Title: Why I No Longer Like "The Food Network"
The genesis of this "rant" against what used to be one of my most favorite channel on TV is
the interview I read by Vivian Howard, the chef in the amazingly-gorgeous PBS series "A Chef's Life" (if you haven't seen this, you have GOT to watch it). When she was asked about how the series was created, this is what she had to say::
But we still thought we were making a little documentary -- we wouldn’t have had the confidence to make a series had it not been for a producer out of New York, who told us to call it a pilot and make a series out of it. We sent it to the Food Network, and they didn’t like it. We took it to PBS and they said, “This is really cool. Make 12 more of them.”
And that, boys and girls, is why I no longer watch much of the Food Network. They have lost their compass and their mission and is now going for all style and no substance. Somehow, the idea of focusing on culinary arts, and the history/cultural connection to food are no longer something they care much about. Instead, they are going for shows that carter to people with ADD, who can't sit still long enough without some kind of drama or thrills every 5 minutes (can we say "Chopped"?). It used to be Alton Brown's "Good Eats" show could deliver stuff that many of us can learn from, but that series ended years ago. Now, the only shows worth watching on Food Network is "Diners, Driver-Ins, and Dives" and maybe "Pioneer Woman", the latter mainly out of curiosity on what they actually do on a cattle range in the middle of Oklahoma to burn off all that food full of than eat a lot of food with butter, cheese, cream, etc. Almost everything else seems to focus on competition, drama, fast-paced actions, etc., with very little to learn from about food.
This is in direct contrast with food shows we get say, from the UK. I love the Masterchef series. This is how one does a food competition, where the emphasis is on skills and culinary excellence. They still have time limits, but not as manic as what you get on the Food Network where you have to produce a dish in 20 minutes using ingredients one had never hear before. And "The Great British Bake Off" contest was just sublime! And of course, that was on PBS, not Food Network because, hey, there were no trash talking and people on that show actually supported one another even though they were competing against each other. And that explains why they didn't get Vivian Howard's show, because it is too classy, too civilized, and too thoughtful.
"A Chef's Life", btw, went on to win the Peabody Award for its first season. So take that, Food Network!
I was just thinking of all my most favorite cooking shows on TV, and they are:
1. America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Country (PBS)
2. A Chef's Life (PBS)
3. Bizarre Food (and its various incarnations) (Travel Channel)
4. Pioneer Woman (Food Network)
5. Extra Virgin (Cooking Channel, which is a sister/cousin/off-spring of Food Network).
Andrew Zimmern, the host of "Bizarre Food" has won the James Beard award for best TV host. So take that, Food Network!
This list used to be dominated by shows on the Food Network. Now, I routinely watch only 2 or 3 shows at most on that network. But more importantly, I truly dislike (despise?) all the competition shows on that channel. As an amateur cook, I learn practically nothing from those shows. It should say something that the best food-related show on TV, for me, is NOT on the Food Network. If your expertise and focus is on food, then you should be really good at it. That is not the case here.
Zz.
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I'll check the botulism issue next time I see her, maybe that will yield something.
