Before I go any further I want to say that this isn't another one of those Sandra Lee-bashing articles. I actually like her. Semi-Homemade Cooking is one of my favorite Food Network shows. Having said that, I have a lot of problems with her new (or should I say new-ish) show Money Saving Meals.
I mean, seriously, does this show need to exist? I know times are tough for a lot of families right now, but I don't think that we need to figure out our meals to the point where we know how much each serving costs when we cook the meal for our family. She's always talking about how each serving "only cost $1.07" or "if you buy this you'll save 22 cents!"
I went through a very long period when I was rather addicted to the design and makeover shows on HGTV. I loved shows like Design on a Dime and Divine Design and that show where the woman shows you how to take an old hobby horse and recondition it so it can be used as a wine rack.
I don't watch them half as much as I used to, but I still like them. They're shows that actually show us how we can redo our rooms and homes easily and without spending a ton of money. I find shows like that useful. I might not do exactly what the hosts say, but they always give me ideas for something I might want to do in my own place.
I can't say that same about Designers' Challenge though. I think this might be the worst show on HGTV, and here's why.
According to statistics, over half the people who live in Hungtington, WV are officially obese. But that doesn't mean they want to eat better.
British chef Jamie Oliver has a new series for ABC starting in March titled Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, and as part of the show Oliver wanted to help the people of Huntington eat healthier and lose weight. The people had other plans. They said no to his help, which actually caused Oliver to cry. One radio person in the area actually said "we don't want to sit around and eat lettuce all day," which I'm sure is exactly what Oliver was proposing.
I'd love to hear the complete story about this. Was Oliver really pushed away from the town with pitchforks and torches, or did they simply not want to participate in the show? And did schoolkids really think that potatoes were tomatoes??
You know what I had for dinner last night? Nachos.
All of you people searching for "Martha Stewart" and "pole dancing" on Google finally have the video you've been looking for. She took to the pole (a sentence I hope I never have to type again) on her syndicated show. And yes, that's L.A. Law's Sheila Kelley with Martha. She instructs people on how to do this exercise (and she's married to The West Wing's Richard Schiff).
Ina Garten says that she won't have the former Alias star on the show because she only has real friends on the show with her. I actually have to admire that. A lot of shows would jump at the chance to have any sort of TV or movie celebrity on, just to get some buzz or ratings or celebrity gravitas. It's refreshing that Garten sees the phoniness behind that and actually has people on the show that she knows. I guess Garner has to get to know her first and then they can make soup together.
Tonight at 10, Food Network's 10,000th food competition show debuts. It's called The Worst Cooks in America, and it's hosted by Anne Burrell and Beau MacMillan. I have a big problem with it, and it's not just that it's the 10,000th food competition show on Food Network (OK, maybe I have two problems with it).
Here's the set-up: ten horrible cooks compete in a ten week "boot camp," and whoever improves the most gets $25,000. That sounds like a lot of fun, right? We all know people who can't cook, and if they're trying to cook something a little bit more complex than canned soup, it could be entertaining.
But here's my question: what's to stop these people from lying?
As of 12:01 on New Year's Day, three million TV subscribers in suburban New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were shocked that Food Network and DIY and HGTV and all the Scripps networks were off Cablevision.
I don't know how the corporate folks feel about this kind of negotiation, but as a TV viewer I think it sucks. I used to live in that market and if I was expecting to watch Food Network, I would expect to see it.
I'm sort of a cooking show geek. I can watch Martha Stewart bake a pie or Alton Brown explain how a convection oven works any time of the day, even two in the morning. And it's not like I just started watching cooking shows in the past several years because it was hip to do so, I've been watching them since I was a kid. I was rather addicted to The French Chef and The Galloping Gourmet when I was younger.
What a year! Once we got over the WGA strike, the networks kicked it into high gear and got busy making TV. Except for NBC. Even Jeff Zucker has admitted that NBCU has failed to respond to the need for new programming.
Fortunately, the other channels have been busy and there's been a lot of great television... and some that's just plain awful. But I'm a half-glass full kind of person and I have good feelings about 2009. However, since I don't want to repeat my list from last year, I'll just mention that I could put these 2008 best choices -- Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights, NCIS, The Big Bang Theory and Mad Men -- on my list again. But I'm going to go for an all new list and, thankfully, I had plenty of 'bests' to choose from.
Best 1. Glee. If there was ever a show that was made just for my personal taste, this is probably it. I love the singing and dancing. I get the characters. It even tickles me that I had just as much angst with bullies in high school as these kids. Every episode hasn't been perfect, but it's perfectly fine that they keep striving.
Snoop Dogg dropped by Marthatoday for her annual "Christmas Cookies" show. They made brownies together, though there is one ingredient that Snoop really wanted to put in the brownies but Martha didn't have on the table. She had vanilla though.
I don't think I've ever been as confused by a TV show while I was actually watching it. Maybe because Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong was live or maybe it was because Chef Gordon Ramsay had to move at such a frantic pace to get everything done in an hour.
Whatever the reason, I found myself hating the show at first, then kinda liking it, then hating, then liking it, then finding it a little stupid, and then kinda liking it. On a scale of 1 to 10, which 1 being "I hated it" and 10 being "I loved it," I'll give it a 5.
(S06E14) Well, if you think this competition was getting easier, forget it. This is the toughest Top Chef I can remember. These final four were all excellent and as they gathered for the last leg to the finale, you could see that it was game on.
Unlike other seasons, there aren't any obvious villains in this group. Who are you rooting for? I don't know. I like them all in some ways, and yet there isn't a clear favorite either.
I like Kevin, but the Voltaggio brothers have been excellent, too. Their food really does look good enough to eat! And Jen, for all her insecurities, has been great throughout. Tonight would be a close call. More after the jump.
When Whatever, Martha! was first conceived and I wrote about it, I was doubtful that the show would succeed in really ripping Martha. I thought they're comparing the comedy to Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the press release was setting the bar too high and they would fall on their faces. Well, guess what? They were right and I was wrong. Whatever, Martha! works and it is very funny.
This is no way to wish Paula Deen a Happy Thanksgiving.
At an event in Atlanta this morning, someone threw a ham and it hit Deen right in the face. Now, I'm not sure if they did it deliberately, it seems more like they were shipping/packaging hams and she didn't know it was going to be thrown to her. You can hear someone say "oh my God" in this clip and catch a quick glimpse of her husband as she walks off camera. She's fine though. (Update: I embedded new video.)
Okay, take the idea of Shark Tank (or Dragon's Den if you're a BBC America fan), mix it with the Top Chef folks, offer a great grand prize and hope for the best. That's the recipe behind NBC's new food competition show, United Plates of America. The network is turning to the Magical Elves from Top Chef -- no, seriously, that's the production company's name -- to succeed in the food field where NBC has flopped in the past. Remember The Chopping Block? Remember Rocco DiSpirito's The Restaurant? NBC has more luck with the dieters on The Biggest Loser.
This go-round is not about a single restaurant. It's about a chain of restaurants. To me, that's a questionable goal. Most successful chains start off with one great restaurant and then take off. This concept is go big or go home. Maybe it's more complicated, but it doesn't sound that way.
Before I go any further I want to say that this isn't another one of those Sandra Lee-bashing articles. I actually like her. Semi-Homemade Cooking is one of my favorite Food Network shows. Having said that, I have a lot of problems with her new (or should I say new-ish) show Money Saving Meals. 
I went through a very long period when I was rather addicted to the design and makeover shows on HGTV. I loved shows like Design on a Dime and Divine Design and that show where the woman shows you how to take an old hobby horse and recondition it so it can be used as a wine rack. 
According to statistics, over half the people who live in Hungtington, WV are officially obese. But that doesn't mean they want to eat better.
So 
Tonight at 10, Food Network's 10,000th food competition show debuts. It's called 
Repeat after me, "I want my Food Network, I want my HGTV!" That's what the disgruntled Cablevision subscribers might be shouting soon if 
I'm sort of a cooking show geek. I can watch Martha Stewart bake a pie or Alton Brown explain how a convection oven works any time of the day, even two in the morning. And it's not like I just started watching cooking shows in the past several years because it was hip to do so, I've been watching them since I was a kid. I was rather addicted to The French Chef and The Galloping Gourmet when I was younger.
This was not what I was expecting.
(S06E14) Well, if you think this competition was getting easier, forget it. This is the toughest 
When Whatever, Martha! was first conceived and I wrote about it, 
Okay, take the idea of Shark Tank (or Dragon's Den if you're a BBC America fan), mix it with the 
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