FARK.com: (7509962) Foodie talk show "Check Please" in which ordinary Joes enthuse about their favorite local restaurants becomes public TV sensation across America, attracting PBS ratings comparable to "Nature" and more youthful demographic than typical PBS audience

If you can read this, either the style sheet didn't load or you have an older browser that doesn't support style sheets. Try clearing your browser cache and refreshing the page.

		Foodie talk show "Check Please" in which ordinary Joes enthuse about their favorite local restaurants becomes public TV sensation across America, attracting PBS ratings comparable to "Nature" and more youthful demographic than typical PBS audience ( google.com)		41
		More: Obvious

• • •

1752 clicks; posted to Entertainment » on 30 Dec 2012 at 5:22 PM (5 years ago) | Favorite | share:

Share this link:

URL:

https://fark.com/go/7509962

Bookmark:

Article Comments close

41 Comments (+0 »)

View Voting Results: Smartest and Funniest

DanZero

2012-12-30 12:57:26 PM

Forget all that! New season of Antiques Roadshow stars in a couple weeks!

downstairs

2012-12-30 01:27:48 PM

Barack Obama on "Check Please!"

wee

2012-12-30 03:34:44 PM

Anyone who uses the word "foodie" deserves punch in the throat.

azmoviez

2012-12-30 04:37:22 PM

We watch the show every week and it kills me that each reviewer has a giant goblet of wine and they never touch it. Never.

Lionel Mandrake

2012-12-30 05:06:50 PM

downstairs: Barack Obama on "Check Please!"

Was that filmed in Kenya?

dletter

2012-12-30 05:15:56 PM

Lionel Mandrake: downstairs: Barack Obama on "Check Please!"

Was that filmed in Kenya?

Haha.... was actually Chicago (as you may have guessed).... "Check Please" has been on in Chicago since the mid/late 90s I believe, don't know if they were the first version of the show.

FunkOut

2012-12-30 05:24:02 PM

What about that other new show, "Adam Richman Eats His Own Legs With BBQ Sauce"?

JosephFinn

2012-12-30 05:28:17 PM

Doesn't hurt that the original show is hosted by Alpana Singh, who's really good at talking food without talking down about it (she's a master sommelier, one of the youngest ever). Can't wait to see what her restaurant is like whenever it finally opens.

Jake Havechek

2012-12-30 05:29:17 PM

Editor: This is a joke, right? I mean this is the stupidest thing I've ever read!
Homer: What's wrong with it?
Editor: You keep using words like "pasghetti" and "momatoes," you make numerous threatening references to the UN, and at the end you repeat the words "Screw Flanders" over and over again.

JosephFinn

2012-12-30 05:29:58 PM

Scratch that, I'm sorry; I somehow missed that The Boarding House has actually opened.

downstairs

2012-12-30 05:37:42 PM

dletter: Lionel Mandrake: downstairs: Barack Obama on "Check Please!"

Was that filmed in Kenya?

Haha.... was actually Chicago (as you may have guessed).... "Check Please" has been on in Chicago since the mid/late 90s I believe, don't know if they were the first version of the show.

Yep, Chicago started it (WTTW Channel 11). Obama was actually on the first season of the show (2001)

Uchiha_Cycliste

2012-12-30 05:38:14 PM

Two things... I thought it was "Check Please- Bay Area"
also, it's a TV show? wow, I'll be damned.

Uchiha_Cycliste

2012-12-30 05:39:01 PM

Ignore me, dletter answered my questions I think.

downstairs

2012-12-30 05:39:02 PM

Also, the Obama episode (for whatever reason- he wasn't all that famous at the time) was never aired.

JosephFinn

2012-12-30 05:41:42 PM

downstairs: dletter: Lionel Mandrake: downstairs: Barack Obama on "Check Please!"

Was that filmed in Kenya?

Haha.... was actually Chicago (as you may have guessed).... "Check Please" has been on in Chicago since the mid/late 90s I believe, don't know if they were the first version of the show.

Also, the Obama episode (for whatever reason- he wasn't all that famous at the time) was never aired.

As I remember, it was the pilot and they were still working on it so was never meant to air.

dletter

2012-12-30 05:43:22 PM

JosephFinn: downstairs: dletter: Lionel Mandrake: downstairs: Barack Obama on "Check Please!"

Was that filmed in Kenya?

Haha.... was actually Chicago (as you may have guessed).... "Check Please" has been on in Chicago since the mid/late 90s I believe, don't know if they were the first version of the show.

Also, the Obama episode (for whatever reason- he wasn't all that famous at the time) was never aired.

As I remember, it was the pilot and they were still working on it so was never meant to air.

So, it was truly a "lost episode" (that is how it is shown in the YT clips, looks like they showed it right after he got inaugurated).

Quantum Apostrophe

2012-12-30 05:43:35 PM

Obscure?

kxs401

2012-12-30 05:48:15 PM

What a cool story the other people who filmed with him have now, though.

downstairs

2012-12-30 05:51:22 PM

dletter: JosephFinn: downstairs: dletter: Lionel Mandrake: downstairs: Barack Obama on "Check Please!"

Was that filmed in Kenya?

Haha.... was actually Chicago (as you may have guessed).... "Check Please" has been on in Chicago since the mid/late 90s I believe, don't know if they were the first version of the show.

Also, the Obama episode (for whatever reason- he wasn't all that famous at the time) was never aired.

As I remember, it was the pilot and they were still working on it so was never meant to air.

So, it was truly a "lost episode" (that is how it is shown in the YT clips, looks like they showed it right after he got inaugurated).

Yep, I believe all of these are true. And, indeed, it was unearthed after he was inaugurated (2009).

downstairs

2012-12-30 05:53:26 PM

BTW, its not a "foodie talk show" really. Kinda the opposite. They get normal people or somewhat well-known locals to review restaurants. Good concept. I've moved from Chicago, so I don't get to see it anymore. It wasn't the greatest in production value, but it wasn't pretentious at all.

moothemagiccow

2012-12-30 06:03:55 PM

News flash: fat people like tv

DBrandisNC

2012-12-30 06:16:50 PM

Sounds like the name of a bad British TV show from the 80's.

jaytkay

2012-12-30 06:25:07 PM

Huh, I assumed it was a Chicago-only thing. What a great idea spreading it to other cities!

drake113

2012-12-30 06:30:46 PM

I don't watch a lot of PBS, but when I lived in Chicago, "Check, Please!" was one of the shows I'd sit down and watch if I happened across it. It was a great opportunity to learn about new places I probably would have never heard of otherwise.

invictus2

2012-12-30 06:52:43 PM

DBrandisNC: Sounds like the name of a bad British TV show from the 80's.

They showed it right after Keeping Up Apperances

carlb

2012-12-30 07:25:02 PM

JosephFinn: Doesn't hurt that the original show is hosted by Alpana Singh, who's really good at talking food without talking down about it (she's a master sommelier, one of the youngest ever). Can't wait to see what her restaurant is like whenever it finally opens.

It's already open:
Hours and location here

marxychick1

2012-12-30 08:51:10 PM

Ww have a Kansas City version. It's pretty enjoyable. They have recommendations for families, which is what I like the best. Fun show.

jaytkay

2012-12-30 08:59:15 PM

So this thread got me interested, I have rarely watched to show.

And I go to its local web site.

And I see there's an episode for a restaurant I pass on my daily commute.

Pueblito Viejo, N Lincoln Ave in Chicago, a Columbian restaurant.

And I've always wondered about the place. It looks dismal. Do people actually eat there?

And check out the video, it is a happening dance place in the evening! Kind of a big deal!

Fun!

MrEricSir

2012-12-30 09:22:22 PM

Uchiha_Cycliste: Two things... I thought it was "Check Please- Bay Area"
also, it's a TV show? wow, I'll be damned.

Check Please Bay Area is the edition from KQED. Various PBS affiliates have their own versions of the show, but they're all essentially the same format.

Not all of the hosts are as drunk as Leslie Sbrocco, unfortunately.

GQueue

2012-12-30 10:39:38 PM

downstairs: BTW, its not a "foodie talk show" really. Kinda the opposite. They get normal people or somewhat well-known locals to review restaurants. Good concept. I've moved from Chicago, so I don't get to see it anymore. It wasn't the greatest in production value, but it wasn't pretentious at all

I'm not sure if it's still the case but in the past there has been a terrible (if they happen to show a restaurant you go to regularly and like) tendency for a "Check Please" effect whereby restaurants on that show are slammed for a few months afterwards. It can come back on a rerun too. There's one place I basically had to stop going to because they started having 2 hour waits on the weekends for a table for 2 (no reservations) after the Check Please aired, and those waits never really seemed to stop.

LDM90

2012-12-30 10:51:04 PM

That headline put me to sleep.

Infobahn

2012-12-30 11:37:46 PM

The Arizona version production values are really nice. I am thinking there are some extra credit assignments for some ASU TV production majors.

Uchiha_Cycliste

2012-12-30 11:52:15 PM

MrEricSir: Uchiha_Cycliste: Two things... I thought it was "Check Please- Bay Area"
also, it's a TV show? wow, I'll be damned.

Check Please Bay Area is the edition from KQED. Various PBS affiliates have their own versions of the show, but they're all essentially the same format.

Not all of the hosts are as drunk as Leslie Sbrocco, unfortunately.

Thanks for the info, I had no idea the show coontil this thread) that the show was in more places than KQED.. or that all the other hosts were so boring.

p the boiler

2012-12-31 12:01:42 AM

jaytkay: So this thread got me interested, I have rarely watched to show.

And I go to its local web site.

And I see there's an episode for a restaurant I pass on my daily commute.

Pueblito Viejo, N Lincoln Ave in Chicago, a Columbian restaurant.

And I've always wondered about the place. It looks dismal. Do people actually eat there?

And check out the video, it is a happening dance place in the evening! Kind of a big deal!

Fun!

You live close to me (lawrence and rockwell) have not been in there and don't think I've ever noticed it until I just mapped it, will check it out.

GladGirl

2012-12-31 12:35:32 AM

I also thought this was only a Bay Area thing. I, like many San Franciscans, assume the world revolves around us. I dig Leslie, though she's guilty of overgesticulating, waving her arms around like she's conducting an orchestra.

Tumunga

2012-12-31 08:13:21 AM

Good for them. Since they're making money with it, how about pay us back some of that tax money you've been sucking out of our pockets for the last 5 decades (or thereabouts). I'm talking to you, PBS.

/dnra.

hubcity

2012-12-31 12:32:50 PM

Tumunga: Good for them. Since they're making money with it, how about pay us back some of that tax money you've been sucking out of our pockets for the last 5 decades (or thereabouts). I'm talking to you, PBS.

How *will* you spend that $1.35?

/Average, per-person tax burden for the portion of the budget used for PBS.

Tumunga

2012-12-31 03:39:01 PM

hubcity: Tumunga: Good for them. Since they're making money with it, how about pay us back some of that tax money you've been sucking out of our pockets for the last 5 decades (or thereabouts). I'm talking to you, PBS.

How *will* you spend that $1.35?

/Average, per-person tax burden for the portion of the budget used for PBS.

I can *purchase* 4 cans of Showboat spaghetti with it.

/Average, per my household, of dinner for 4 days.
//People who place words *between* astericks, are dicks.

halfof33

2012-12-31 10:43:23 PM

downstairs: dletter: JosephFinn: downstairs: dletter: Lionel Mandrake: downstairs: Barack Obama on "Check Please!"

Was that filmed in Kenya?

Haha.... was actually Chicago (as you may have guessed).... "Check Please" has been on in Chicago since the mid/late 90s I believe, don't know if they were the first version of the show.

Also, the Obama episode (for whatever reason- he wasn't all that famous at the time) was never aired.

As I remember, it was the pilot and they were still working on it so was never meant to air.

So, it was truly a "lost episode" (that is how it is shown in the YT clips, looks like they showed it right after he got inaugurated).

Yep, I believe all of these are true. And, indeed, it was unearthed after he was inaugurated (2009).

No it wasn't the pilot, but it was very early on, and they intentionally didn't show it because he dominated the conversation. Someone also said that they never drink the wine? There are a couple of Chicago shows that never made it on the air because at least one of the people on the show got tanked.

Riotboy

2012-12-31 10:51:34 PM

This librarian's sister I used to work was on that show (Chicago).

/I dig it

FDR Jones

2013-01-01 11:47:09 AM

Subby forgot the comma and the exclamation point

Displayed 41 of 41 comments

View Voting Results: Smartest and Funniest

Redisplay/refresh comments

This thread is archived, and closed to new comments.

If you like these links, you'll love

All the submissions, none of the calories.

learn more | sign up

Report

Advertise on Fark

learn more

Like Fark!

Follow @Fark On Twitter

Headlines of the Week
Fark NotNewsletter

Report

Fark.com

Top Commented

Top Commented ▼

Top Commented
Top Clicked
Top Voted
My Recent Commented
Recent Mentions

Javascript is required to view headlines in widget.

Links are submitted by members of the Fark community.
When community members submit a link, they also write a custom headline for the story.
Other Farkers comment on the links. This is the number of comments. Click here to read them.
You need to create an account to submit links or post comments.
Click here to submit a link.