Let's Talk About Television...
Likely by now, you’ve heard that Jeanne and I spent the month of April in Los Angeles. We were filming the first season of Fox’s newest baking competition - Crime Scene Kitchen. So let’s answer all the questions I’ve received since we made the announcement last Friday:
National Television? ARE YOU EVEN KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW? Nope, not even kidding. The show premiers May 26th on the Fox network.
How did this all happen to you? Well…we were contacted by a casting agency in February. We went through an extensive series of interviews for six weeks or so and after each one, we thought…welp, they will never pick us. But they did. We were just as surprised as you!
And then what? We flew on Los Angeles (Burbank, specifically) on the Friday of Easter weekend. We knew that we could be gone a week or a month or more, but because of the elimination factor, we really just didn’t know. Saying goodbye to Jason and the kids was rough - let’s note here that people just don’t go to LA for a month without a mountain of support at home.
What happened next? After arriving in Los Angeles, we were COVID tested and quarantined in our hotel for several days before starting any filming. We stayed in a lovely hotel and Jeanne and I had rooms across the hall from each other, which was convenient because we could still hang out, but I didn’t have to care that she goes to bed at 7pm and gets up at 4am - even on California time.
Tell us about the famous people, please: Well, Joel McHale hosts the show and as it turns out, he is even more funny in person than on television. Curtis Stone and Yolanda Gampp serve as judges. Want to feel stressed? Make a dessert and serve it to the exceptionally handsome Curtis Stone and wait for his feedback. Oh, and Wes from Nailed It was our stage manager. It was really really hard to not fangirl.
Did you have fun? Honestly, it was THE MOST FUN. It was interesting and entertaining and creative…and we learned so much. More than once, we laughed so hard that we cried. We LOVED Joel and had so much fun with him.
What was the best part? Jeanne and I super enjoyed our time together. It has likely been since before I was married (21 years ago), that we had so much dedicated (and non-working) time together. She’s not a fan of travel by nature, so jetting off to California and staying in a hotel and ordering food from Postmates? Way out of her comfort zone, but she never hesitated. She leads by the best example.
And how was she on television? 100% herself. We actually both would forget the cameras were present. Let’s hope America finds us more endearing than goofy.
Are you having a watch party? No way. I’m not watching because I’ll critique myself without relent and I just can’t change my focus from PJP Nifong and PJP West End to thinking about whether I have a double chin in most shots. Jeanne has an astoundingly more amount of self-esteem than me, so she (and both our families) are watching.
This is all crazy! Do you feel weird? Very. I have no idea what to expect. Picking up our lives and relocating to California for a month and doing something totally different brought us perspective we will never regret. 10 out of 10 stars, would return. Best experience ever.
