what you think of food tv

You really can't blame the "talent" for FoodTV. Emeril started out like the rest of us who worked in restaurants. Busted his butt, worked hard trying to make a name for himself. In his case he happened to work for one of the most highly visible restaurants in the country, and was in the right place at the right time at the infancy of FTV. Since then a bunch of people who are in a position to make a lot of money off of him have thrown piles of money at him. He has become his own little cottage industry and you can't really blame him. If he survives this whole ordeal he will be able to retire very early and live the good life for a good long time.
The same with Rachel Ray. She was an ordinary girl doing an ordinary job and just happened to be bubbly when the right person walked in and decided that this bubbly person could make them money. There are a million stories just like that in Hollywood, but since we are in food and they are on Food TV it's thrown in our face. We don't have to like it, but we can't blame them, blame the people who put them on tv all in the name of making themselves a pile of money.

This is strange no one is bashing Food TV for a change. Ch I totally agree with your posts.

Rgds Rook

would we be better off without food tv? I think not......when I teach kids cooking that's what's hooking them into the kitchen.
I've not had a television since 2000, still can keep up with the majority of who's on and catch a show every now and then somewhere.
Rachel is fun to heckle. Used to heckle the Japanese Iron Chefs prior to them becoming international....it was great, sorta like the Sat. Japanese movies of the 60's.....bad lipsyncing.

I don't have cable so I don't watch FTV. Whenever I have seen it other places, 9 times out of 10 it is bad TV. That said, I think there are some talented people on who have become pawns of the producers and - not coincidentally - do quite well out of it themselves. If I had the chance to make pots of $$$ in that medium would I take it? H**l yes.

The Rook is right - there are so many threads on this site bashing FTV and all who sail in her that it's weird have a toned down (and dare I say rational) discussion about it.

Jock

ftv

i feel like the same shows have been on that network for a long time. and worse off a few yrs back i worked at a country club and every sunday i worked the omlette/waffle/carving station and there was nothing worse than having to listen to a bunch of soccer moms tell me my job because they watch the ******* food network, and how they just got a $500 brand new set of heavier knifes because they felt they were ready to step up to a better heaveir knife(basicly they needed to reasure themselfs that they were still better than everyone even though they didnt work, stupid ******) as far as rachel ray goes, i would rather commit seppuku(with a cocktail sord no less) than have to sit threw one of her shows. alton brown is always amusing as he is informative and stylish. not so sure about the rest of the line up though .watching a program right now on cake makers in a competition to make cakes look like cartoon caracters. its kinda cool.


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I used to watch Food Network all the time when they had the Japanese Iron Chef on their programing.

Food Network is now a "whenever I have free time to kill" type of thing now. Occasionally I'll watch Emeril, Iron Chef America, Food Challenge, or Throwdown w/ Bobby Flay.

Rachel Ray is ok, I'm not really all into the cutesey 30 min meal thing, especially if it has to be "lite".

To be honest the only things I really watch anymore on FTV is Good Eats and the occasional contest/special.

I especially love the sugar competitions and the like.

I watch the occasional contests and specials, but my favorite show on all of TV is Good Eats. I have my TiVo record it whenever it comes on. Having never had any formal (or informal) culinary education, it's the closest to school I can get. I will watch foodTV whenever nothing else is good on. I can't watch Emeril for some reason, he seems too much like he is trying to sell himself and not the food. Rachel Ray is just plain annoying, although I'd hate-:suprise: :lol: :suprise:

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For those of you taking the food network seriously, start thinking of it as mindless entertainment and feel free to heckle the tube. It can actually be enjoyable.
I've directed cooking stages for 7 years now....proficiency is not what's selected, it's all about showmanship and personality. Can you get an audience turned on? Can you draw a crowd?
There are a whole lot of top chefs that have participated and they were facinating to work with.....but REALLY needed SALT (BLAND> really>>)

Sarah Moulton walked in, talked to the crowd on their level, made some easy enough dishes with little twists, hit her mark, was gracious and she had the crowd wowed.

Sandra Lee grew up dirt poor, with a single seriously sick mom and several younger sisters and brothers. She took care of her family when she was 10 years old.....she made craft projects then figured out how to market them and made millions in her early twenties. She grew up on 5 for $1 mac and cheese. The girl assembles. She has got limited talent in the kitchen....but she has my respect as a self made woman. After spending a day with her it hit home how hard she works to maintain what she's built up. Is she of value on Food tv? hmmm.....well are there some people now using their kitchen, once they are turned on and have success there is more of a chance they'll start picking up cookbooks and more equipment and trying various adaptions...
Right now America is in the 3rd generation of people not cooking. I've been consulting and teaching for 8 years. One of my favorite stories is out of 100 middle school 8th graders (13-14 yr olds) when I asked them how many cook 50-70 raised their hands.....when I asked how many cook without a microwave 2 out 100 raised their hands. 2 knew about white yogurt.....
This was upper-middle class Suburbia public school.....I've also taught in low income inner-city schools....
Any time a kid is turned on and wants to cook it's good. If they want to use local food it's bonus time.

Shroom, thanks for the info on Sandra Lee. I plead total ignorance on her history, I believe now the limited info I had on her was totally erroneous. I will have to look in on that. That would most certainly change my opinion of her and cause me to look a little closer. I have always prided myself on not taking things at face value and apparently I slipped up on this one.
I am also going to work a little harder at getting my son to cook more. Thanks for the great post!

so sue me, I love foodtv. I really enjoy Emeril live. There, I said it. I also like Alton brown, Mario Batali, Iron Chef (either one) Bobby Flay, Rachel Ray. I miss Sara Moulton and especially Two Fat Ladies. A network dedicated to food and cooking, how can that be bad? I can't watch that often, but I Tivo. I wish they did a show that profiled a different chef and his/her work every episode.

Tony

Edited to add: I am really tired of mark sommers though.

America has dumbed down in many respects since I was little. Expectations were high and if you didn't make the grade you failed. Television in general and food television in particular mimic society's eating as a whole.
Those of us who cook without recipes from scratch with local food are a tiny minority....one that is albiet on the rise but still a tiny segment of the population.
Rachel's and Sandra's are very middle America.....combine, garnish, cookit quick and it's dinner. Nothing bizarre, nothing that takes hours, nothing out of your garden or a farmer's market.....but that's ok.

Thanks Chrose. I had that 4th Guinness at my buddy's new Irish pub and am rambling. :)

That sounds soooo.....inviting! It's been a long time since I had an opportunity to down 1 or 2 extra and feel that "warm glow":beer: :smiles:
That's why I look forward to the holidays! Snow, a fire and some good Irish Cream! :lips:

Ya know...

I grew up watching cooking shows.

Galloping Gourmet, Julia...

Ah, Graham...goofy after about 2 bottles of wine by the end of his half hour show...:crazy:

Then came Food TV, Iron Chef...

Oh, Alton Brown. I would so love to be his love child with Julia Child!

What has happened with FTV is that it's now all the sameold sameold. Well, the same with little spikes like RR and her overly perky disposition.

I'm sorry but Sandra and now Paula leaves me cold. ****, I'VE had way too many life problems that far surpasses their life issues. This is not an excuse to be on a cooking show.

I don't like Paula's sons sucking off of their mom's FTV "t*t". It's Booooring, obvious and ..The new "food network star" apparently didn't work. Guy? I kept looking for him and he was on early Sunday? (except that I have since seen one of the competitors on Better foods and Garden and she was great)

I think FTV doesn't have a clue now about what they want to do.

Emeril is great and started on a morning channel. He worked hard.

I think the viewing audience is now saturated in making all kinds of dishes that they can't pronounce using ingredients that are weird.

The exception is Alton Brown. He talks about basics. He takes 'how to boil water' to a new extreme.

I don't know how FTV would inject their shows with that.

RR? Oh, hey...no...arm flailing, "cute", "perky", WAY too much caffene...REALLY hard to watch. This doesn't even address the abreviations. "Sammy", EVOO? AH...wanna puke!!!!

Rache! THIS IS NOT CUTE!!! (Oh excuse me I abrieved her name)

The contests? They're interesting but... For one thing it doesn't address anyone in the real world. You have to be invited, you have to have won various awards, you have to ... well, you get the idea.

It's getting too commercial.

April

PBS has or had Julia, Father Dom (who is a hoot to work with), Lidia, etc....
Juustin Wilson....Cooking from the Fields...

Guys just change the channel, or write an e-mail telling the network execs what you'd like to see.
There are so many kids out there now that want to cook because of FTV...that is not a bad thing.

From a standpoint of a guy who gets to play in the kitchen every once in a while, I enjoy much of FTV... I don't cook alot, and my efforts are very basic, with very little exploration or experimentation. Well, maybe a little...

I watch (sometimes), and I seem to learn a little something from many of the shows.

Maybe it's a little technique (I usually wind up caramelizing by accident - not intentionally - some people are so bold as to call it "burned"), or an interesting combination of foods/spices, or even a presentation/plating style that makes a "simple" food look more appetizing.

I don't care much for the "drama" of the competitions, but the end result is that I gain a little more knowledge of how things can work.

Learning these little things has made me more confident in the kitchen, and just enough to be dangerous... :)

The one thing I *DO* hate about most of the FTV shows that I watch, is their kitchens. Makes ours look like something out of a cheap motel (hot plate and a 48 quart cooler)...

I just love the food network, especially the 10,000. challenges!!:beer: :eek: :chef: :o :blush: :rolleyes: :smiles:

the used to have this (long time ago) called "Chef du Jour" - maybe you can lobby to bring it back. it was very low key and low production compared to what they have on now - but good to watch.

Heh, we all "overcaramelize" something every now and then. I know we used the term in our bakery class at school.

"Uh I think the cookies got burnt"

"Nah, just overcaramelized. We'll use em for crumbs."

I never needed Paul Prudholm to show me how to prepare a dish "blackened".:cool:

Tony

I really like Bobby Flay. Emeril is okay, i guess. Rachel Ray... she's okay, but i LOVE her kitchen (except her microwave).

[quote=shroomgirlThose of us who cook without recipes from scratch with local food are a tiny minority....one that is albiet on the rise but still a tiny segment of the population.
[/quote]

I am one of those people, and I can say that the Food Network has been a HUGE influence on my learning as a cook. Well, three things actually: growing up in a culture built on food, FoodTV, and working with professionals. I am not a professional, but I have worked in the kitchen extensively with several friends who are professionals. That's been some of my best training.

I am a visual person, and if I see something made on TV and the flavor is described, I can duplicate it almost flawlessly. I can't do the same by reading a recipe from a book. FoodTV has been one of my best tools, and I'd bet it has also helped those like me who learn visually.

-Kevin

There are definitely some "Low points" about the channel yet there are those that have been there for quite a while.

Not into the whole "happy shining faces" thing of many of the folks. If I tune in it's kinda just to be entertained and in a small way catch some inspiration.

Used to enjoy Emeril when he had the "essence" but when he went "live" lost me with some of the things he did there. Mainly the Flaming Gourmet Grilled cheese sandwhich tailgate episode when the dang thing was still smoking when the person happily bit into it. Could not have been the "Best thing she ever tasted"! Allbeit he has worked hard and has earned much of his success.

Anyhow I agree with some about Alton Brown. He does get goofy but he is a basics with flair kinduva person. Because of this, I believe he's good for those who are not so talented but want to learn more.

Two guys I do enjoy watching (and I have said this before) are Mario Batalli and Bobby Flay. Especially when they get into the realtime stuff. Now that's cooking. (IMHPO) :D

I like George Duran (Ham On The Streets). He really seems to have fun with cooking.

OMG such a loaded question.

I feel there are so few credible shows and personalities on TVFN, it's becoming Fluff TV. Even the qualified cooks are so overexposed, it doesn't matter that they know anything because I'm so sick of them, I switch the channel anyway.

I was sorry to see the departure of people like Sarah Moulton, David Rosengarten and the Two Hot Tamales. Morons like Sandra Lee and Robin Miller are embraced as "the new wave of (gag) television chefs" and viewers are under the impression they should be combining boxes of this with bags of that. The art of cooking is so lost on these people, it's disgusting.

TVFN is a lesson in greed - they weren't happy entertaining and educating their target audience (people like me) that they tried to be all things to all people. I wish the credible cooks, chefs, etc. would start their own network. That channel would be a permanent fixture on my TV. I don't think the garbage shows have any place in a lineup with people like Michael Chiarello and Giada DeLaurentis.

I don't have much use for Food TV. I find the shows boring, and I don't feel I can learn much from them. I spent many years owning, running, and developing restuarants, and I can cook as good as most of the performers. Emril simply makes me gag.
Still, there are shows I like, Alton Brown comes to mind. The rest are simply fluff pieces for the less than average home cook.
A great article was in the New Yorker recently about the Food TV biz, and its history. You can read it online here

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/conten.../061002fa_fact

I can totally agree with that. Watching someone cooking is always a better way of learning then reading a recipe book; but sometimes they make it look too easy :talk:

For someone starting out with no experience in the kitchen at all, the food network was great for learning basic tecnique. Things like what "folding" something into something else is, what is considered "stiff peaks", or what exactly constitutes "nappe". I watched everything I could at first, but once I got basic tecnique issues resolved I eventually settled on watching Good Eats for most of my ideas and usually ended up watching a bit of Rachel Ray while waiting for Good Eats to come on.

I like Good Eats for a lot of the reasons I hate Rachel Ray. Alton teaches you everything you need to know to make a whole class of foods. Rachel teaches you a couple stand-alone dishes with no attention to the "why"s of the cooking, so you walk away knowing just those two dishes. Alton knows his stuff, and imparts it to the viewer in a purposeful, intelligent and entertaining manner. Rachel talks about movie night with the girls and incessantly chatters about how good her food is.

As for other stuff, my only beef with Emeril is the setup of his show. The practically-canned audience really gets on my nerves. Okay, I do have one other beef with him: he uses tons of unusual ingredients that necessitate a $50 run to the store for a single meal. Consequently, I have never tried any of his recipes so I can't comment on their quality.

My all time favorite cooking show (and only cooking show I watched growing up) was Martin Yan in Yan Can Cook.

For FoodNetwork, I've found it educational and annoying. My favorite chefs are Flay, Batali, Lagasse, and I think you can throw De Laurentis in this category. For cooks, I am growing to dislike Paula Deen more and more, but I love her style of cooking, so sometimes I grin and bear it. When I say style, I don't mean her selling out and using pre-prepared ingredients, but the whole southern comfort, ols school made from scratch, delicious hot food and plenty of it style. Rachael Ray has grown on me. At first I couldn't stand her because she is constantly moving in fast forward. Interestingly enough, my life started moving in fast forward and I suddenly enjoy watching and learning from her. She definitely could stand to switch to decaf, but whatever works for her.

Back to Mario, I do not care to watch his Molto Mario show, or anything solely focused on him. He's the only one that I know that talks faster then Rachael.

FN has inspired me to enroll in a gourmet cooking and catering program as well as create my own personal chef business (still in its infancy, but legit on paper). Now I am working on advertising and how to, well, solicit business (I don't really like the word "solicit" but I can't think of another).