one inch frame

Those of you that know me know that one of my favorite people is Alton Brown. One more reason to like him that came out this week is that he has won a Peabody Award, for excellence in broadcasting, for his darn-near miraculous show Good Eats. It’s a first for the Food Network, possibly the last, unless AB wins again later.

I mourn the loss of quality programming on the Food Network. My son is quick to point out to me (being the argumentative teen that he is) that the channel is not called the “Cooking Network,” and, while true, isn’t good enough for me. The tagline they’re using now is “Way more than cooking,” (they even have AB doing a voice over on one of the breaks), but I find that misleading. That implies that there’s cooking, plus other things. In fact, there is almost no cooking going on on that station anymore.

FN has become a cross between the Travel Channel and the Bad Voiceover Network. I’m sincerely tired of all the go-to-this-city-and-eat shows. Even AB’s own “Feasting on Asphalt,” as well done as it may be, is hard to watch sometimes. And if it’s not Raytard or the new guy, Guy, stuffing their faces and making googley eyes at the plates of overpriced, prepared-by-a-stranger grub, it’s Marc Summers doing horrendous voice-overs.

And what cooking is left on the network is also depressing. It’s either someone who has no business instructing people in the kitchen (Raytard, Sandra Lee), nauseatingly repetitive (Bobby Flay, Paula Deen), unattainably gourmet (Ina Garten, Michael Chia-who-the-hell-cares), or, simply meaningless (The two guys who won the contest last year, that Robin person, Nigella (who I’ll watch, umm, just to watch), and the like).

In this sea of mediocrity, Alton Brown’s Good Eats stands out. It is fun to watch, you’ll actually learn something about food and cooking, and the food that he makes is usually delicious. As much as I like to think that AB’s award pitted him against the best that television had to offer, maybe it instead pitted him against the rest of the Network’s anemic lineup. Not a fair fight, AB.

Anyway, congratulations to Alton and his wife and everyone associated with the show. It is one of the finest half-hours on television today, and certainly the only thing that keeps the Food Network on my TV.