Danger Mouse: we have fetishised food.

It's the new pornography.

Caligua laughs in your general direction.

Hey, Julia was BFF with my mother (in fact my mother was "guest of honor" at the first taping), Joyce Chen was a babysitter, etc.
I would not have given up what I learned from these people. IMHO, Iron Chef America is one of the most useless shows on TV. Iron Chef was great. My kid watches the old episodes when we find them.
There are lots others that are really useless. (we show BBQ Pitmasters when cooking in the back yard for laughs....) A local place gets TV/cable people showing up due to "Social Media". Their burgers are OK, just not worth the promotional hype.

McDonalds shows that you can cram anything down a person's throat.

/I wish Two Fat Ladies was back on TV

This guy is trying to do the right thing.

TV dinners I'm feelin' kinda rough
TV dinners this one's kinda tough
I like the enchiladas and the teriyaki too
I even like the chicken if.... the sauce is not too blue.

cerejaninja: Hot Rod Zoidberg: We didn't really eat all that well growing up. Frozen veggies were microwaved, meats were grilled without any seasoning or flavor. I never really learned how to cook from my folks.

If it wasn't for Top Chef, I'd probably be eating ramen, chicken nuggets, and velveeta mac n cheese everyday. It's been kind of a blessing. I've picked up knife skills from watching and loads of techniques I'd never imagined. It's made me a little bolder in my ingredient choices.

The only problem is that I'll go to recreate something and drop like $40 on making a single meal. It's often worth the price, in my opinion.

I think that some of these tv shows have been making people be less scared of trying new things. I don't usually try to replicate recipes, but sometimes I see something that inspires me to tweak my every day dishes, and most times it doesn't change the cost that much to add a different kind of spice or fresh herb to whatever I'm making that day, or to try different vegetables instead of the green beans + carrots frozen combo.

I picked up an herb/food pairing chart, with the herbs in X and the Meat/Veggies in Y. Dear lord, it has opened up a world of great food.

It helps I have most of the herbs growing outside my front door. I've even got saffron growing.

//Winter savory is the bomb with beans.

The sad thing is that a lot of the crap on TV is the latest fad and then they move on to the latest next thing without realizing what is useful. I'm sorry, but "sous Vide" was awesome before the TV morons popularized it. It will be around forever.
Personally, my home made unit (and the commercial unit I later bought so the pre-teen could use it) changed the way we cook.
I have forgiven my father for being the person who popularized the microwave when it was a very expensive Raytheon product meant for commercial places. The microwave is the worst thing that has ever happened to home cooking with a few exceptions. (IMHO popcorn was meant to be popped in coconut oil and buttered with real butter rather than chemicals).Vacuum sealers should be a standard in any household for multiple reasons.

Sorry - in rant mode. I have been asked multiple times to start my own place. I refuse - too much work, I do go into places to help out and get a percentage of the improvement. I have done since this before that foul mouthed freak was a sensation.

DNRTFA, but no picture of Adam Richman???

kicksmile: Alton Brown (I've met him, he's an arrogant arse)

He was entertainment. His degree is in Drama. He saw a chance and went for it. I actually liked his shows because they were entertainment for me - but some people believed in him. Before he became a "name" according to a friend of a friend he was a decent person. The same person today says that he would not associate with him.

Credit where credit is due. He created a cult. He got people into experimenting. He pushed a few things.
But there is a reason why he had to move from his neighborhood, and it wasn't just the production equipment blocking the road.