Worst Cooks in America 2 Episode 2

The Worst Cooks in America keep showing why they deserve that dubious honor. Adult Attention Deficit Disorder is legion among these people.

Chef Anne and Chef Robert walked them through making an omelet. Trixie will admit that while I consider myself to be a pretty proficient cook, omelets are not my specialty. They aren't a complete disaster but let's just say they while they taste pretty good they aren't that pretty when completed and I'm glad I'm just cooking for myself. But these people have two professional chefs walking them through and showing them the whole process and the techniques. Chef Anne emphasizes they should use only two tablespoons of oil and recruit Jeff uses what looked like two cups, instead. Pat, the stay-at-home mom has severe egg issues and refused to try the omelet dish until forced. Matt is so nervous and his hands shake so badly when he's cutting or dicing I'm surprised he hasn't lost a digit yet, though he did seem to get it together on the later challenge. Needless to say, my omelet would have beaten any of theirs.

For the second challenge Chef Robert and Anne each demonstrated a simple pork dish and emphasized to the teams the challenge was about observing and learning. Priscilla the teacher kept referring to 'scallions' as 'scallops' then later revealed to confessional camera that she didn't know what a scallop was. So apparently along with never learning to cook she has never been to a grocery store or a restaurant. Jeff decided that free-styling his pork dish would get him points with Chef Robert then he severely overcooked the pork. Kelly the determined vegetarian has taken to heart the neatness counts admonition but cut only one pork chop for the two chop dish and threw out the rest; wrapping it up and refrigerating the remainder never entered her mind. One recruit is an operating room nurse and the another is a mechanical engineer but the orderly thinking required to do their day jobs gets thrown out the window when it comes time to cook. Alas, Anthony the mechanical engineer had his days numbered and was eliminated. Jeff's free-styling got him booted, too.

Detroit 1-8-7 coins my favorite new term of 2011

This police procedural set and shot in the city of Detroit has really grown on me and become one of my new favorites from the fall of 2010. Of course, I’m trying to play it coy and not get too attached as ABC is famous for pulling the plug on great shows before they are able to build any kind of traction. My heart has been broken before (RIP ‘Cupid,’ the original drama from the late 90’s with Jeremy Piven back in the days before he became an insufferable jerk).

Last night’s episode continued dancing around the potential love triangle of Fitch-Sanchez-Stone. Fitch is having a problem with his car and asks Sanchez to take a look (apparently she is also a part-time grease monkey) and she seems eager to do so and spend the time with him but he has to cancel when he gets a surprise call from his son who wants to come visit. Imperioli is so good in these scenes and really makes the viewers want to know what happened in New York?!

In the ‘Ice Man’ part of the episode Longford and Mahajan are trying to track down information about a man found frozen to death in a block of ice and speak to a guy who knew the victim from ‘urban exploring.’ In the best scene of the show the guy says the victim had had problems with a French photographer who was in town to take photos of Detroit’s many crumbling architectural gems. He expresses his disdain that the French photographer would exploit ‘ruin porn’ and bemoans that ‘Detroit is coming back but no one wants to report THAT.’ It’s this kind of smart writing and thinly-veiled commentary that has endeared this show to me and many other viewers. I’d really like to see Detroit 1-8-7 get a second season – let’s hope that ABC sees the potential and sticks with it.

Needless to say, my favorite new term of this very young year is 'ruin porn.' But it is true - the abandoned buildings of Detroit do still have a beauty to them. See for yourself - Michigan Central Station.

Worst Cooks in America 2 Debut

Works Cooks in America Season 2 debuted tonight on Food Network and Chef Burrell and Chef Irvine really have their hands full. But I was digging on Chef Anne's red patent leather clogs. I need a pair to add to my black patent ones.

We have contestants who decided that using fingers to cut a raw chicken was preferable to using a knife, who don't know to wash their hands after handling raw chicken and one contestant started a fire. There is also a vegetarian who seemed physically ill watching Chef Irvine cut up a chicken but she ended up doing surprisingly well.

Most annoying: JOSHIE This one has severe Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Even Chef Anne said she thought she might kill him on the first day.

Most clueless: Priscilla This lady was a teacher for 17 years. A teacher who never learned how to read or follow directions.

Season Princess: Baloney and spray cheese quesadilla girl, Erika, from Chicagoland.

First out: Bye bye Asian girl and dude who thought learning to cook would save his bar.

Worst Cooks in America

We here at Glued are excited about season 2 of Food Network's 'Worst Cooks in America' which airs tomorrow night. Chef Anne Burrell returns as a team instructor. New to the program is Chef Robert Irvine, who has a controversial past with Food Network, but who seems to have gotten back into good graces and back on the air. Irvine replaces Beau MacMillan who had his own bit of controversy when he failed to appear at a hearing over a speeding ticket in early 2010. We hope Irvine is a good counterpoint for Chef Burrell.

To prepare for the new season Food Network has been re-airing the first season today. On a second viewing we're reminded of our overall opinion that many of the first season contestants had trouble in the kitchen due to severe Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. We hope to see where a few of the first season contestants are now. Has Jen V. gotten over her creepy love affair with Chef Beau? Can Rachel make a dish that is tasty AND good-looking? Is Jenny still a Bettie Page look-alike and did she pursue her goal of getting into culinary school or is she still waiting tables?

Tune in Sunday night 9 EST/8 CST.

After a long hiatus...

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