WTF was that Good Eats last night?
Was anybody else a little disturbed by the Good Eats special last night? It was basically just Alton and Ted Allen on stage in a massive auditorium, doing schtick and setting up clips. But something about it just struck me as off. Maybe it was the size of the audience, and their overjoyed response to basically every word that the guys said.
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14 Comments:
Agree thoroughly. I really like the old backstage look at Good Eats, which they stupidly ran right afterward so you got to see the awful contrast. It's hard to believe that Alton had much to do with it. Sort of a Paula's Party, which has got to be the single worst thing the Foodnetwork has ever produced. And that said, it's of a piece with the new attempt to entertain rather than teach, which they advertised AB as being so good at!
Besides that, Alton seems to have lost a great deal of weight and to be thinner than he's every been. Seemed to have hollow cheeks. (Hope it was intentional and that he's okay. Maybe he was so appalled by how he looked in the Welch's commercial that he decided to do something about it, but it was a real change.) So the whole effect was that it appeared they'd body snatched Alton Brown and put somebody else in there.
AB's a graduate of NECI and he came back and gave a talk with a Q&A as a fundraiser (a big fat $10 a ticket) a few years ago. He was delightfully the same person in person as he is on his show, as you would have expected him to be. Broadcasting something like that would have pleased his many fans a lot more than last night's spectacle.
lemonfair at 7:14PM on 10/11/09
The whole thing was so obviously scripted and fake. And yes, his show has that campy quality and it's great, but it was just awkward in this context. I especially disliked when Tim Allen "interviewed" Alton. I had entered the contest on the food network website and I've never been happier to not have won something.
I really loved the backstage look. They showed it right before the 10th anniversary special here. I hadn't seen it before so it was cool to see all the stuff that goes into making the show.
gingercookiewithlime at 8:26PM on 10/11/09
Yeah the "behind the scenes" episode was far far batter, and more in-line with the Good Eats aesthtetic.
DanielJ at 10:44PM on 10/11/09
I have to admit, when I saw the hype about the live show in Atlanta, I had thoughts about going -- even going so far as checking airfare. After seeing the show last night, I'm glad I didn't go. Alton may be great when he's doing his show, but that thing last night was just awful, awful, awful. And I agree -- he lost enough weight to remind me of Steve Jobs before he took his sabbatical.
DaveFaris at 11:28PM on 10/11/09
It looked like a high school talent show, minus the talent or production value... I just can't believe AB had anything to do with this.... Say it aint so AB!
Pavlov at 5:44AM on 10/12/09
I also looked into attending the ATL show but after the "insiders" grabbed up all the decent tix, there were only lousy seats left with way high ticket prices.
I watched Behind the Eats and enjoyed it very much. I also have the Anniversary Special recorded and will watch it now.
therealchiffonade at 8:34AM on 10/12/09
Yeah, it was a pretty lame tribute to an otherwise stellar show.
therealchiffonade at 9:03AM on 10/12/09
I agree, with y'all.
betteirene at 10:11AM on 10/12/09
cool-i was mad b/c i missed it, but not so much now. would still like to catch the behind the scenes thing tho. i'm sure fn will be running it continually before long.
gastronomeg at 10:22AM on 10/12/09
Have to agree....it fell completely FLAT.
arm1970 at 12:11PM on 10/12/09
i dvr'd it, maybe will just hit delete now.
spiceweasel at 2:52PM on 10/12/09
Arg, no, didn't hit delete. I watched all 30 cringeworthy minutes with my finger on the fast forward button. SUCH a bad idea, and its very clear that the campy skits + mr wizard formula works only in its original setting. On stage it falls as flat high school talent night. I actually think Ted Allen may have saved the show. AB, don't jump the shark!
spiceweasel at 9:10AM on 10/13/09
LOL! Agreed. I was hoping for more. Maybe the live show the audience attended over the summer was better than what we were served on TV? I think in general, Food Network has a serious editing problem.
WickedGoodDinner at 11:56PM on 10/13/09
I'd l ike to make believe the anniversary special never happened (AFTER I give thanks for not wasting $ on tix) and hold the "Behind the Eats" ep near to my heart as the true Good Eats anniversary special.
therealchiffonade at 12:35PM on 10/14/09