Goodbyes From 2011
In 2011 we foodies said goodbye to a number of food shows. Here’s a list:
Good Eats – after 11 years creator/host Alton Brown called it a series so that he could have more time with his family and to develop new projects.
Big Daddy’s House – after being declared the winner of Food Network Star 4, Aaron McCargo Jr. logged 61 episodes before moving on to the next stage of his career.
Crave – possibly the smartest show Food Network has done in years only received a single season but my guess is it will become the Firefly of TV food shows. Troy, promise me I get to be in the big screen version!
Ace of Cakes – the show that introduced the world to cake decorating. Duff Goldman and his hilarious staff of artisans, hipsters and other quirky personalities made cake into a trend. I don’t blame Duff for all of the crappy cake shows on the air today because his was actually good.
Aarti Party – yet another Food Network Star show got the axe. Currently only three of the seven winning shows are still in production. Next to Guy’s Big Bite, Aarti Party was clearly the best FNS show ever. EVER. Like Good Eats it will live on with the Cooking Channel. As for Aarti, she has a new series in the works that is a collaboration FNS 5 winner Melissa D’Arabian.
Good Eats Moving to Cooking Channel
By now most people have heard the word that Alton Brown has called an end to his award winning series Good Eats after 13 years and 250 episodes. Now comes news (that’s a loose interpretation) that Cooking Channel, Food Network’s younger but better looking brother, is going to add the complete cannon of GE to its prime time line-up.
The move seems a no-brainer and I’m guessing it took few by surprise. The Cooking Channel is about cooking (thus the name) and few shows in history have been better at teaching people to cook than Good Eats. Brown mentioned the move in an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on August 26th. In the article AB said, “I feel after 250 I can walk away from that library of work and feel good about it and know it’s had an effect to some degree on somebody besides me and those who worked on it. And it will hold its own for awhile. We wanted to make sure they were dense, juicy and succulent and last a long time.”
Brown also revealed that the motivation for ending his run with Good Eats was the sheer time involved in doing the series. It was keeping him from exploring new projects like his as-yet unnamed mini-series about the influence food has had on history quipping, “Cod actually changed the world!” And of course you can still find Alton manning the commentators podium on Iron Chef America and hosting the Next Iron Chef.
Good Eats begins airing on the Cooking Channel Friday, September 30th, 8p-10pm ET.
Review: Crave with Troy Johnson
Let’s set the stage. Here is how the Food Network web site describes its new food/travel series Crave with Troy Johnson:
Hosted by food critic and journalist Troy Johnson, Crave takes viewers on a cross-country journey for the most perfect versions of the foods he craves. Enthralled by the culinary wonders surrounding him, Troy will travel anywhere and try anything in pursuit of his obsession. Whether it’s pizza and pork or fried chicken and ice cream, Troy is on a quest to discover foods that make his mouth water while taking viewers on his nation-wide expedition to indulge in his food fascinations.
For those unfamiliar with Johnson he started off life as a music journalist but somewhere along the way became a food critic. Having found his niche his star began to take off. In 2007 he became the 
senior editor of Modern Luxury’s Riviera magazine. It wasn’t long after that the accolades came rolling in. He has since branched out into broadcast media as a regular guest as a food and drink expert for KPBS radio in San Diego.
Food Network broke Troy in slowly by having him guest on shows like The Best Thing I Ever Ate before handing him the keys to Chelsea Market. And no doubt the Network is banking on Crave to help fill the void caused by the court ordered stoppage of Diners, Drive-in & Dives. Although the suit was settled last week and taping should resume soon it may be a while before new episodes hit the air. Thus the nine episode deal for Crave.
His every-man style should make for a perfect host for a show like Crave. And as a writer, Johnson knows the value of research. Check out this gem he once gave a web site, “The Romans invented the cheese wheel and used to roll them along with everything else when they were doing battle. They think this is why the Romans were able to kick everyone’s asses in Europe. Since cheese doesn’t spoil very easily, they always had a hunk of protein-and-fat-jammed energy source tucked up their man-skirts. Other armies’ food would spoil, leaving them weak and hungry. The cheese-eating Romans kicked their ass.”
So now you know the back story, it’s time for my take on what Johnson calls a, “series of unauthorized biographies of our favorite foods.” The first thing that comes across is just how natural Johnson is on camera. Not bad for a guy who has spent most of his career expressing himself in the written word. It is not an easy transition to make. His schtick of dropping one-liners steeped in pop culture or obscure historical references is reminiscent of Dennis Miller or Robin Williams.
As far as the show itself, Crave has many of the best elements of previous food/travel shows like Unwrapped, The Secret Life Of and yes Triple D. It will also appeal to fans of nerdy (for lack of a better word) shows like Food Detectives and the recently mothballed Good Eats. That is where Johnson’s pension for meticulous research pays off for the viewer. He covers each episode’s theme from both a historical and a scientific perspective. And best of all he does it with an irreverent (dare I say raunchy) sense of humor not scene on the Food Network since Anthony Bourdain.
I really liked Crave a lot. I like the host and I like the way they handle the subject matter. Visually it is shot well and seems to flow extremely well. I kept thinking, “A commercial already?”
Crave airs Mondays at 8:30pm/7:30c on the Food Network.
Good Eats Canceled?
Good bye, Good Eats
In the annals of food television there have been five shows that have stood out from the rest by virtue of their importance to the genre. The first four, I Love to Eat (James Beard), The French Chef (Julia Child), The Galloping Gourmet (Graham Kerr) and Emeril Live (Emeril Legasse) each made their indelible marks on food television by enticing people into their kitchens.
The fifth show, Good Eats, made its mark by teaching burgeoning home gourmets what to do in their new-found playground. Alton Brown created, wrote, produced and starred in, “a smart and entertaining food show that blends wit with wisdom, history with pop culture, and science with common cooking sense.” His words not mine.
Recently I heard a rumor that Food Network had canceled Good Eats so I started tugging on various grapevines to see what would shake loose. My original sources were pretty reliable but I wanted to double-check before reporting something like “Good Eats Canceled.”
I contacted Alton’s publicist, Beau Benton and asked straight out if the rumor was true. The answer? No. . . and yes.
No. Food Network did not cancel Good Eats.
Yes. The show will soon be ceasing production for good.
The decision was Alton’s. When I inquired about a press release or official statement Benton said, “He announced it on Twitter.”
Sure enough, “G.E. fans, I’ve decided to cut the half hour series at 249 eps. There will be 3 new 1 hour eps this year and that’s it. But mourn not. New things brew on the horizon…”good” things.”
I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon with Alton a few weeks ago. We were both taking part in a fund-raiser in tiny Dauphin Island, Alabama. Of all of the communities effected by the Oil Spill, Dauphin Island’s economy suffered the most losing 66% of its projected revenue for the summer of 2010 which included cancelling the world’s largest deep-sea fishing rodeo for the first time ever. Camille, Frederick, Katrina, and Ivan couldn’t do that. Alton gave of his time to help attract a record crowd to the island’s annual gumbo cook-off.
This is sure to leave Food Network fans feeling shell shocked. Especially considering the May law suit that has halted production of another long standing hit series Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. If things do not work out in court that means that two of the network’s most popular shows would no longer be a part of their line-up.
Brown will still be on Iron Chef and there are hints of other projects in the works. Recently, Alton and I got to speak a good bit about, well, everything and he was kind enough to answer 7 Questions. READ HERE.
I saw this Tweet from Tyler Florence to Alton. It’s hysterical:
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/TylerFlorence/status/72821165185441792″]
