Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Don't forget the endless amount of Iron Chef. What is happening to FN, just a few years ago they had "cooking" on there. I am stumped and seldom watch FN anymore, where as little as 5 years ago it was always on. I am sad about this because other then the few shows mentioned in the article, everything else is crapolla.

His comments are spot on, but I don't think Bob cares. FN has to know by now that cooks feel this way about the crappy programming, but FN keeps pushing amateur cooks who tell stories about grandma and kids (awww!) and reality/cake shows. They have likely looked at ratings, taken polls, etc. and found that there are more idiots out there who want such dreck than there are people interested in real cooking knowledge.

i agree with you all..... it's really gone down hill..... plus just too many cake shows. nobody in reality needs a cake like that, perhaps more than once in their life - unless they're getting married or turning 50.

too bad, FN has gone the way of MTV.... a lot of crap. i usually turn it on at night if i can't sleep -- and it usually does the trick.

@ Grumpy Old Man

:D I appreciate your use of nihongo!

I should amend that to say that "I used to keep food network on all day..."

Totally agree! The programming is awful. I used to be able to flip over and there would almost always be something worth watching on. I don't even bother looking half the time anymore because it's all so bad. I'd rather watch anything on PBS or Bravo. The next food network star is so horrible its not even funny. Most of the new hosts are annoying. Iron chef America is a poor substitute for the original. They have way too much reality/competition programming. I used to hate Rachael Ray, but she is a hundred times better than anything new they have put on. What the heck is Paula's party?

The show I currently watch are barefoot contessa, diners drive-ins and dives, and occasionally giada.

@Remander: yeah, what's with all the stupid food network cake competitions?

Wow- he nailed it with the network star and cake competetions.
I cound not agree more!!

I, too have been a fan of PBS cooking shows for a long, long time- Jaques Pepin, Frugal Gourmet, Cia Italia, Lydia Bastianich, even wild game cooking....the list goes on.

The Food Network has lost it's focus-- food. And cooking/tasting/learning/sharing ideas. I miss Mario and Sara too.
But mostly, I miss cooking shows. That's what I used tune in for........

@salpico - I agree entirely! PBS has much better programming. America's Test Kitchen is far more interesting than anything on FN.

About Next FN Star: reality tv is cheaper to produce and it shows. Not only is it not quality programing, it's kind of sick that amateurs (those who do something for the love of doing it) are invited on to the network only to be treated with disrespect and insulted. It reflects poorly on the executives and other "stars" when they are taped saying things like "this is inedible and looking so offended by a contestant's best efforts!

Food Network should give Kerry Vincent a job showing us how to make cakes. Yes, she is a stern old bitty who reminds me of my sixth grade math teacher, so what? She knows her business when it comes to doing anything with cakes and decorating them. I'd even put with her whacking the back of my hand with a hot spatula to learn what she knows.

What I don't understand is this: Who is watching all of this crap? Sure, we're complaining about how programming sucks, but I'm assuming there are loads of people who Like Guy, and the Next Food Network Star, and Sandra Lee. They give their "worst" personalities the most shows. There has to be some kind of market for it. They wouldn't give Guy three shows and Sandra two shows if they were so unpopular or disliked. I think they're crap, but there must be an audience for it- and a large one at that. Who are these people? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM?

sandra lee's shows make me want to scratch my eyeballs out.

but while we're here, can someone tell me what's the deal with throwdown?
i just can't figure out what's in it for bobby flay. if he wins, he craps on somebody's tradition, right? oh, and if he loses, well, he loses. seriously, what's in it for him? gladly, i think i've only ever seen him lose the few times i've watched.

I think Sandra Lee and Rachael Ray fall into about the same audience niche. They do things that women who are struggling with both a job and child rearing would be keenly interested in. Rachael is more about day-to-day cooking while Sandra fills in for the party nights and what have you.

As for Guy, I just don't know. He leaves me cold and they have him out in front entirely too much as far as I am concerned. I don't count him among those doing serious eats--or even good eats, the truth be told. Bear in mind that I don't like dishes overloaded with capsaicin. My household partner enjoys watching Diners, Drive-ins & Dives because, as she puts it, Guy does find people who know how to cook. I have eaten in too many restaurants to agree with her, but I ain't everybody.

They are running the competitions into the ground and I never really learn anything from Ace of Cakes, so it leaves me cold as well.

I liked the original Iron Chef the way it was shown on TV in San Francisco with subtitles and no voice-overs. That was entertaining. Iron Chef America is entirely too tame. Bring back the live eels and octopi!

Shows like Unwrapped and The Secret Life of are a complete waste of air time as far as I am concerned and Food Network runs that kind of filler far too often. I wish they would leave the bulk of that kuso to the History Channel or something.

I am forced to conclude that the real problem is a lack of balance in the programming. They are putting on too much razzle-dazzle and not enough edutainment. And, whatever on earth possessed Food Network to shelve Mario Batali? Why didn't they work out something where the refresh his show rather than running him off? Talk about pointy-haired boss decision! That was a lulu!

TVFN wants to "own" their chefs and take a piece of the action from all their product endorsments, etc. Why do you think Bordain, Batali and Emeril left?

I watch a lot of food shows, oddly enough the networks I watch them on don't have the word "food" in their name. I can't remember when I watched anything on the Food Network. Obviously someone is, just not me.

the Shitty-Sheet-Cake-Promotional-Happy-Meal-Tie-In Network
OMG that is the funniest shit I have heard in forever!!!!

Who watches the Formerly known as the Food Network you ask? People do. People who buy Ritz Crackers and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. The sponsors are picked for one reason because the demographic for the Food Network is a very defined one. Any TV or Radio station can show you their key demographic. We, my friends, are not the freaking demographic. People who want to see Sloppy Lee and Shitty Sheet cake are.
What sponsors do you have for our kind of demographic? Take a look at what advertising is in Gourmet Magazine. Notice how most of that advertising took a powder during this recession. Sub Zero, Wolf, Viking, Boos Block, All Clad, Cusiniart, Kitchen Aid, Calphalon etc.
Now how many of the Food Network people have the resources to buy those brands. Not enough for those brands to pay that kind of money for advertising there. Simple formula of advertising. What can pay for Food Network Advertising? Nabisco, Kraft, Velveeta those kind of brands.
Tuschman is not a moron, he knows how to keep himself funded. We can tell him his network is shit but he's got it well funded in cheese whiz people. While he is in the Hamptons drinking martini's with Bobby Flay they are laughing right in their Ritz crackers and all the way to the bank. Fuck those people on the food blogs they don't know shit. That is exactly what he is saying. Canape anyone? ha ha ha ha
Bob Tuschman does not give a shit about us. I therefore do not give a shit about him. He can keep his shitty shows and the reputation he is making for himself with them. You reap what you sow. He can sow some miracle whip for all I freaking care.

And why is it that I've come across ads for Serious Eats on foodnetwork.com? I don't remember the last time I saw one, but it made me think.

I'm surprised Cooking for Real wasn't mentioned in his memo. It's ranks high on the terrible scale, right up there with Sandra Lee's show. I do however enjoy Ace of Cakes; I find their laid-back attitude amusing, but it's the only entertaining cake show.

i stopped getting the food network almost a year ago and really don't miss it. except for the few shows that i could stand to watch. and judging by when i catch a glimpse of it here and there at my parents house those shows are exist les and les. if they have to have a reality cooking program i wish they would bring back Ready, Set, Cook. i have to admit i loved that show....

I've emailed Bob T. as well as Brooke J. from FN many times and called them out as the no talent assclowns that they are. I never got a response.

If I'm being honest... I think I was being too nice....

I love watching next food network star and chopped. It makes me feel like a culinary genius.

It's like watching football. Crack open a beer and yell at the TV for two hours.

This evening's schedule starting at 6PM, one hour of Challenge, a repeated episode showing a cake challenge, one hour of Ace of Cakes, one hour of The Best Thing I Ever Ate, one hour of Chopped and then, finally at 10PM Good Eats.

Notice that we are getting two hours of cake and nothing but cake. Is this Tuschman's impression of Marie Antoinette? "Let them have inedible cake!"

The Best Thing I Ever Ate is a new show but largely uninformative and only mildly entertaining.

I think that the idea behind Chopped is very good, but I also think that some of the combinations that they give the contestants are ridiculous. I find Ted Allen extremely irritating. Worst of all, one of the regular judges has a seldom run show on FN. I stopped watching that show because I quickly realized that I am a far better cook. I learned to cook in self-defense. I am completely self-taught and I can do a better job than that particular judge can and that person should not be on the panel of judges for Chopped.

Of course, if I had TiVo or something similar, I could tape the daytime shows, many of which are very useful. Tyler Florence, for instance, does a good job every time.

Fine Living Network, on the other hand, is running two hours of Emeril Legasse and Iron Chef Japan. Unfortunately, FLN is running the FN version of the original Iron Chef.

I'm beginning to think that the best thing about FN is Alton Brown and maybe I should give up on them, beyond collecting Alton's videos.

Well I'm grateful to everyone here for making me feel less alone. I feel lucky that I first became acquainted with FN when it exhibited a true regard and respect for good food and real chefs who were dedicated to their craft. I used to have it on my tv all the time. Now sometimes I can't even stand to watch the promos for FN that appear on other shows! The whole channel has become a marketing ploy, in my opinion, to push FN's own products, and push out chefs who had enough culinary credibility to wield some contract negotiating power with the network. They fill their programming now with "chefs" who are willing to hand over much of their product- and endorsement-related income to FN. Anyway the point is, i don't watch the channel anymore. It provides nothing of value to me, and in fact, annoys me. Oh and btw, the downhill slide of the channel is mirrored in their website as well.

I'm back to loving Saturday mornings with PBS. That's what I watched as a kid, and in my "not able to afford cable" days. I've come back, good ol' PBS!

FN is dead to me. Cake decorating is NOT cooking. Please stop trying to pretend it is.

I hardly watch FN anymore, because the programs I like are on during the day - when I'm at work. Yes I can TiVo them, and sometimes I do, but when I tune into a station called the Food Network, I hope to see how to prepare food. I don't care about competitions, reality TV nor cake.

Bourdain, Batali, DeLaurentis, Garten - these people actually cook food that I make at home.

This celebrity chef/FN thing was good when it prompted us to "try this at home" but now you really have to plan ahead if you want to watch instructional shows.

MTV used to play music videos. Now, I never watch it.
FN used to love to prepare food, now, it's falling off my radar.

I just want to watch people cook! And I don't want to have to do it at 9:30 on a Saturday or 2 in the afternoon. I should add that it would be nice if they had decent skills--some of the people who supposedly run restaurants look like they've never sliced an onion before, and stir a cake batter with a soup spoon. Like just about everyone else here, I used to watch a lot of FN when I first got cable, but it has gotten so tedious. Whenever I flip to it at night, it's Ace/Duff, Guy (!!!), or stock film otherwise known as Unwrapped.

A number of years ago a friend of mine who is a very high powered TV executive producer went to FN for an interview. She was told that the FN was interested only in those red state folks. Yes, blue box mac and fake cheese, etc. That is the target audience and the rest of us are left holding the spatula. They can get my eyeballs with jamie at home, alton, ina and tyler's ultimate. Oh, yes, and secrets of a restaurant chef. Chiarello, too. The rest is pure garbage, imho.

Another echoing plea for the old-school TVFN - when it was worth watching.

Regarding Gordon Elliott, I thank my lucky stars that he's behind the camera and not in front of it. Next, I cannot understand why TFN always seems to OD everyone with their on-air personalities. Take Emeril for instance. His Essence show was great, then TFN expanded with Emeril Live, and it was on way too much for my tastes and I hated the show. Too over the top for me. The same pattern is being repeated with Paula and Guy. Make it stop! Please!
I've been watching TFN for a long time. I used to love the show called Taste and the Best of's. But, back then they also gave Joanne Worley her own show. She was basically doing the same old Laugh-in Schtick. Loud and annoying. So, hopefully this is just a phase that TFN will soon pass through and we can all start to enjoy it more, again.

i have to admit i watched a few episodes of the cake show... and it was fun. it was cool to see inside a bakery and how they create odd decorations and the turmoil of delivery. after watching a few of them, though, you realize the lack of educational content. i just wish they focused more on the cake building and less on the personal "real-life" aspect.

if this is not the cake show you speak of, its been a while since i had fn. *shrugs*

@trianglefoodie: "elitist"

BRAVO -- I have just about given up on the food network.

Even the website has gone way down hill

When did Bourdain have a show in which he cooked food?

My main gripe with the FN is the lack of intermediate to advanced cooking demos. Like many others, I've basically mastered most of the techniques in most of the shows and would like to learn some more.

I was all excited over the weekend because Ann Burrell was doing duck confit. Sweet! Something interesting! Well, it was "cheaters" duck confit so I really didn't learn anything new.

But I really can't blame them for going for the largest possible audience and the demographics that their advertisers want. It's a business, plain and simple.

As for Sandra Lee, she's got pictures of someone in a compromising position with a goat. It's the only explanation.

@djwackfriz--typing too fast for an overreaction on my part! I need thicker skin when it comes to the sport bashing all things "red state"

Hey, you can be from a red state and still enjoy quality food. I have never been interested in watching Rachel or Sandra, but I appreciate what they do for people who don't have a lot of time to cook or don't have the skills to cook anything complicated. All this hatin' on FN sounds like a bunch of elitist snobbism.

There is another aspect that bothers me about the shows on FN. Even with the good shows (Tyler, Anne, etc.) they don't seem to let the chefs do anything unusual. I mean, spaghetti and meatballs and steak are great, don't get me wrong, but what about preparing something other than classic American dishes?

There are only so many mac 'n cheese recipes one can stand...

Anne Burrell comes the closest in terms of them letting her do unusual things... olive oil cake, duck confit, etc. but I imagine that they have toned her stuff way down for the "home cook". (although I suppose Ina and Giada stray from the beaten path a tad, but not much)

I can't remember the last time that someone prepared a dish I had never heard of on FN. And I don't get out much, so it wouldn't take much! :) That's really what I want to see, not 5 million variations on lasagna or corn fritters or whatever.

Isn't it amazing how awful it's gotten? Back in the days before I got cable, I watched the cooking shows on PBS. Now, if I happen to be home when their cooking shows are on, I turn to PBS again. The more things change.....

First off this site ROCKS... second this article is so spot on!

i once did a pilot for food network... i currently have a cooking show called The Dante Fried Chicken Show, they told me it was to edgy! so they decided to shoot a food network inspired promo with them witch i did...

it was like doing a show for hostest and Disney i just couldn't understand why they thought the concept of my show was to edgy? not to mention i was told i was not being PERKY enough WTF lol...

well i use to be a fan of food network but who needs them now so many other media companies integrate cooking/lifestyle into thier programing that is new interesting, engaging and real.. i guess what happen to myspace via facebook will happen to food network as well... they stop innovating and cooking for that matter is the GAME OVER?
http://dantefriedchicken.com

Tonight's schedule starting at 6PM: Challenge, a one hour repeat; followed by Iron Chef America, Morimoto v.s. Tim Love, a one hour repeat, and you have to think that Morimoto was set up for a fall in this one; two half-hour episodes of Ace of Cakes and a repeated episode of The Next Food Network Star, wherein the wannabe chefs are required to cook a budget meal in the Hamptons of all places. How weird is that?

Finally at 10PM we get Good Eats wherein AB discusses the uses of molasses. This is also a repeat, but one doesn't mind repeats of Alton's work because you always catch something you missed the first time you saw it.

Good Eats is followed by a particularly egregious episode of Unwrapped concerned with the production of breakfast cereals. It would be smarter of FN to follow Alton with Jamie Oliver or another good cook. I can't imagine anyone hanging around that late to watch machines make shit that no one should feed their kids.

dante! i think i'm in lurve! just checked out your website and some of the videos and i'm all about the dfc mission. please bring this food and energy to atlanta!

no worries about FN. its not that you don't fit FN, but that FN doesn't fit you. don't change a thing!

I don't recall where I read/heard this, but FN changed it's programming to reflect what viewers wanted. Viewers wanted more "home cooking". Though I think Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade is reflective of everything that is wrong with cooking and eating in the the U.S. today. Even Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals are healthier.

I like Ina, Giada and Alton. I do like some of Rachael's soup/stoup recipes.

If it is any consolation, FN, all of television is pretty bad. There are a few bright spots, but overall, it sucks. The descent toward the lowest denominator in the audience is a huge mistake. Everybody needs to cut back on the schlock programming. FN was, at one time, head shoulders above the rest. Now it is sinking below the other channels.

There is what seems like an inevitable, natural progression for any niche cable channel:

Cool, Detailed Shows about Subject X -->
Viewers are gained, channel becomes popular -->
Material is dumbed down to please advertisers -->
Original viewers disappear, grumble about the channel

Examples:
MTV: went from music to all reality programming
A&E: no more arts, reruns of legal dramas
Discovery: no more science, motorcycle shows and Bigfoot "documentaries"
TLC: isn't much about learning, unless you want to know about lots of babies and little people

Even the Cartoon Network is increasingly adding live-action movies and series...

The Food Network is all but dead for me - Alton Brown, Ina and Giada are the only bright spots. The idea of a "star" such as Rachel, Paula and Sandra are bad jokes and being coached to overact and make fools of themselves. And fools of us if we watch them. A cackle with a southern accent is not cute.

Like many above, I turn to PBS for real cooking, Jacques Pepin teaches me more in 1/2 hour than a week of the FN. And, this year's contestants on the next star show are a sorry lot. Who picks them? What stands out on ANY of them. Nothing! The blond girl with the nice hairdo is the one exception in my mind.

Sara has gone to PBS, but my local station has her on so early in the AM - that I don't watch her as often as I'd like. Also, she is left out on their many, many, many pledge weeks. I give once a year - more than my share - now, folks, go back to good shows, please.

The basket of junk they hand out on "chopped" negates any possibility of making a decent meal.

I rather like seeing the results of Iron Chef contest, but I tune out except for the last 15minutes when I can see the presentations.

And, please...no more cake shows. Boring.

Wake up FN - your best contribution to me is money saving because I am cutting back to plain cable. I only pray that Alton Brown will migrate to PBS! He's the best! I will miss Ina and Giada and and their warm ways as well.

I personally like Bourdain's rant a lot better:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/03/bourdain-rants-about-the-food-network.html

I agree, and I really miss so many of the chefs in the earlier line-ups, esp. Sara Moulton and "Cooking Live," the "Melting Pot" chefs, Rick Bayless' "My Country, My Kitchen," and the predecessors of Paula, the Two Fat Ladies. The channel seems become less and less about cooking all the time.

He said many of the things I've been feeling about The Food Network for a long time now. I DVR my favorite shows (the few that are left after they cancelled some of the best), and rarely watch anything else there. They've simply ruined The Food Network, that was once my favorite channel.

Seems everyone here wants the same thing...more cooking shows by talented chefs/cooks and less crap like cake competitions. Are we really in the minority or is FN just not interested in what their audience wants??

I can't say I feel as strongly as some of you, but I do agree, less cake competitions and silly cook offs. I do like it that they are moving away from the hoidy toidy types and leaning more towards food that regular non-trendy types eat(at least it seems that way). The Neelys are a breath of fresh air and they need more hosts like them and less of the boring snooty types like the Italian bobble head.

Shows I wouldn't shed a tear over if they were axed...

Barefoot Contessa (beyond boring Martha Stewart wanna-be)
Food Detectives (the fake extras and lack of any real science turns the show into a joke in and of itself)
The Next Food Network Star
Ace of Cakes
Iron Chef America
Giada at Home (trendy, snooty, and boring)
Dinner: Impossible
Will Work for Food
Boy Meets Grill

...to name a few.

They need more down to Earth average "everyday types" and less food snobbery. Get a grilling show with a man who does it the right way. No offense to Booby Flay, as I do enjoy some of his shows, but I am talking about a guy who doesn't use gas, and didn't got to cullonary school. A man from the South(because southerners can grill better, no offense to Yanks but it's true). Grilling shows don't need trendy fancy pants chefs ruining everything by showing off and using things that normal people don't buy.

@ ohmygod

Blue Box and fake Mac n Cheese in a so called "red state"? Are you kidding me? If there is one thing you need to learn about the South, is that the people down here don't B.S. around when it comes to cooking. Everyone has their great regional dishes, but the South owns the North East when it comes to great home cooking. Don't even go there with your snooty "red state" ignorance. If anything blue box fake mac n cheese was made for the Yanks and rust belt home makers.

If the FN said they're going for the red states, that's just a tribute to their ignorance. There's great food and great cooks everywhere.

They're really going for lazy cooks, or better yet, people looking to simply put food on the table. Don't buy into their bias. Red, blue, yellow, black, orange, fuscia... Generally speaking, the people on this board can cook and want to see new ideas.

Watch PBS, not FN. Better yet, donate to PBS and tell them why.

I really enjoyed the "Chefology" shows they had on a couple of years ago.

I would like to see the original Julia Child shows that were shown on PBS and The Frugal Gourmet.

The only show I am watching now on FN is The Barefoot Contessa and that is only on Sunday's when the show is new.

TIRED of the cake shows and Iron Chef type shows.

How about a show like the one that Gordon ??? did when he would take a chef into someone's house and cook them dinner.

Quit doing free demo research for them. Let them continue teh fail. The interwebs are less bottom-line driven; the info is out there. Screw fn. And shame on SE for shilling for every other show they broadcast. Let's stick to what's important. Those who are on the internets and want pron know where to find it. Sheesh.

When I come home from work at night - I want to see some good cooking; Paula, Bobby, Giada... not 30 people competing (once again) for a cake challenge. Or Unwrapped, who cares how the tootsie roll got into the wrapper!? Leave that for daytime TV!

It's all about the ratings and I guess the dimwitted viewing public prefers crap to substance. I've actually stopped watching the food network specifically because of the reasons in the post. Great letter but I am afraid it will all be ignored. :(

Let's see - all the shows are doled out to what, 7 or 8 people, none of them are in their fake kitchen studios anymore, the website sucks as much as the programming does - you can't find anything without a struggle, everyone's hawking a book or some overpriced cookware or knives, and when you write to them, like they tell you to on TV, all you get is a form letter, with no actual response to your question. Maybe it's time to bring back re-runs of Two Hot Tamales and Jacques Torres. At least, then, we'll learn how to cook, instead of learning how/where to buy something.

agreed!!!

I absolutely agree with Matthew and so many of you who have commented. It's so freakin' sad to see what had the potential to be a great network succumb to the depths of crapTV once again. There still may be time to turn it all back before they lose all the quality viewers though. Mr. Tuschman, if you're reading this, remember that WE are the home cooks buying the products you advertise. Those advertisers aren't stupid and will eventually figure out that you're better off peddling items that appeal to viewers of lowbrow reality shows. Get your act together.

I miss shows like "Cooking Live" and "Melting Pot". FN is somehow forgetting what brought them to the dance. I enjoy watching shows like
"Cooking For Real", "Secrets Of A Restaurant Chef", "Barefoot Contessa"
and "Giada At Home", because they show me what I want to do...COOK!!!

I love watching The Neely's because they show their true love for food, some people may not like the way the work in the kitchen but then again no one says the kitchen has to be such a stiff environment.

My biggest gripe is that their is not nearly enough focus on ethnic foods
anymore. Whatever happened to Ingrid Hoffman's "Simply Delicioso"?
I was fairly surprised to see them give Daisy Martinez a slot on Saturday mornings and then nothing else after that. That's terrible to totally abandon that style of food. I really hope that FN re-evaluates their decision about bringing back those kind of cooking shows to their programming.

I like to cook, and most of what I cook is simple and basic.

However, when it comes to watching food TV, I would rather watch people cooking food that I might never attempt. I liken it to enjoying reading books on foreign locales knowing full well that I will never visit. I enjoy learning about the culture and food of other places. Most of all, I enjoy watching shows that teach me something other than a recipe.

I like "Good Eats" because of it's tidbits of science and history. I liked "Molto Mario" for the the history and culture of Italy.

I also enjoyed "Chef du Jour" in all of it's low tech glory because of it's variety. And though I am no vegetarian, I loved "Pick of the Day" with Curtis Aikens because he would talk about how the veggies are grown, talk about different varieties and show you what to look for when shopping for produce, etc.

I even enjoy some of Jaime Oliver's shows, especially the one where he tours Italy.

Same goes for "The Two Fat Ladies" since their shows usually were themed on a tradition, holiday, etc. that gave you a peek into English culture.

It's probably why Saveur is the only foodmag that I buy, since it is really a travel/culture magazine at heart.

As I posted in another forum, I believe this is what has happened to FN: the execs with primary responsibility for programming came from Nickledeon. All they can handle is programming for children. Anyone with more than a 7th grade education is not even considered in their grand scheme of things. With brains like this behind the wheel, not could they NOT go down?

Oh and Matthew, I guess you've not heard Suzy Fogelson's admonition that Tuschman is not to be mocked or criticized. Kiss a$$ much, Medusa?

Wow, was this overdue. Not only for the Food Network, but this is how I feel about ALL the television programming in today's world, especially TV Land. There is also another channel that has lost their way. They started out as a channel running the great old shows that are classics, now they too have all this reality tv. What's wrong with these programmers today, there should be more than reality tv available considering all the money most of us pay for our service. I'm glad someone finally spoke up about this. Now I'm waiting for someone to speak up about all the stations flashing all their advertising on the screen while a show is on. I don't know how many times I've missed something or didn't see something important because they were advertising some show coming up or the channel information. I don't know about the rest of you but I find that practice EXTEMELY irritating. I hope this letter will set an example for all of us to exprese our concerns about the paths many of the stations on today's television is taking. Programming is becoming worse all the time and the only way it's going to change is if we all speak our minds.

Brilliant! I wish you had addressed the chosing a winner before the contest actually starts and then bending the rules to make sure they reach the final (see Aaron McCargo Jr. and Jamika Pessoa).

Ya, know, While I do agree with the article however there are some simple realities. FN like any other business has to generated income to keep the lights on and to pay the staff. You gotta remember that payroll is an expense, so the place that most businesses will start cutting will be the salaries. I’m guessing most of the shows that got the ax were most likely quite costly to produce.
The really sad truth is that reality shows are cheaper to produce and what is even sadder is that the mean average viewer finds it terrible interesting to watch other people make fools of themselves, in contrived situations.
I like Rachel Ray, because she does speak the “average” person, so I can see the need. The media and the fast food industry has gotten most of the “average Jane / Joe” believing that in order to cook even a hamburger requires a PHD (think Carl’s Jr ad’s).
Even in this economy I still see people food shopping like there is no tomorrow on packaged food (Stoffers) or non sale items, picking the sugar that is not on sale over the one that is on sale, crazy. My point is that the people that post and subscribe to Serious Eats are going to be the exception rather the rule when it comes to food.

My main gripe with the FN is the lack of intermediate to advanced cooking demos. Like many others, I've basically mastered most of the techniques in most of the shows and would like to learn some more.>>>

My suggestion would be: go to your local public library and look for VHS/DVD of these people. You might be surprised. Of course, if your local library has only Rach and no Lidia or Mario you might wonder...OTOH take what the hell you can get.

Please watch Anne Burrell. She is without a doubt the best thing on FN now. She has talent and passion for her food. I too watch many of hours per week of FN and hers is the show I want to watch the most.

Bob, if you are listening, she makes food approachable and real. I think it was brilliant to get her out of the commercial kitchen and have her cook in a home kitchen. I have made many of the dishes (including dinner tonight). They are really really good.

Anne, if you are listening, the growl is so sexy. You can tell that you love to cook. It oozes from your pores. Please go a little easy on the salt. You are scaring me. My blood pressure goes up just watching the show. I don't know if I would eat in your restaurant with the way you roll with the salt, but it is something I can fix when I cook your food.

I read Matt's letter and all of the comments on this thread, and have come to a conclusion. I am the target audience for the Food Network. I work full time, have a family addicted to fast food and casual dining, and only cook on occasion. Please don't kill me!

I love watching people make something out of nothing. I love seeing how they take seemingly unrelated ingredients and make fabulous food. I like the back-stories. I like traveling with Guy all over the country to little places that aren't on the map - and have made a point to find them when I am on the road.

Sure the Ace of Cakes doesn't teach me how to bake, but since whatever I do is coming from a box with a red spoon on the cover, who cares! It is the fun and fantastic things they do with the cake that entertains me. Rachel is extremely informative but sometimes I have to mute all that enthusiasm. I know Ina Garten is a fantastic chef, her show puts me to sleep.

TNFNS is dreck, but it is like watching NASCAR - a wreck is gonna happen, and don't you want to see what happens when it does?

Please don't kick me too hard for this. Serious Eats offers me a perspective I obviously lack, but sometimes you guys take it all too seriously. FN is entertainment about food. They never said it was going to be all serious all the time. They need to find a good balance. The reason that the prime time programming is full of air is because people like it that way. I am not spending my two hours in the evening watching Ina Garten or even Emeril/Mario. I don't want to think that hard and pay that close attention. I'll buy their cookbook instead.

Wow! Just goes to show you that you are less alone in your thoughts than you might think! I used to have FN on whenever I was home. I always loved to cook and asked for recipes form friends, etc when I enjoyed the food. The FN spurred me on to invest heavily in great cookware and to finally organize my recipe collection. I used to have a problem with printing recipes from FN. I used to print a hundred a day and spent hours searching topics on their site. I loved it. Then...they changed the line-up and put Barefoot Contessa on at 1:30 in the afternoon (who is home at that hour?) and I just stopped watching. All of these new trashy "stars" just don't have it. Rachael makes my ears hurt and her cutesy words and recipes (stoup) make me vomit. Even Ina Garten made a heavy dig at Sandra Lee's tablescapes! Sandra's new "kick" is saving money when cooking. She acrually recommended making something from scratch to save 2 CENTS PER PERTION!!! Is she nuts??? That show is the tackiest garbage on the spectrum. While watching one day at my sister's house my 15 year old nephew asked "who the h-ll is that idiot" when Guy Fieri came on. I guess they have gotten away form serious food content and reaching skills to please the "suits" at the network. It's funny though that almost all of the comments here were overwhelmingly negative. So many things these days have lost their appeal (even the streets of New York) with all of the developers winning. Who are they consulting??? What numbers are they crunching? Like everything else these days, things are designed for quick consumption and quick profits with little regard for quality or legacy. Are we being "served"??? I think not.
These "personalities" might get an initial viewership, but it's the food, the techniques learned and the quality of the recipes that will sustain the growth. Clearly, Tushman is listening to the numbers crunchers and not following his original "vision". We all lose. Put Sandra on in the old Sally Jesse Raphael slot...3 am!!! Yuck!!!

Matt, you are soooooooooooo on the money! Great, great, great!

I can think of eBay and other examples of companies being ruined once success sets in. I see our local government do this to, ruining a perfectly good beach with over priced parking meters so now NOBODY goes there

Food Network peaked four years ago. Paula Dean was the turning point. But even she started out good. She is making millions while pumping out poisonous food. FN is a feeding frenzy for money by the celebrity chefs on up and the good shows have suffered or been deep sixed

Even Emeril turned into a grotesque gargoyle as he got wealthier. That is why is now does a health show on another channel but his head is still pumpkin sized

For a short time I was a “Food Network Panel” member. After I felt the whole premise of the so-called panel was a farce, I started jotting down [thus, the 2008 date] all the little irks within not only the FN, but also with the FN website. The following is that letter, which I forwarded to Matthew Greenberg. I had been intending to send it to Bob Tuschman…..[fortunately, I edited this copy more accurately] & have followed through with sending it now after Matts inspirational article.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Dear Mr. Tuschman,
I am an avid Food Network viewer………having watched since your inception. I have your station on whether I am actively watching & even as background when not. My husband will frequently view with me as well if I am actively watching. My favorite person is Ina Garten, & I have every one of her books, even though I can get her recipes free @ your site. In fact, I liked her show so much that we used to program it so we can view it @ dinner every night. I also like Alton, Giada, Tyler, & used to watch “How to Boil Water” with the French chef who was assisted by Jack. I watched Martha Stewart when she used to be on, as well. I used to watch Paula @ times for her “down home” type recipes. I no longer watch her since she got married - she seems to have gone off the deep end.
I guess you can see I do have some complaints about your content.
• Please……..no more boobs!!!!! I’m talking Giada & Sandra Lee. I know Giada was pregnant. However I’m sure that for both of these “chefs”, it has little to do with pregnancy [although in itself, that would be a pretty skanky reason to be flaunting cleavage anyway]! Every time I tune into Giada, I am forced to look @ cleavage! Come on, this is a cooking show, not “Girls Gone Wild”. It really detracts from the program, & makes me wonder if it’s just a ploy to attract more male viewers perhaps? Sandra Lee in particular has an episode where she is in the park I believe, sporting this goofy little Bo Peep get up complete with pigtails, & I’m waiting for her “store boughts” to fall out like…….. muffins in a well greased tin. Doesn’t anybody critique the shows before they go on? No one chose to comment on her going on air with that Halloween get up? Totally tasteless. Now today I tune in & there’s Rachel with her little boobs half out [competition maybe]………..what gives?

• Speaking of Sandra, I have to admit the minute she comes on, I change the channel. I do like some of her ideas but cannot bear to lis-ten……… to……………. her……….hes-i-ta-tive………..way……….of……….speak-ing!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s obvious she cannot do two things [cooking & talking] at a time……….doesn’t anybody let her know how absolutely aggravating her diction is? Her show does go off when I hear that voice – it truly is aggravating.
• Paula used to be worth watching, however, she has, like I said, gone off the deep end. Her recipes used to be down home basic with a nice Southern flair. She even allowed us to chuckle @ times. Now, it seems her old fashioned charm has been replaced by her obvious change to compete with the real chefs. Southern country has made way for false eyelashes and excessive finger bling. I definitely can’t watch her “party” show………she’s licked one too many audience participants faces for me. What’s with these people………..they don’t make enough money……….they end up doing “party shows”, “at home shows”, and so called “back to basic” shows? They resort to nepotism, selling books &magazines, along with cookware, and packaged foods?
• Now, alas, my favorite……….Ina. I love her home, the way she & Jeffrey seem like a couple of love struck teenagers. I have all of her six books. However, she is not without aggravations as well. It isn’t hard to see that she is an island unto herself------she has different rules from the rest of the FN stars, somewhat of a “Queen complex”. Her cookbooks are more expensive, & don’t seem to participate in the holiday shows [unless you edit her show into the group]. The new “Back to Basics” is nothing more than taking the same old recipes & changing lemon juice to orange juice, or “really good vanilla” to Frambois”……….definitely not rocket science! Somewhat of a rip off. Please, no more of the “really good vanillas”, “don’t have too much fun without me’s”, “how good is that’s”, the ok, ok, ok, ok’s, & the ha, ha, ha, ha, ha’s [we counted, & it’s always 5 ha ha’s]! We really don’t need the repetitious reminders of what she’s making, i.e. “and that’s the biscuits ready to go in the oven, to go with the berries, to go with the whipped cream, to go with the sauce, that goes with dessert, that will be so good”. The biscuits are going into the oven & that is all we really need to know.
• One more thing about all these supposed college educated, “professionally trained” chefs…….please address the subject of correct pronunciation of two frequently used words: Mascarpone cheese is spelled, Mas-car-pone, not mar-sca-pone……..please, Michael Chiarello, you’re Italian & don’t know how to pronounce the word correctly? I could understand Sandra Lee not being familiar with proper pronunciation, but Tyler, Paula, & Guy also say Marscapone?
• To Guy & Paula: Paprika is 3 syllables, not 4 so therefore, it is pronounced Pap-ri-ka, not Pap-ar-ik-a! It has nothing to do with being Southern [Guy isn’t from the South] – rather, it’s about education. Also it’s Es-presso, not Ex-presso! Please have Alton or Giada do some pronunciation consultations with these five! Honestly, they have their own shows, but speak Ebonics……where can I sign up?
• Speaking of Guy…….like him a lot, but why is it “Fieti” now instead of Fieri? I am Italian, & know that his name would be pronounced with a T rather than R in Italy. However, we are not in Italy, & to change his name @ this point seems a little pretentious. I’m assuming he was tired of being called a fairy?
As far as the Food Network website:
• While I like the new set up, Please, you went to all that trouble to introduce us to all the staff on the web site! Instead, you should spend a little more time having the recipe editors actually do some editing. How many times I have read/written reviews & found, along with others, that many recipes are inaccurate! If one is unable to actually watch the show when the recipe was used, they would be lost---------the TV version is frequently very different from the FN site recipe. If you actually read the recipe reviews you would see that many people have expressed the same complaint as I am. Don’t your editors watch the programs they are editing or read the reviews?
• In addition, you have censured a few of my recipe comments [ I never do negative or directing comments]……yet allow others [ usually “anonymous”] to write both negative, and personal remarks……I always wonder how these idiots get away with it. Sometimes they even cause the ratings to go lower on a recipe review as well. One of the best features of the recipes online is that most people accurately rate the recipes & it helps all of us get a better idea of how it will turn out. When you allow the idiots to make phony comments, they ruin it for all of us serious cooks.
Finally Bob, I will let both you and Natalie know that I WAS a Food Network Panel member and felt pretty proud of that………..not anymore. You falsified the premise of that offshoot. You allowed us to believe you actually listened or cared about our feedback. If that were true, we would see our old favorite show hosts with some desperately needed new material. Instead, we see this constant barrage of new people with show content we could care less about. They never really have anything new to offer.
As the program director, in my opinion, your job should be to take something good & make it the best it can be instead of just adding more junk to make more money.
These are my remarks. Do what you want with them.

Addendum: 5-30-09
I totally agree with Matthew Greenberg’s recent comments @ True/Slant.com…………and I guess a lot of others do as well. Just check the link @ SeriousEats.com: Memo to Food Network: Your programming is going rancid

Other than a slight disagreement about Giada (her food is quite good); and Ina Garten's new show (I thought it would be mostly rehashing - but it's not) I must agree with what Jackie has to say. It's yet another brilliant representation of where TVFN went wrong and why it will continue to be disregarded by its original core audience - serious cooks.

Here's the rub - it's tougher to win back or regain respect than to earn it in the first place. It's going to be a tough road for TVFN, assuming they give a shit what people who actually cook think of what they've done to the once-beloved network.

Isn't Bob Tuschman the one who killed BRAVO?