I love food shows, don’t get me wrong, but there are simply too many of them right now. I credit “America’s Test Kitchen”, “Cook’s Country”, “Molto Mario” and “Good Eats” for teaching me things that have FIXED so much of what was wrong with my cooking.
“Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” and “Man v Food” are super-fun and entertaining, AND they’ve given George and I inspiration to try new “Dives” all across the country…some from their web sites, and some we discovered all on our own.
“Worst Cooks in America”, “Iron Chef America” and “Dinner Impossible” are simply goofy, guilty pleasures.
But I just turned on the TV and saw about 3 minutes of “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern”, a show seemingly created for the sole purpose of grossing out its viewers. He was eating blowfish sperm with a side of poisonous blowfish egg sack that had been soaked in salt for 2 years to dissipate the poison. It’s like grade school cafeteria entertainment. “We found it in Jimmy’s gym locker and put ketchup on it. Let’s see if he’ll eat it!”
I fear that the overabundance of novelty and me-too-copy-cat shows could endanger the very existence of the truly useful and/or entertaining shows. The Food Network and anything loosely associated with it (or mimicking it) could flame out once the fad fades.
I certainly hope not. What would I watch while eating dinner?!
xo
en