Your Favorite TV Comedy and Drama Food Scenes

[hillvalley]

They also do a decent job promoting local restaurants on most occasions. There is an episode revolving around a poker game where they got pastramie from Krupins, a local deli.

[Pan]

Low brow (television), not high brow (films...there's a separate thread for food porn films). Domestic, not foreign. Wait, we can't ignore food on British television.

Monty Python.

"Spam, sausage and spam. Spam, spam, spam, and spam," etc.

(Tana, I don't think we can define what "foreign" means on the "General Topics" board of an international website. If people in France, China, South Africa, and Australia want to bring up their favorite domestic TV series, it would be on topic.)

[LaurieA-B]

On Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when Spike (a vampire) complains that they're out of Weetabix, Giles comments that isn't Spike supposed to consume blood? Reply: "Well, sometimes I like to crumble up the Weetabix in the blood. Give it a little texture." Giles: "Since the picture you just painted means I will never touch food of any kind again..."

[Timo]

how about kramer's junior mints on seinfeld? being saved by a junior mint is sure to give you a new outlook on life...

SATC always had potential for some great food scenes, but it was always egg-white omelettes and cocktails. once at carrie's book release party, they had some little cakes that looked like tiny manolos.i would've eaten those.

[GG Mora]

And my mom contends that the most disgusting scene from any television show, ever, is the sketch where the guy explodes in the restaurant.

That was actually from their movie "The Meaning of Life". Never appeared on their TV show.

Anyone remember an episode of Northern Exposure where Adam (chef extraordinaire) was preparing for a big shindig (Maurice's retirement or some such) and needed an entire cow to make his meat essence?

[Raynickben]

Phil Hartman's "Anal-Retentive Chef"

[beans]

Oooooh!

I *LOVE* Adam. I *LOVE* Northern Exposure!!!!!!! Remember Shelly dropping his prized $$$$$$ bottle of French wine for the same shindig? Eve and Shelly mix up Chanel No.5 among other things to try to recreate it!

I have to add another vote for Seinfeld. Any episode, any time. The Big Salad; Kramer's poaching of lobsters from someone else's lobster traps; Steinbrenner's calzone lunches; Ju-Ju Bees (spelling?); Elaine's Lobster Bisque ("You left out the best part." "No, I mentioned the bisque."); the Chinese Restaurant episode where they never get seated; George's combining of food (was it a pastramy on rye?) with sex with one of his girlfriends; Kenny Rogers with Kramer screaming "Kenny! KENNY!" as the neon sign is turned off; "Vegetable Lasagna" who sat next to Elaine and Putty returning from Europe; the list could go on and on!

[JennotJenn]

And my mom contends that the most disgusting scene from any television show, ever, is the sketch where the guy explodes in the restaurant.

That was actually from their movie "The Meaning of Life". Never appeared on their TV show.

Anyone remember an episode of Northern Exposure where Adam (chef extraordinaire) was preparing for a big shindig (Maurice's retirement or some such) and needed an entire cow to make his meat essence?

Ah, you're right. For some reason I don't associate my mom w/watching movies (she can't sit still that long, I think) so I instantly misremembered that it was from MPFS.

[cakewalk]

Akroyd and Belushi's "Cheburger, cheburger, chebuger" bit was a howl.

No coke. Pepsi.

[hjshorter]

Seinfeld:

The babka

George and the trash can

The soup Nazi

Enough said!

You forgot the Black & White cookie episode.

[beans]

Kasha, Kramer washing food in the shower! J. Peterman's Antique Wedding Cake....

[chezlamere]

and then there's Friends.

Joey eating the whole turkey

The thanksgiving that everyone wanted something different and they locked themselves out of the apartment

joe and his sandwiches

the turkey sandwich that ross's boss ate out of the staff fridge

etc etc

[chezlamere]

just as a little change of topic:

how about best food in a novel?

i remember being stranded at a old boyfriends house on a sunday (he left for work without telling me and left a note and I was stranded for 2 days - anyway) I was desperate after about an hour after I woke up. It was in the sticks, and he had no tv (this was the mid 70's) . I snooped around but that got boring so I picked up a book that he just bought. It was "the first deadly sin" .I think It was laurence saunders first book. That has to be the worst book to read when your all alone with NO FOOD IN THE HOUSE. The main character was forever making sandwiches. I spent two days reading this thing with only peanut butter in the house. After all It was a guys foodless house. peanut butter and beer.

[mona]

I think it was 'A Little Bit of Fry and Laurie;'

"Waiter, this fettucine smells like gangrene."

[Toliver]

When dining, on rare occasions I get to the "Thin Mint" stage, a la the afore-mentioned Monty Python movie scene.

The waiter egging on the glutton: "Surely you can eat one thin mint" (or somthing to that effect). The glutton does and promptly explodes all over the restaurant and the other patrons.

Usually it's a home-cooked holiday meal that puts me at the "Thin Mint" stage. And it's so sad that my family always knows exactly what I mean when I say that phrase.

Another TV show that loves its food (which I believe has its own thread) is "The Gilmore Girls".

[canadiancook]

Seinfeld:

George's Pudding Skin Singles

[GG Mora]

When dining, on rare occasions I get to the "Thin Mint" stage, a la the afore-mentioned Monty Python movie scene.

The waiter egging on the glutton: "Surely you can eat one thin mint" (or somthing to that effect). The glutton does and promptly explodes all over the restaurant and the other patrons.

Usually it's a home-cooked holiday meal that puts me at the "Thin Mint" stage. And it's so sad that my family always knows exactly what I mean when I say that phrase.

I usually just go for Mr. Creosote's own delightfully turned phrase: "Fuck off. I'm full."

[Papaya]

How about The Cosby Show? Cliff and his hoagies, his special spaghetti sauce, all the junk food he tries to sneak, when he takes Rudy and a group of her six-year old friends to a fancy restaurant for lunch and they all demand hamburgers and fries....

[kimmyb72]

seinfield:

when kramer feeds chile to the horse that pulls the carriage, the jr. mints, the pez dispenser at the concert, the hostess crumbcake george ate, the food george was eating during sex, the big salad elaine eats.

[clothier]

Low brow (television), not high brow (films...there's a separate thread for food porn films). Domestic, not foreign. Wait, we can't ignore food on British television.

Monty Python.

"Spam, sausage and spam. Spam, spam, spam, and spam," etc.

(Tana, I don't think we can define what "foreign" means on the "General Topics" board of an international website. If people in France, China, South Africa, and Australia want to bring up their favorite domestic TV series, it would be on topic.)

they have TV in other countries?

You sure?

I thought we owned the rights to all popular culture world-wide.

[clothier]

just as a little change of topic:

how about best food in a novel?

i remember being stranded at a old boyfriends house on a sunday (he left for work without telling me and left a note and I was stranded for 2 days - anyway) I was desperate after about an hour after I woke up. It was in the sticks, and he had no tv (this was the mid 70's) . I snooped around but that got boring so I picked up a book that he just bought. It was "the first deadly sin" .I think It was laurence saunders first book. That has to be the worst book to read when your all alone with NO FOOD IN THE HOUSE. The main character was forever making sandwiches. I spent two days reading this thing with only peanut butter in the house. After all It was a guys foodless house. peanut butter and beer.

Novels?

You mean books? Like the kind you read?

They still make those?

[Carolyn Tillie]

Frasier is riddled with wonderful little restaurants (hiring Wolfgang Puck to cater, the dead seal at Maris' beach house, pretending to be Jewish when there is a ham in the overn...)

My all time favorite, however, is a Halloween episode where everyone dresses up like their hero. Frasier is Freud but Niles dresses up like Martin. Frasier is jealous that Niles is getting all the attention and eventually storms out of his own party. Sitting in his lobby, he has a heart-to-heart chat with a young man who lives in the building and learns that none of the children will come and trick-or-treat at Frasier's door because they think he eats brains... "Not HUMAN brains, but a nice cow's brains in a light beurre blanc...." he starts to exclaim, but then realizes he is scaring the young lad. Assuringly, Frasier tells the young boy to bring all his friends over, that he has TONS of candy.

After a tiff with Niles and Martin, Frasier tries to help Niles get out of costume and the wig that Niles is using to emulate Martin is stuck too well with spirit gum. As the doorbell rings (the children have arrived to get the candy), Daphne hands Frasier a large spoon to help Niles pry the wig from his head. In perfect timing, as the door opens, the children witness Frasier wretching the top of Niles' scalp off of him. With Niles screaming in pain, the children run screaming in terror, assuming Frasier is, in fact, about to eat Niles' brains.

I crack up every time.

[MichaelB]

"Spam, sausage and spam. Spam, spam, spam, and spam," etc.

You could have the Spam, Eggs, Sausage and Spam -- there's not very much Spam in that."

[alikat]

I loved the Anal Retentive Chef. Also from SNL, Alec Baldwin and "Schwetty Balls."

[TrishCT]

Fawlty Towers...almost every episode deals with food. I especially think the episode "Gourmet Night" had some hilarious food jokes coupled with Basil's pretentiousness.