We were at the Bedford comp and watched a lot of the taping, as we were right behind their setup. It was interesting to watch how long the show took to tape. They literally made them open the coolers, and "act" like they were looking for the first time 5 times. They started their briskets in the middle of the night, so those were already cooking when they opened the coolers. The banter between the teams was begged for by the director/producers. The "watching the judges live" was done hours after the judges tasted their food, and they would start the tv, then ask them to comment on it multiple times for each 10 seconds of video. Especially Will, was beaten down and frustrated by the process, but he was asked to be on the show the week before, he never sent in a video.
It was fun to see the show made, and was great to meet Tuffy, Franklin and the King himself!!!!