I remember Ken and Barbie! My mom and I used to watch them together and that was before Food Network (maybe CBC)? We used to just shake our heads. Last time I was home, Ken and Company was on and my mom practically yelled at me to change the channel. She can't stand Ken although she does think the show is better than Ken and Barbie. One of my mom's Japanese boarders actually bought their cookbook. My mom tried one recipe with yogurt, fresh fennel, sweet onions and salmon. It was very good but I don't think my mom actually followed the directions. She took the idea and cooked her own thing.
I can see how Carlo Rota could be annoying but since I've only had small doses of him, I didn't find him anymore annoying than Gordon Elliott in Follow That Food. Actually, the two shows are very similar.
As for Canadian censors, it's a rather odd censorship system isn't it? I mean it's not all that uncommon to see full nudity yet more words get bleeped depending on the time of day. I won't be all that surprised to hear that there's a Canadian late night nudist cooking show where everyone is very polite :D After all, Canada is the birthplace of the Sunday Night *** Show!