Once they ended "Good Eats" and everything became about stars and cute young women and competitions, I stopped watching.

The show was already a hit in Japan when it found a second audience on American cable TV. It was intentionally over the top and part of the appeal was its edgy humor that was fueled in part by its Japanese-ness. I loved it and I loved the American version. Shatner has made a career out of over the top delivery played as humor.

What seems to drive the Food Network and the onslaught of cooking/food related shows now is our never ending love affair with food. Actual cooking has taken a back seat with personalities like Gordon Ramsay creating the drama that makes TV. The people who CAN cook are now outnumbered by those who cook marginally well but are stronger personalities.

On my scorecard, Rachel Ray was one of the main drivers of the transition. Her knife skills are down right dangerous. She has no formal training and no experience in professional cooking. Her first show was the one where she just went around eating food and saying "Mmmmmm" as soon as it went anywhere near her mouth, well before she could actually taste it. She would show viewers how to eat in a certain city on $20 a day. One part of the secret, SHE DIDN'T TIP (which is more evidence that she has never worked in a restaurant).

They kept that show going, started putting tips into the budget...then they gave her a cooking show.

10 years later we have "Master Chef" on network TV. The show is a fraud. The contestants are cast like the people in a Benetton ad with a certain ratio of male to female, heavy concentration of late 20s and early 30s, etc. The contestants are coached by an off camera army of actual chefs and food stylists. They get to practice the so-called Mystery boxes well in advance. The show works well enough that the producers (Ramsay included) have gotten bolder in their fraud -- introducing a version where coached kids cook, and having a legally blind woman win on the adult version.

Guy Fieri is more skilled and informed than Rachel Ray but skill isn't what matters in cooking shows there days. It is all about celebrity, "reality" personality conflicts and serving up plate after plate to a nation that increasingly eats with its eyes.

That is revolutionary in terms of tv biz. Also, when it was developed in Japan, the notion of competition cooking was untried and considered to be doomed to failure. I'd say 'groundbreaking' because revolutionary just sounds hyperbolic but it was brand new and it did create brand new possibilities in international television.

I have little use for people who are as "Loud" as he is. He has one but note, Over The Top.

Food Network uses food as a prop for silly games equal to a drunk college stunt.

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I could take a little 'fun' programing like the Bobby Flay challenge show.

And I could accept a program of two showing and reviewing restaurants around the country.

But all these stupid contest shows are boring ... really? who cares who makes the prettiest cupcake?

How-to-cook shows; history of food; where our food/ingredients come from -- in other words, what Food Network was originally is what I would watch again.

Last edited Sat Aug 16, 2014, 04:30 PM - Edit history (1)