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Food Network, admit they suck

goshi

By goshi
in Food Media & Arts

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MarketStEl

MarketStEl

Posted
Posted
Ainsley Harriet once said that allspice was a mixture of various different spices...

Various? Not ALL?!? :laugh::laugh::laugh:

Not directly food-related, but this bit of reportorial cluelessness brought back a tale oft told by Philadelphia-area print types as a way of dissing their broadcast brothers and sisters:

A reporter for WCAU-TV (then the CBS station in town, now NBC; the reporter's name will be withheld, as the person is still in the business) was assigned to cover the trial of Ira Einhorn, the notorious Sixties guru who was charged--and convicted three decades later--for murdering his girlfriend, whose body was discovered in a trunk in his Powelton Village house.

The reporter was informed that Einhorn was being tried in absentia (he had fled the country after the arrest warrant was issued).

The reporter asked the assignment desk editor where Absentia was located.

Sandy Smith, Exile on Oxford Circle, Philadelphia

"95% of success in life is showing up." --Woody Allen

My foodblogs: 1 | 2 | 3

wkl

wkl

Posted
Posted

I think we all understand that the current FN programming has been formatted to attract a wider audience and therefore sell more advertising dollars.

The problem I have with FN is that it started out so good and has been turned into something almost unwatchable for the person who has a strong interest in cooking, food history, ethinic foods, etc.

Early on John Ash, Emeril (when it was chef du Jour), Michele Urvater (remember her show, not much personality, but good show) Taste, Ready,Sey,Cook, etc was quality stuff and now the programming is pretty lame.

wkl

wkl

Posted
Posted
Okay, it's agreed that FoodTV draws a large audience that's not deeply interested in food. What does this thread say about the eGullet audience when lurkers can read that almost as many people have felt the need to discuss how shallow the audience is at FoodTV than have taken the opportunity to ask Ferran Adrià, arguably the worlds most influential chef, a question in the eGullet Forums Q&A with Ferran Adria?

I think what it says is that this is a topic we can all relate to.

I wouldn't know what to ask Chef Adria.I don't think I would try and cook in his style and probably never will eat in his restaurant.Not because I don't want to, I just won't be in Spain anytime soon.

winesonoma

winesonoma

Posted
Posted (edited)

I await the of the naked bacon cook off out side on griddles. or a naked turkey fry. Cooking at a nudist camp "How do they do it." I'm sorry I could not resist. :shock::shock::shock:

Edited by winesonoma (log)

Bruce Frigard

Quality control Taster, Château D'Eau Winery

"Free time is the engine of ingenuity, creativity and innovation"

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

Curlz

Curlz

Posted
Posted
Coming Soon, to your local cable provider:

THE POKE IN THE EYE WITH A SHARP STICK NETWORK

Followed by the new reality series WILL YOUR FRIENDS POKE YOU IN THE EYE FOR $100 WITH A SHARP STICK? WE THINK SO! Show!!! :laugh:

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

Curlz

Curlz

Posted
Posted
I await the of the naked bacon cook off out side on griddles. or a naked turkey fry. Cooking at a nudist camp "How do they do it." I'm sorry I could not resist. :shock:  :shock:  :shock:

Oh, but you guys are killing me today!!

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

Jinmyo

Jinmyo

Posted
Posted
And is it me or are they trying to craft Tyler Florence into the american Jamie Oliver? 

As far as I'm concerned, Jamie O has NUTHIN' on Tyler. And I'll say this publicly, just in case he's lurking...Tyler, you're is welcome to show up in my kitchen ANY day!! :wub:

You don't have to worry about Tyler lurking on eG. More likely your hedges if you're at all presentable.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

jschyun

jschyun

Posted
Posted
And is it me or are they trying to craft Tyler Florence into the american Jamie Oliver? 

As far as I'm concerned, Jamie O has NUTHIN' on Tyler. And I'll say this publicly, just in case he's lurking...Tyler, you're is welcome to show up in my kitchen ANY day!! :wub:

You don't have to worry about Tyler lurking on eG. More likely your hedges if you're at all presentable.

Weird. He's a pretty good looking guy, seems to me he should be fighting them off and not the other way around. He also cooks, most girls would swoon over that alone.

I love cold Dinty Moore beef stew. It is like dog food! And I am like a dog.

--NeroW

Mayhaw Man

Mayhaw Man

Posted
Posted
He also cooks, most girls would swoon over that alone.

It's true, chicks dig a good cook. I have actually become immune to swooning. I look for groveling now, as a true sign that I am not just being used for my Gumbo.

Brooks Hamaker, aka "Mayhaw Man"

There's a train everyday, leaving either way...

Curlz

Curlz

Posted
Posted

I may swoon on occasion over a man who can cook, but I don't grovel. Growl, perhaps...but only in a good way! :laugh:

I may also need to plant some hedges...anyone know if it's too cold yet?!? Hehe

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

The Cynical Chef

The Cynical Chef

Posted
Posted

I liked the FN when I was on all the time.........

John Malik

Chef/Owner

33 Liberty Restaurant

Greenville, SC

www.33liberty.com

Customer at the carving station: "Pardon me but is that roast beef rare?"

Apprentice Cook Malik: "No sir! There's plenty more in the kitchen!"

NulloModo

NulloModo

Posted
Posted

Weird, I had no idea Barefoot Contessa was filmed in the Hamptons, or that that was her actual house and not a set, guess that shows how clueless I can be ;).

I also like Paula Dean a lot, the food is wholesome, mostly doable for most home cooks, looks very tasty, and she talked like my grandmother.

I watched 'How to Boil Water' last night for the first time. I think the host was a lady named Jack Hourragot, or something along those lines. There was also a foreign (I couldn't quite place the accent) chef helping her out (I wasn't watching that closely). Anyway, from what little I saw the recipe (they cooked two dishes, but one was simple pan roasted meat, not really a recipe needed for that...) was basic (the actual recipe was for a mushroom ragu) but something I would be interested in trying, and they did explain well how to do it. I also liked the 'how to fix it if you mess it up halfway through cooking' bit they did at the end. The only thing that really bugged me was the non-existant chemistry between Jack and the chef. I couldn't tell if he pitied her, or wanted to slam down his All-Clad pan on the back of her head when she looked away.

He don't mix meat and dairy,

He don't eat humble pie,

So sing a miserere

And hang the bastard high!

- Richard Wilbur and John LaTouche from Candide

Kevin72

Kevin72

Posted
Posted

The guy was French. Now I can't remember his name. It's weird that they'd still be showing episodes with him on. He used to actually post on the FTV boards (and people were largely civil to him that I could see, though they did make some snarky comments about the woman co-host). At any rate, he revealed that the execs wanted him to drop his accent as they thought it was too off-putting: this was reight around the time of the "Freedom Fries" hysteria. Anyways he couldn't and they dropped him and brought Tyler in.

Yet another sign of FTV's cluelessness: we want a French chef, just so long as he's not, well, French!

A Year of Italian Cooking 2005 Thread Index
maremosso

maremosso

Posted
Posted
I would rather be easy to please and happy than hard to please and pissed off at everything!

I'd rather be hard to please and happy. So I am.

And so I only watch FN (Canada) when there's something I want to see. Which is rarely, as with most TV.

edit:

Alton does indeed, as was put, "rock".

:smile: Ditto!

maremosso

maremosso

Posted
Posted
my bf calls Ina "the ego contessa." ... i think she comes off as pitiful...funny the way 2 people take the same, "everybody's gonna love this" kind of comment... 

Every day is a celebration calling for 2 sticks of butter which makes the show ...

i also think the fact that jeffrey is always working (on christmas!) is odd....

it makes me sad for her...and inevitably wonder if he doesn't have a little pate choux on the side.

You mean, like a Twinky?

I also have always wondered how on earth combining tons of extra ingredients together can possibly improve old recipies. The BC just doesn't realize that oftentimes less is more!

jschyun

jschyun

Posted
Posted

I love Paula Dean. I mentioned in the other thread how I like to talk in her accent after watching her show. Unfortunately, I can' eat the stuff she makes (too much fat for me and I'm lactose intolerant) but she's a lot of fun to watch.

I love cold Dinty Moore beef stew. It is like dog food! And I am like a dog.

--NeroW

Coop

Coop

Posted
Posted

I just read this post from beginning to end. On the first page I found out that Marc Sommers has OCD. So after filpping to FTV and finding his show on time after time I only have one question. Mark did you unplug the iron?

I'm going straight to hell for that one. I will be able to catch up on Top 5 while I'm there though.

David Cooper

"I'm no friggin genius". Rob Dibble

http://www.starlinebyirion.com/

lia

lia

Posted
Posted

I miss the 'classic' episodes....old black and white Julia, James Beard, Dione Lucas....Galloping Gourmet...they only showed that stuff at the VERY beginning, no?

The version of How to Boil Water that sticks in my mind most was with the tall goodlooking male comic and the female chef. She was pleasant, yet completely devoid of any TV personality, and the two of them together made a hilarious show.

I like Unwrapped. I like the Food Finds and Best Of type shows. I enjoy the 'straight' cooking shows like Ina's and Paula Deen's. Emeril always annoyed me, and I could never sit through Iron Chef. That date show and the Kitchen game show disturbed me, I found them to be a dangerous direction. The festival shows to me always seemed like an afterthought to kill time and fill broadcast space.

Fine Living eh? I'll have to check it out....

PopsicleToze

PopsicleToze

Posted
Posted
I miss the 'classic' episodes....old black and white  Julia,  James Beard,  Dione Lucas....Galloping Gourmet...they only showed that stuff at the VERY beginning,  no?

As late as a year or two ago they showed Julia and Galloping Gourmet at about 3:00/3:30am CST. I wish they would show them again. At least Julia.

Rhonda

Food blog - Honeysuckles and Huckleberries... growing up in the Louisiana Countryside

Curlz

Curlz

Posted
Posted
I just read this post from beginning to end. On the first page I found out that Marc Sommers has OCD. So after filpping to FTV and finding his show on time after time I only have one question. Mark did you unplug the iron?

I'm going straight to hell for that one. I will be able to catch up on Top 5 while I'm there though.

Oooooooooh, that's good. REAL good. I think I'm going to hell with you, Coop, as I was really cracking up when I read this post! Keep 'em coming, willya? :laugh:

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

karen m

karen m

Posted
Posted

Set your tivo, vcr and dvd's - Food Network in January will start rebroadcasting

A Cooks Tour at 3 am on Wednesdays. May want to check your location time.

I have missed three episodes - I am thrilled there is an opportunity for me to have the chance to catch the ones I have missed. I am a very happy girl.

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