A couple of week's ago, I noticed -- and ranted here -- about the Food Network showing a promo for the penultimate (or nearly penultimate) episode of The Next Food Network Star which revealed who would be eliminated in the show that I was viewing. It seemed like bad form to me, but some people defended FN and advised me to get a DVR and use it. Just to be clear, I have two and use them extensively. This was a case where I was watching a rebroadcast a day after the airing, commercials and all. My point was that FN should know better than to schedule a promo for that reveals so much about the show you're watching even on a rebroadcast.Anyway, now it turns out that Food Network has made yet another flub that's spoiled the surprise of The Next Food Network Star reveal. This one occurred on their web site. D Magazine reported that a week before the finale of the competition reality show, video interviews with the three finalists were broadcast on the web site and the winner was clearly indicated. In case you have the finale on your DVR and haven't watched it yet, The Next Food Network Star will be shown after the jump.
North Carolina caterer, Aaron McCargo, bested Lisa Garza and Adam Gertler. The network issued a statement, conceding the error and removed all evidence of the flub from the web site. A release explained, "FoodNetwork.com experienced technical difficulties last night. As our viewers have seen on The Next Food Network Star this season, many twists and turns have taken place during the show."
I'm really starting to worry about the folks at Food Network, and The Next Food Network Star in particular. Last season, the third season of the program, the revelation that Adam Garcia had lied on his submission and falsified his U.S. Army service, forced his withdrawal from the show after he'd been named one of two finalists. It was monumentally embarrassing for the network because it looked like they didn't do their homework. He was replaced by Amy Finley -- who was reinstated after being voted off -- and she wound up winning.
Now this web site snafu. Like I said, I'm worried about the network. They're too big to keep screwing up like this. Or maybe that's the problem...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-30-2008 @ 2:22PM
Oreo said...
Considering they got rid of the tiny blond and the guy they kicked off with the Girl Scott episode I don't care who won and I doubt any of the shows will/would have lasted.
I'm just happy it wasn't Lisa, I hate her.
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7-30-2008 @ 4:10PM
Ryan said...
Haha. Martha Jones and now Lisa Garza. You and I Oreo definitely have different types.
I like it!
7-30-2008 @ 2:31PM
JayC said...
oh well.....this season sucked anyway. from the first ep, none of these guys could carry a show on the own.
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7-30-2008 @ 3:27PM
Matt said...
When talking about the network messing uo, don't forget about that Robert Irvine who was on Dinner Impossible... he basically lied on his resume and got fired from the show.
I though Aaron was the weakest of the 3 finalists, I wanted to watch Adam's show.
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7-30-2008 @ 5:01PM
Melissa said...
I was writing a comment for this post, and I realized that I have so many complaints about this show and the winner that I'm just not going to say anything at all.
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7-30-2008 @ 5:05PM
Melissa said...
Ok, I will say one positive thing. Lisa Garza was the kind of person you either loved or hated, and I loved her. I thought she had impeccable taste, a great sense of design, and would add something new to the food network.
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7-30-2008 @ 7:40PM
Oreo said...
I liked Martha in the first episode she was in. She was a doctor and knew it and was in control, but then the Doctor showed her she wasn't really, and she got too tuff and with guns and blowing up the Earth. It was too much.
Plus season three stories as a whole were bleh for the most part.
Plus Lisa is a real life bitch and Martha is just a wooden woman with a gun.
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7-30-2008 @ 7:43PM
WhatI said...
ESPN regularly shows you the winner of other races going on at the same time (that race fans are likely recording and don't want to know the outcome) I've taped stuff to my TV screen on such occasions in order to block off the bottom part of the screen where the scroll the information, only to be told by the announcers. They also spoiled the history-making win by Ashley Force (1st female to win in NHRA Funny Car) a few months ago, by showing a promo that made it completely obvious that she had won without directly saying so.
As for the internet spoiling things: welcome to life in the Western U.S. - if you don't want to find out who got voted off the island on Survivor , or who got killed off on LOST, you have to stay completely off the internet for those hours before the showings. No matter how hard you try, there's a good chance you'll run across a spoiler somewhere.
Also - stop telling us there's a "TWIST!" if there is one in any show - it's really not a "twist" if you're expecting it ahead of time.
You're comment about using the DVR(s) raises the question - Do advertisers realize that people are recording shows because of these practices also? I know I do, and I always blast through the commercials and not even pay attention to what they were for. You'd think they would do all they can to have people watch shows in real time and maximize the exposure for their advertisers.
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7-30-2008 @ 8:01PM
Cadam said...
Well, I missed both the flubs....but I figured out who the winner was because I figured they would be going for variety and they've already done the funny guy and the "snooty" woman. Not sure if I'll watch Aaron's show or not. No one really "grabbed" me this time, but I guess they can't hit the jackpot and get a Guy every season.
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7-31-2008 @ 9:49AM
Jim Kosmicki said...
not only can they not get a Guy every season, in four seasons, they've only gotten one once. I liked Aaron as a person, at least as far as they showed him, but I don't know that we'll watch his show. of course, we don't watch Guy's cooking show, either. We watch him as a host or as guest on shows like Dinner:Impossible, but his actual cooking show doesn't have anything all that different to it. If Aaron's show really picks up on the "Big Daddy" element and puts some kids in the kitchen, it might work better. Aaron's best segment was cooking with the Girl Scout.
Adam got robbed. both Lisa and Aaron's shows were similar to other FN shows, but Adam's internet angle was good, and his "I'll make a variation on your idea" has that Throwdown element that makes it different. Add in his personality, and you really could have had a show that would work. This show is really The Next Food Network Personality, and Aaron had the weakest on-screen personality of the final 3.
and for those of you who have watched this competition in the past, Nathan Lyon from Season 2 (I think) has a show on Discovery Health called Lyon in the Kitchen. It's a decent cooking show -- as a cooking show I like it better than Guy's -- but he is not a personality like Guy. I hope some of these other channels pick up on the "cast-offs" of this competition. I didn't really like Lisa, but she'd fit in on the Fine Living Network quite well (and it's a sister network to Food Network).
the best actual cooking show on TV right now is Sam the Cooking Guy on Discovery Health -- check it out!
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7-31-2008 @ 10:06AM
Cheri said...
I think they messed up big time by not choosing Lisa, who grew on me over time. She has a rare style, and she really did make foods I believed to be difficult seem do-able, while clearly being human herself. Add to that her "Laura Bennett" style, she is Martha Stewart in the city. Gays will love her, as will anyone wishing to live like a socialite in their suburb. She should run, not walk, to Bravo, the perfect network to start her empire.
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