His intentions are good, but he's way too hyper for my liking. I'm surprised he hasn't gotten on anyone else's nerves yet. He already thinks he's the leader. I know that they creatively edit those "this season..." previews to be a bit misleading, but I think that Bobby really was talking about Herb when he mentioned being irritated at that on challenge.

It seems like they all brought good dishes to the table with the exception of Alexis in the end. I have to give them all credit for coming up with such creative dishes in short amounts of time. I must say that my palate isn't very sophisticated and some of those herbs, vegetables, etc. I've never heard of. I'm looking forward to next week.

From what I can tell. Most Chefs are assholes. It seems to be one of those professions that attracts assholes.

I agree. That type of behavior comes from insecurity. As much as Bobby Flay is revered, someone can always come in and say "I liked her dish a lot better than yours". They are so scared that someone else's food may taste better. The bad attitude is a defense mechanism.

Bobby Flay is a case in point -- one of his shows involves him finding someone who is known for a particular dish, then Flay competes against them in making that dish. So if you've got a restaurant that is known for having the best clam chowder in all of New England, he'll show up with his own clam chowder recipe and challenge you to a cook-off. Everyone smiles and laughs and has a good time, and it seems like it's all in fun, but there's just something incredibly assholish with the whole concept of that show.

I totally agree with you about the concept of that show (Throwdown). It seems like something only a complete dick would come up with. But to be fair, he rarely wins the challenges, he usually sets it up so the odds are stacked against him with the judges, and on the rare occasion that he wins, he always plays it off like he didn't really deserve it (probably because he knows the locals surrounding him are pissed that their hometown chef didn't win).

I enjoy the show but once again I'm shocked and disappointed that these are the best, most marketable people they could come up with.

There are a few likeable people but no one stands out as having star quality. Much like American Idol, I would think after a few years without any breakout stars the pressure would really be on to keep the competition/show relevant.

New episode tonight:

"Sweet to Savory Carnival"

"Ace of Cakes" star Duff Goldman has the hopefuls cater a party he's throwing on the Santa Monica Pier. They're challenged to transform classic carnival sweets into savory party bites for Duff and 100 of his closest friends.

I just re-watched the premiere and the one thing that I continue to find hilarious on all of these competitive cooking shows is when someone complains that their water still isn't boiling and the camera shows the pot on the stove, without a lid.

I'm not the least bit sad to see Doreen go. She seemed to be in way over her head and that droopy corner mouth thing she has going on was really distracting. Dzintra and the Improv guy are hanging by a thread.

I would only say ok if he used what I had in my kitchen. Sorry some of these places really do not have the cuts he use. I really do not think he sets it up to lose, if that was the case he would not put that much work into it. Unless its for the show.

I've never seen this show before, but are all the contestants usually such train wrecks? It was like the producers went out of their way to find the most awkward and bizarre people with deep insecurity issues to fill the show. How did they even get through the initial selection process? But I guess that's what you have to deal with when drama is the most important aspect of the show and not actually looking for a solid candidate. Giada also comes across like a complete bitch and her facial expressions look so forced.

I keep watching these cooking reality shows hoping to find one that actually embraces the food as opposed to goofy personalities and weird challenges. Maybe Top Chef will fill that void, but I wasn't too crazy about Top Chef Masters which just finished. Despite all of it's problems, I still think Chopped is my favorite because you get to see a lot of creativity come out of those strange ingredients.

You should check out Top Chef. It has a little bit of reality show drama, but the emphasis is mostly on the food. I think it's a lot better than Top Chef Masters. Chopped is my favorite, as well.

Just caught up with the first three episodes this week. Good watching, but I agree, some really weak contestants. Aria and Aarti seem like the best. For some reason I like Das even though he hasn't shown all that much. Dzintra was a complete train wreck.

As for Throwdown, yeah, it's a very arrogant concept, but he doesn't come off that way during the competition, and it must generate huge business for the local business involved.

As we've said in the past, Fieri is the only real star the show has generated, thereby risking its cred. Is it because they're picking the wrong contestants/winners, or is it just hard to be a star? Still, I like watching the show and will probably continue to do so even if the winners' afterlife is lacking.

I did not know till about a week ago that he was a winner. Last years winner idea is great its something about her voice that gets me. Then again that kind of voice always gets me.

This competition really seems up to Aarti to lose. The producers have been been dying for an Indian winner for a couple of seasons because it's not a POV on their network (unlike the how many Italians?).

Speaking of Italians, Serena is the most attractive but talks way too much

I would love to see Serena go...just not a fan

So far the judges are 3 for 3 in booting the most annoying people. Most of the rest seem to be ok, but I have a feeling it's Aarti's or Aria's to lose at this point.