Unlikeable Judges

As promised, here is a mini-rant about my dislike of many Food Network stars. The other day when I was making banana bread, I flipped on Food Network. Chopped was on. Now this is a perfectly good concept for a show, BUT the judges and host are horrible. (I'll elaborate in a minute.) Other shows on this channel share this same problem - good concept, annoying "talent." Now I still watch Food Network, and I even like some shows. I even watch some shows in which I don't like the "talent" because I have this awful addiction to cooking related entertainment that many seem to have these days (I LOVE Top Chef and America's Test Kitchen the most, closely followed by all shows about decorating cakes), and Food Network is the perfect in the background tv when you are cooking or baking.  But sometimes, the hosts or judges are so horrible, it makes me want to pull my hair out.

Chopped is the biggest let down for me. I heard the concept before I saw the show - 4 chefs compete in 3 rounds, appetizer, entree and dessert round. They get a basket with mystery ingredients that don't seem to fit together for each course and have to use all of them in the respective course. The 3 judge panel then decide which dish is the worst each round, and that chef is "chopped" and cannot compete in the next round. After the dessert round, when one dessert is "chopped," one chef remains and he or she wins $10,000 or so. Now I think this concept is great. It is like a longer version of a quickfire challenge from Top Chef. Unfortunately, the judges are the most unlikable people they could have found.

Let's start with the host though, Ted Allen. He used to be beloved by Queer Eye fans (not me) and a fine judge on Top Chef. Then he came to the Food Network for his likeability to die. He must think he is funny, but he really isn't, and that's just the worst. He is always telling awful jokes that lead to sort of awkward moments void of laughter. I don't care for him when he is a judge on Iron Chef America either. He is not the worst on Chopped though.

On to the judges. I don't watch this show often, so I haven't seen all the judges. These are the only 4 judges I've seen or at least remember. Every judge I've seen though, has been soooo annoying. They just all lack charisma and come off douchey, which is hard to explain in words, but here's my rundown.

• Alexandra Guarnashelli - What a witch! She is so condescending to the contestants. She also has a permanent look on her face like she is driving by a dump. The only thing she accomplishes on this show is making the audience hate her. Also, I remember seeing her as a competitor on some sort of cooking contest where she failed to make mashed potatoes or something. Ugh, looking at her just offends me.
• Aaron Sanchez - This guy is totally horrible. He thinks he is suave, but he is ugly and acts like a butthead (that is actually the best word to describe him). The worst part about him is that he is always promoting himself in one way or another. He is often on The Best Thing I Evere Ate, a show where Food Network chefs disclose their favorite places to eat. One time he said something from his own restaurant. Another show he said something from his mother's restaurant. What a loser.
• Scott Conant - He is not that bad, but comes off as most people's definition of douchebag.
• Amanda Freitag - I have nothing bad to say about her as a person. But she has a permanent scowl on her face. The crazy thing is that she is not ugly, but she is actively always scowling. The picture I found isn't a good representation of her face on Chopped, but you can imagine.

This is tv. There are a million people in the food business that I would accept as a person with enough experience and skill to judge food. Why oh why did Food Network choose ugly, mean people that are not likeable? You don't have to be beautiful, nice and likeable, BUT you should be at least one of those things. All of these judges also come off as overly pretentious. Do you think you are so important and special because you are on Food Network??? Maybe you are, but nobody likes a person show acts like they are better than everyone else.

A lot of people hate Food Network stars, Paula Deen and Rachael Ray. They are made fun of all the time, but they are also very popular. It's like after their popularity, Food Network thought, hey why don't we find more people that are even more annoying, and to top it off let's make them pretentious and butt-ugly to boot. I have more to say about Food Network, but I have to go. Expect more shortly.