beXnlog

Too Much TV

I used to watch the Food Network constantly. It was my absolute favorite channel, that had the best shows and most interesting programs. In the past 2 years though it's just gone downhill, namely for a few key reasons:

1) I hate Bobby Flay, and besides Emeril, he's all over the channel. I've always disliked him but after that first "Iron Chef America" that they filmed in Webster Hall (Morimoto v Flay) where Bobby jumped on his cutting board while raising the roof, my disliked turned into intense hate. He's so full of himself!

2) Too much Emeril. I don't hate Emeril, although i think "bam" is old news. He's just on the channel way too much. Watching his show is like witnessing a Pavlov's dogs experiment; mere mentions of butter, pork and oil cause the audience members to scream.

3) "Iron Chef America," all versions old and new. This is the absolute dumbest show with the stupidest script, rules and judges ever. It totally pales in comparison to the real "Iron Chef" - those shows were so intense, interesting and had good stories. I don't like Alton Brown as the commentator/resident food expert, the way they pit nationalities, gender and race against each other for faux conflict; and the pretentious comments from the idiot judges.

4) "Unwrapped," which used to be an excellent show. Now all the episodes are like: "Carnival foods you can eat in the bathroom!" "Fried snacks that look like unfried snacks!" "Chocolately foods that double as drinks!" and "Lunchbox treats you liked as a kid and now like as an adult!" Poor Marc Summers.

5) Remember "No Repeat Monday" on MTV in the late '80s? Let's just say Food Network (and MTV!) don't abide by such silly rules anymore. I'm always seeing the same clips on different shows, whether it's "Food Finds," "Top 5," "Unwrapped," "Roker on the Road, "The Best Of" or "Wedding Cake Challenge IV!"

6) Besides Bobby Rivers, Al Roker and the crew of the real "Iron Chef," it's all white people! Sometimes you'll see a handful of chefs on an "ethnic cooking" show aired in the afternoon, but that's it! It's ridiculous that there's 2 Italian cooking shows (3 of you count Rachel Ray) but absolutely nothing on Chinese or Mexican cooking. Plus, whatever happened to Ming Tsai?

7) There used to be a show on vegetarian cooking with Curtis Akins. You'd think a "Food Network" would encompass shows on different kinds of cuisine AND at least have 1 vegetarian show. Shit, there's like 5 BBQ shows, 3 low-carb shows and 24 shows with Emeril and Bobby Flay. Maybe they ditched Curtis Akins when Al Roker came back, only 1 black guy allowed per channel, you know.

8) If you go to their site and see the listing of shows, you'll notice that all of the major players have 2 or 3 shows. Technically, this means that the Food Network is just repeat episodes of the same people and clips over and over. Prime example: Bobby Flay is on: "BBQ with Bobby Flay," "Boy Meets Grill," "FoodNation with Bobby Flay," and "Iron Chef America." I know he's the Food Network darling, but aren't other people getting tired of him, too?

I guess i'm now going to have to watch Comedy Central and all those animated shows with be. (Better yet, we should just do away with watching TV!)

posted by beXn @ 1:52 AM