The Next Food Network Star

Okay, so I missed Season 1. But I caught Season 2, and forced myself to watch Season 3, more as a test than anything else. And, I believe my experiment with Season 3 proved my theory about this particular reality show, and maybe all the others - which I try to avoid.

In Season 2, you had a group of talented people vying for their own show on Food Network. The end of this competition had Guy Fieri winning the coveted show, which is not to say he didn't deserve it, because he did. It's the way Food Network stacked the deck that disappointed me. This was one of my favorite stations, a departure from my usuals: Stargate, NCIS, and CSI.

Here's how I saw it - and I hope I can effectively put my thoughts down here. As Food Network whittled away at the contestants, it seemed obvious in each show who wasn't going to make the cut. No surprise there. The final three were Guy Fieri, Nathan Lyon, and Reggie Southerland. It was obvious to me that Guy was the best of the three, and that his real competition for the show was Nathan. Nathan was good, but he wasn't "Guy good." I suspect that Food Network knew this, and wanting Guy to win, they eliminated Nathan. This left Guy having to compete against Reggie, who was good in his own right, but when you pitted him against Guy, the choice was clear, Guy had it hands down.

So, the more I thought about this, the more I questioned how things occurred. I grew disappointed with Food Network as I started to see that something had been pulled on the viewers. Guy's real competition was eliminated, providing the viewers, who ultimately voted for the winning contestant, with a clear choice - Reggie had no chance against Guy.

To prove - or, hopefully, disprove - my theory, I watched Season 3. The final three were Amy Finley, Joshua "Jag" Garcia, and Rory Schepisi. Personally, I didn't see a real standout in these three as far as their cooking skills, they each seemed to have an area where they stood out. I wasn't until they did a radio show. They were prepped by Food Network "NOT" to say anything derogatory about Food Network, or the other contestants.

Egged on by the two radio hosts, Rory and "Jag" took the bait. Rory talked about some of the other contestants in a gossipy manner, and "Jag" complained that Food Network didn't have any ethnic food shows. Amy didn't fall for it, making her the clear winner of this test.

It was the radio show challenge which convinced me that Amy was clearly the winner. So I was shocked when the judges eliminated her. This left "Jag" and Rory, two contestants who showed little integrity in the Radio show competition. How could Food Network make such a choice? To me, the reflected on Food Network, and their integrity. They were condoning this behavior!

Next came the bombshell that "Jag" embellished his personal information. They made it a part of their show to have him come in and admit his wrongdoing, and withdraw from the competition. at first, I was both relieved that Food Network was finally showing some integrity in this competition. I was also disappointed that a fellow Marine would do this. I don't know if Food Network set this whole thing up for the publicity, or what, at this point, I can only suspect.

So, in an effort to make the competition seem on the up and up, they called back Amy Finley to compete against Rory. When the fans voted, Amy won. To me, this was justification, Amy should have won. It was also another sign that Food Network had again tried to stack the deck so their choice would be the clear winner, the viewers would only have one choice, Food Networks choice. It didn't work out that way because of "Jag's" mistake, and in the end, I believe, the viewers really did get to choose.

In science, experiments are continually repeated so the results are constantly verified. And it's in this vein that I'll again tune in to watch "The Next Food Network Star: Season 4". I hope that Food Network runs a non-interventional competition this season. Maybe they'll restore my faith in the network, because my viewership has declined as a result of my perception of their integrity. I don't consider Food Network as entertainment, but educational and informative. Without integrity, they might as well have Beavis and Butthead doing a cooking show.