FOOD TAKES OVER TV PROGRAMMING
A couple of decades ago, there were a few cooking shows on daytime public television. Now there’s a wide variety of food programming — entire networks, hit primetime series and syndicated daily talk shows.
For instance, “The Chew” premieres Sept 26 on ABC, Season 6 of “Every Day with Rachael Ray” begins September 19, “Kitchen Nightmares” season 4 premiere is Sept 23 on FOX, and “Cake Boss” is back on TLC on Sept 26.
Chef Emeril Lagasse is one of the pioneers of this trend, as the Food Network’s first real star. After hosting over 2,000 shows on Food Network, and authoring 15 cookbooks, he’ll be launching a new daily series, “Emeril’s Table,” Sept. 26 on the Hallmark Channel, at 11 a.m. ET (consult your local program guide for times in your area).
In fact, food is replacing what used to be the mainstay of daytime TV — the soap opera. People are going for those steamy kitchen scenes instead of steamy bedroom scenes.
It will be interesting to see if “The Chew” attracts the fans of the two soaps that it replaced, “All My Children,” and “One Life To Live.” Chefs Mario Batali and Michael Symon are among the hosts of the new show, patterned somewhat like “The View.”
As for reality-type shows, there’s “Top Chef,” ‘Chopped,” “Kitchen Nightmares,” and my favorite, “Biggest Loser.” Even news shows routinely include a cooking/food segment in their programs.
It’s no longer dinner and a movie. Dinner IS the movie.