Cooking Show You Shouldn't Watch!

I am not a big fan of foodie game shows though I can watch a few of them that I can stomach. This is to warn you about a new one called Chef Grudge Match - complete with celebrity host and truly lame acting. Perhaps even less fun than watching Guy Fieri reruns.

I am not of fan of most cooking shows these days.. There used to be many that I watched for many reasons other than cooking. I always got a kick out of Giada de Laurantis when she cooked with her aunt. Then along came Jade, and it was fun watching her in the kitchen with her mom. The Pioneer Woman was fun, and her kids were always interesting, horses, cattle, cowboys, right up my alley. There was a lady who lived in a cabin in the woods, and she had curtains across the bottom of her sink cabinet. I liked her style and down-to-earth living. The competition shows are rigged IMHO, never watch them. Guy Fieri has an attitude, as does Bobby Flay. I have watched The Kitchen on Food Network for years. I like the interaction between the hosts; they are fun and come up with some darn good recipes.
I must say that I did enjoy watching Flay cook in his kitchen with his kitty on his shoulder, and Fieri did come to Redding to feed hundreds during one of the catastrophic fires. Not sure if it was when the town of Paradise burned down. He does things like that, and I do admire his efforts. Yes, I do realize he is taking advantage of photo ops and the publicity.

[Jenise]

I can't stand game shows period, and the plethora of food-related game shows popping up everywhere is puzzling to me. Just because they involve food doesn't make them more palatable to my eye. For that reason I've seen commercials for Grudge Match (and others) but haven't bothered to watch. One episode of Guy's Grocery Games and I was done. And making things worse, best I can tell the contestants on all these other shows are all the same 20 people. They demean the profession. I'll stick with Chopped and Top Chef.

I watched the original Iron Chef shows even though they were also game show style programs, because there was a lot of serious and creative cooking going on. Anything Fieri is involved in doesn't get a look in here, and I am a bit sad that Ramsay involves himself in this sort of thing but I suppose the dollars involved are too tempting.

I must say that the beating Bobby Flay shows stand up (for me, anyway) far better than the other sort.

[Jenise]

I've seen the Bobby Flay show once or twice, notably when a local chef (Bruno Feld-something, who is actually Canadian and now a judge on your Top Chef, I think it is) was competing. I've never gone back to it but at least there's real cooking in real time. And the old Iron Chefs were great--but again it was real cooking, an hour long and full of methodology and impressive food. I'm still hungry for the types of stand-and-watch shows from the early days of food TV, Emeril, Mario, Ming and that guy in Napa who died from an asthma attack a few years ago. Heck, those go back as far as Graham Kerr. Now the people who do those are relative novices and the shows are only 30 minutes--barely long enough to make a cupcake. Not interested!

David Rosengarten was another early show on Food TV.

Another one to be avoided - Ramsay yelling at people in Kitchen Nightmares. Never saw the point of it.

[Jenise]

Like many, saw one episode of that and never watched again. I'll admit to having enjoyed Masterchef in the past, but KN was just Gordon yelling and swearing at a bunch of boobs--total waste of time.

It's been all downhill since The French Chef on PBS

It's been all downhill since The French Chef on PBS

You are right - those shows still hold interest, old as they are.

I've been rewatching Bourdain's series, Parts Unknown and it is very interesting as well.

[Jenise]

Let's face it, most cooking shows aren't for people who know how to cook. Expecting anything better than lowest-common-denominator entertainment is futile.

It's been all downhill since The French Chef on PBS

You are right - those shows still hold interest, old as they are.

I've been rewatching Bourdain's series, Parts Unknown and it is very interesting as well.

Parts Unknown is IMO one of the best non-fiction TV programs produced in the past 20 years. I find it only tangentially about food; it is even more about people and cultures that typically get little airtime on ordinary TV. It's also about Bourdain, in all his tarnished splendor.

[Jenise]

Agreed 100%, Mark. How I'd put it? He was a storyteller first, then human, poet and lastly, a chef.