A Thought On the Pitmaster “Experts”

During the show last week, I gave you my take on the new season of BBQ Pitmasters.  I am just not a “Fan” of this style of show.  I don’t think it allows the audience enough time to build an emotional relationship with the teams…you win the qualifying round and…BAM…you are in the finals.  I don’t get to see you again for weeks…there’s a good chance I will forget about you.   I need more time…of course that would mean that the channel give John Markus more time to make a show as well…so for me the show will always be average in concept.

That being said, I love the teams who are on the show itself.  I am a BBQ guy and the more exposure the industry gets the better for everyone.  So here is my real bitch…after the very first episode, the BBQ experts came out of the wood work to slam the first three contestants for not knowing what tri-tip is, and more importantly, how bad their turn-in boxes were.

Really, this is what it has come to?  Bashing others for the lack of a great turn in box?  Do any of you really think that a bad box would have gotten by these judges?  This isn’t Art Smith and Warren Sapp!  I think Tuffy Stone and Aaron Franklin have seen their fair share of good and bad turn in boxes.  They would have said something during the blind judging portion of the show for sure!  You know that Myron Mixon isn’t going to miss an opportunity to slam someone…yet nary a comment from the judges.

So the cycle continues…of an industry continuing to privately cannibalize their own.  No one is harder on any industry than those who have a passion for it.  However, a lot of folks also see this as an opportunity to point out where “THEY” would have done so much better than the teams on the TV.  It all smacks of jealousy to a large degree.  The people doing the most talking probably turned in an audition tape but didn’t get picked to be on the show…coincidence, I think not!

There is another portion of detractors who continue to wonder how “these people” were picked to be on the show…what have “THEY” done to warrant an opportunity on TV??  Let us remember one thing…this is a TV show!!  Some of you think that the only teams qualified enough to be on a BBQ TV show rank in the top 15 to 20 of KCBS.  Have you met some of these teams??  Sure, they might be able to cook their asses off during a competition…but that’s all they are doing.  They don’t have to play to a camera or show-off their personalities…all items that are pretty much required when one shows up on a TV set!

John Markus and the folks at Destination America need to play both sides of the fence when getting teams booked for their show.  Sure, they all need to be able to cook really well, but, they also need to be compelling enough individually to keep the viewers interested in the show they are watching.  It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have them tune in for the whole season either…you need compelling people to do that!

So if you are one of those know it alls who would have left the other teams in the dust…try taking another look in the mirror!  If you were THAT good…YOU would have been picked!  Instead, you are left to sit on the couch and watch the show on TV with the rest of us…laptop in hand writing feverishly on the perceived short-comings of the other teams.

If the show is that bad, do yourself a favor and stop tuning in!  If you watch every episode, you aren’t hurting anyone…in fact you are helping the show get picked up for another season.  I am certain that the folks who find the show appalling actually watch more time than the rest of us…it’s the same for any industry really!  The factions of people who can find nothing good with the show actually watch it more than anyone else…so if I may speak for the rest of us viewers…THANK YOU for doing what you do!