I've also discovered that most shows about people tasting delicious foods in exotic places are boring and depressing. A good example is Bobby Flay and Gia's new show where they romp through Italy ogling and eating great bites of food. But the taste experience doesn't come through. You watch them eat one bite of each thing and say they love it. Meanwhile the viewer gets nothing. At least with Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods, I always learn about the country, the customs, the locals and by the time he eats, I feel like I'm eating with him.
F*ck That's Delicious (on Viceland) with rapper Action Bronson and his crewmates is also great to watch because the flavor of the food just wafts through the screen. Action has a great vocabulary for describing what the food tastes like. My favorite may be the episode in Morocco where they cook the lamb in a hole in a ground next to their restaurant table and explore the open air markets. I never look at a marrow bone now without thinking of him and the delight he gets sucking out the contents. I really have never seen a person who gets so much joy from his food. It's contagious.
Even Guy Fieri at Diners, Drive-ins and Dives makes the food the star of his show, along with the people cooking it. Watching him when it comes time to take his bite, you can sense the taste.
So I don't know why Bobby Flay and Gia's Italy show never gets off the ground. They might as well be wearing tee shirts that say "I got to eat in Italy and all you got was this shirt." I think the show would have been much better if he was paired with someone like Alex Guarnaschelli.
That said, Discovery + also has Bobby Flay's Throwdown and Beat Bobby Flay, both of which are fun to watch.
Lastly, I'll add commericial-free is the only way to go. Hulu, Peacock TV (NBC-related) and CBS all access each let you watch their content commercial free for an extra $5 a month. Considering the $200 a month I save from giving up Comcast, it's a great deal. (for Live TV, I use AT&T Now or an antenna.)
There's really a dearth of good programming available, which I suspect is the result of the pandemic. Watching late night comedians in their houses interview guests via Zoom is really not fun. Nor is it fun to watch music when the artists are in their houses. Even worse is when they're each in their own house and you watch them perform through four screens. Way too disjointed.
At least James Cordon is back in the studio with the band and some crew members to laugh at his jokes, and I never miss his monologue, even if I don't catch it till the next day. There is simply no one else who can make me laugh out loud when I'm standing by myself in my kitchen.
This is an open thread, all topics welcome.
