I think you're on to something! I recall HS friends' parents outlawing television viewing, and now in retrospect think they had reason.. Used to watch Food C. but am similarly disappointed. Bemusing to watch production values, makeup, etc increase while content withers..

Also is seems that these shows, everyone has to have a sob story to garner sympathy and has to repeat something like "I want to give back..." to prove empathy.

Great chefs are quite often assh*les, not humanitarians.
So shut the pie hole, and cook.

I just commented on Good Eats.
Yes, it is/was a great show.

Good Eats is a great show.
It's what I used to expect to be on the Food Channel.

LOL! Love your response!

everyone need a trophy. I KNOW there are many many many chefs that would put these glory seekers in the back of the line.

It's part of the conspiracy to get us to eat more carbohydrates and die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (snarc)

I watch Triple D and, when Directv puts it on, Good Eats.

An additional comment about the 'socialist' side of these programs and it may not have been intentional ... was the "Stay Hungry" tagline of the Cooking Channel. Was it a watch and wish you could eat like the elitists, or was it continue learning and growing your skills? Subtle.

Having worked in a commercial kitchen, FN is NOT reality. We work together to provide the best customer experience we can ... if someone 'invents' or adapts to ingredient supplies, the executive chef approves or not and we go on. The only show that used to be on FN (now on Cooking Channel) that was worth watching was Good Eats (a purely technique instruction/entertainment show).

Vikings, justified, Elementary...

Have you ever seen the movie "Matilda", after the Roald Dahl book? The parents are tv addicts, especially to a "game" show called "The Million-Dollar Sticky". The contestant is shut into a transparent cube the size of a phone booth, and honey starts to fall down on him, followed by paper money. He gets to keep whatever sticks to him.
Just wait for the same thing, except that it's run by Gordon Ramsey, has the entire contents of a beehive dumped on the contestant, and he gets to keep whatever sticks to him. "OMG, wh-e-e-e-r-r-r-s-s-s-z-z-z the QUEEN!?!"
OR, what Animal said.

"What is this crap?"

American television.

What, you expected something better?

It's crap, yes... like 99.99 percent of what's on t.v. (The Walking Dead excluded, of course.)