Review: The Next Food Network Star Finale

Television show marathons are not my usual fare for a Sunday. Typically, weekend television in my house centers around NASCAR and watching the Cup race. However, yesterday the race in Pocono, PA was postponed due to rain. So flip flip flip went the channels with brief pauses here and there. As I breezed through the channels I found a marathon of the Next Food Network Star from this season. The finale is on tonight, why not show all the previous episodes from this season?

I like watching reality shows, whether it "Survivor" or "American Idol" or "The Next Food Network Star". The episodes from early in the season are the funniest. With most of the contestants still on the show, they are more likely to have personality conflicts, meltdowns, tirades and basically all-out war.

The Food Network Star marathon lived up to that. Melissa was frazzled with the pressure of so many professionals surrounding her. Michael with his hats and ever-changing hair color brought spontaneity to the set. I liked Jeffrey, but his "food without borders" shtick didn't evolve enough for me. Oh, in case the viewers didn't notice or remember, Debbie was always eager to remind you that she is Korean.

Unfortunately, the finale fell into the same pattern as the other reality shows. As I sat down to watch it, a bowl of popcorn at the ready, Bobby Flay came out onstage, in front of a modest but enthusiastic audience. He introduces the two finalists, Melissa and Jeffrey. Then he brings out all the other finalists from this season and invites them to seats on stage. Next thing I know, Flay takes us on a trip down memory lane, a la the reunion-show-template from Survivor!

Bobby, don't go there! Did the producers told you that this is good television? It was boring! I wanted to see more with Alton Brown as he produced the pilots for the Melissa and Jeffry's final challenge. Especially Alton and Jeffrey. I watched most of the episodes leading up to this, and got the refresher from the marathon. And I stayed up, with popcorn until nearly ten at night to find out Melissa gets a new job? Could have checked the Internet once the show aired on the East Coast.

After it was all done, Melissa is the "winner." Of what, I'm not sure. Will she be the next 30-minute maven? Cooking in 4 easy steps? Cuisine for the breast-feeding mother? (Don't bash me for that one, Melissa brought up that topic herself during a mid-season episode) With Jeffrey, the network could have traveled him around the world in search of exotic ingredients and culturally unique cooking methods to bring back to the studio kitchen, but those location shots would have been expensive. Melissa's show may be a simple as a quick trip to market for episode one, then a visit to the leftover shelf in the fridge for episode two. Who knows, maybe we will see Melissa in a talk show, like Rachel Ray's cooking / interview / friends visiting hour.

Anyway, congrats to Melissa, good luck with whatever show you do. Jeffrey, time for you to go back to your professional job. As for me, the NASCAR race is on now. Go Junior!!!