The Cooking Channel to replace Fine Living
Scripps is giving up on the "Fine Living" concept, which is no surprise considering it felt like a TV version of now failed Gourmet magazine.
Sort of like how MTV stopped showing music videos, and created MTV2 for the music. Scrips is creating a network for all the cooking shows no longer shown in the The Food Network.
Rather than start a channel from scratch, Scripps is using all the contracts in place for "Fine Living" to launch "The Cooking Channel" as a direct replacement.
Maybe we'll finally get to see all the old shows like David Rosengarten's Taste. Or those creepy episodes of James Beard's cooking show where he was surrounded by chirpy 1960s housewives? Sort of a bald fat version of Don Draper in a backwards universe.
http://news.google.com/news/story?cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&ncl=d367IFdjRFxbY_M17PHBvTPGfH9CM
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22 Comments:
Thank God.
therealchiffonade at 8:18PM on 10/09/09
Let's hope that Molto Mario and Emeril Live make the cut--the latter especially is a celebration of how food should be taught.
Whatever, Martha and the original Iron Chef deserves to be preserved--the former is hilarious and snarky, and the latter is humbling. Scripps--please keep them all!!
ElizabethS at 10:24PM on 10/09/09
HOORAY!
betteirene at 12:46AM on 10/10/09
We can only HOPE they're going to do it this way.
arm1970 at 6:05AM on 10/10/09
Who has time to watch TV?
dmcavanagh at 10:34AM on 10/10/09
I hope the COOKING channel lives up to its name.
It seems the other specialty channels, History, Speed, MTV, TLC, Food, etc inevitably drift away from their original focus and become nothing but reality shows(Ice Road Truckers and Pawn Stars are history?) full of midgets, multiple births, tattooed freaks, cake competitions, and pimped out cars.
I pray the Cooking channel isn't full of cake competitions and Marc Summers type crap in two years.
Remander at 11:24AM on 10/10/09
"It seems the other specialty channels, History, Speed, MTV, TLC, Food, etc inevitably drift away from their original focus and become nothing but reality shows(Ice Road Truckers and Pawn Stars are history?) full of midgets, multiple births, tattooed freaks, cake competitions, and pimped out cars."
ROFLMAO :>)
Thanks for the NON PC post, it was refreshing to say the least.
tusti at 12:55PM on 10/10/09
@Remander - from your lips...
I can't wait for this to happen. I have a feeling the new channel will be a haven for foodies with real cooking instruction, Ace of Cakes (leave Duff alone!) and no sign of Sandra Lee.
I say an e-mail campaign is in order to make it known we want the old Julia shows re-run in addition to James Beard, Galloping Gourmet and any other great old series we can get our hands on.
Maybe grab the series CHEF! It only takes a bit of imagination - why not air some of the foodie movies like Babette's Feast and Big Night.
OMG, I hope they start airing TASTE again - and get David Rosengarten in front of a camera again!!
therealchiffonade at 1:35PM on 10/10/09
Taste is my favorite cooking series of all time. (Good Eats is a very close second) I loved how he focused on one ingredient and actually educated *gasp* us pretty thoroughly on it. I miss that show so bad!
scarletini at 1:56PM on 10/10/09
So tell me - does anyone have any objections to running things like foodie movies and the vintage cooking shows? Still very food-related, not selling anything and enjoyed by hard core foodies (unlike some of the "challenge" shows which got ridiculous).
Believe me, I could sit in front of the TV for a long time watching 30 minute cooking shows where I actually learn something - but kicking back with an intelligent, food-based, non-teaching show wouldn't be a bad way to chill.
Just no "Secret Life Of.." please.
therealchiffonade at 5:22PM on 10/10/09
I can't imagine Taste is coming back, even on The Cooking Channel. It would be great, but considering how much material the Food Network has that is NEVER replayed...
By the way, for those who think Taste was just a product of good production and research behind the scenes, and anyone could have been the "talent".... you forgot about the attempt to replace Rosengarten. They brought in the woman famous for writing books about Microwave cooking, and the result was awful!
He did a series of web videos on Cheese a in 2008.
http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/07/david-rosengarten-devour-tv-cheese-101-videos.html
David's current website is:
http://rosengartenchews.tumblr.com/
peekpoke at 6:40PM on 10/10/09
Gosh, I hope they play "unwrapped" ad nauseum.... Oh wait, that's the food network...well maybe they could do rice crispy like cakes over and over... err..... never mind...30 minute... uh.... yummo?!.... screw it.... I have no hope for this awful affront to "cooking".
Pavlov at 6:51PM on 10/10/09
Bring back the Frugal Gourmet!
Remander at 2:35AM on 10/11/09
This would be a good move. The foodnetwork has turned out to be intentionally named. It's about food (sort of) but not about cooking. Can. not. stand. all the challenge shows. Even some of the competition stuff I used to like occasionally (iron chef, throwdown) has so much company that I can't stand them any more either. (But I do occaionally like me some Unwrapped).
Public television has revived some of the old shows, and even our local station devotes a lot of time to cooking shows. Have you caught the relatively new PBS channel "create?" Some of the old shows (Simply Ming, Jacque and Julia) are on there, as well as Christopher Kimball's 2 shows. Lydia seems to be on nonstop. The cooking shows are all mixed in with other stuff, but there are worthy cooking programs.
lemonfair at 8:29AM on 10/11/09
This is cool. Food Networking programmers had a deaf ear to those of us screaming out here in Cyber Space. The parent Scripps is shuffling around FLN due to it's revenue loss. Food Network I believe is there #1 revenue (at least for tv). So this makes sense and I for one look forward to it.
I hear the change won't hit till 2Q or 3Q 2010.
Ribster at 9:14AM on 10/11/09
This is very exciting!! I do hope they bring back some actual cooking shows. I'm really tired of the Food Network "must fill demographic" shows they've spitting out lately...Neely, Cooking for Real, Money saving meals, ten dollar dinners - ugh. (although, I do enjoy Brian Boitano - it's very entertaining)
I'd LOVE to see Julia, Emeril, Mario - I loved Natalie Dupre and Marcel Desaulniers. Old Victory Garden shows would be wonderful, too. And despite the downfall of Gourmet, I do love their PBS show, Diary of a Foodie.
I already know how to follow a recipe. Teach me something I don't know.
WickedGoodDinner at 12:28PM on 10/11/09
Reading the press release, I believe it's more likely they will be producing new shows, trying to create new assets like Ray or Emeril.
I very much doubt they will show anything as controversial as the Frugal Gourmet. His primary attraction was charm and personality. The actual cooking in the early shows wasn't particularly good. In the later shows, it was less charming, more about his assistant, travel, showing food, and less actual cooking. How do you show a show mainly known for family friendly charm when the host is now most famous for his legal/sexual troubles?
Your best bet is to look for the Frugal Gourmet episodes offered on LaserDisc, VHS and Beta.
peekpoke at 5:31PM on 10/11/09
Yeah, it'd be great...right up until they decide there's not enough viewers and start porting over the more crappy cooking shows to up their ratings. But maybe I'm too pessimistic.
Amandarama at 9:12AM on 10/12/09
Isn't the little guy who was the assistant on the Frugal Gourmet the one he got in trouble over? Kevin or something like that?
I'm really happy that the Food Network is doing this so people can stop bitching that it isn't non-stop cooking shows. Instead, those people can now bitch about the Cooking Channel when they start showing something other than cooking.
RegrettableFoodie at 9:37AM on 10/12/09
a cooking show full of midgets, multiple births, tattooed freaks, cake competitions, and pimped out cars, what a concept. Lets put them in kitchen stadium and have them deliver it to the judges accross town in 30 minutes or less or its free. Maybe do a NASCAR tie in. Sounds like a category killer.
Meat guy at 10:45AM on 10/12/09
The Frugal Gourmet's assistant was Craig Wollam. He was not assaulted by Jeff Smith. The only recent record of Craig Wollam I've seen are some court records from a child support dispute which spells out his rapid decline in income after The Frugal Gourmet retired from public life.
Jeff Smith was never charged with a crime, and settled out of court with the plaintiffs.
Cooking star pays plaintiffs in sexual abuse suits
peekpoke at 1:06AM on 10/13/09
It will be great to have another food channel option! Not that I don't enjoy the Food Network and Bravo's Top Chef (because I do).
Chew on That at 4:54PM on 10/16/09