food tv

In what is becoming a disturbing trend, more and more celebrity chefs are hamming it up on screen and being made to look like cartoon characters. Take the beginning of Hell's Kitchen, for example. The cheftestants frolic around stupidly: one throws a giant animated tomato, another catches the tomato, and yet another slices the tomato in half with a larger-than-life animated knife. Clearly these scenes were filmed on a green screen.

Rotoscoping — the film technique in which live action is mixed with animation — can also be scene in the opening credits of Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals. In it, Ray spins and sits on a colossal clock. The Rescue Chef — another Food Network show starting Danny Boome — is oozing with cheese. Even Bravo has jumped on the bandwagon with the super-cheesy portrait photos of the Season 4 Top Chef contestants.

Am I the only one whose noticed and is bothered by this trend? What do you think? Has food television becoming too cheesy?

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I never got into the first two seasons of "The Next Food Network Star." However, when I heard that the producers were "stepping up their game" this season, I decided to give it another try. Last night's two-hour premiere introduced us to 11 hopeful stars and you know what? It wasn't that bad. As the promos say, it's an all new season, all new rules. And from the look of things, it looks like the producers have taken a page out of Top Chef's rule book. There's more behind the scenes, at the dorms and in the kitchen, as well as faster-paced editing. To see what I thought of last night's premiere, read more

As promised, here's the rest of the Food Network Awards red carpet coverage. These chefs really look glamorous when they're out of their day-to-day clothes (I must say I loved Alton suited-up and Nigella looks stunning here). And I know that by saying stuff like this I am just propagating the whole celebrity & beauty over actual amazing food (notice that these food awards somehow didn't include any prominent restaurant chefs and even the likes of Batali and Bourdain are absent from this red carpet moment). But hey! these are (for the most part) talented folks on a red carpet, enjoying their moment. So let's cut the industry some slack...

To check out more red carpet coverage, including pictures of Rachael Ray, Katie Lee Joel, Dave Lieberman and others, read more

This weekend marked the First Annual Food Network Awards, which took place at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival and will air on April 15 (why such the long wait?!). The event was recorded "live" in front of an audience, however I put live in quotes because according to The Palm Beach Post there's going to be a lot of editing.

Between all the stops and starts for sound and lighting cues, the technical glitches (Emeril actually had to re-present an award after the show was finished because he mispronounced something) and the general confusion, it took about three hours for the show to be done (and I believe it’s only a 90 minute broadcast — it’s slated to air April 15).

Sorta lame if you ask me, but oh well, you know we're all going to watch it anyways.

To see some of the celebrity chefs walking their own red carpet, read more

For the last six years, the South Beach Wine & Food Festival is a big deal in the foodie world. It's a "star-studded" event that keeps growing year after year. This year the event, which is sponsored by the Food Network, has a new feature to offer: the "first-ever Food Network Awards." The event, which takes place on February 23, will be hosted by Emeril Lagasse and will honor "achievements in the world of food and entertaining."

Some of the presenters include Catherine Zeta Jones & Aaron Eckhart (they're in an upcoming film called "No Reservations" a remake of "Mostly Martha," a European film about a chef) as well as all the usual Food Network stars (Rachael, Giada, Bobby, Paula, Alton, and everyone's favorite Sandra Lee).

To learn more, including what kind of awards they're giving - and surprisingly they're actually food awards and not just Food Network based awards - read more

So I was rummaging around on the internet and came across these photos of Guy Fieri hanging out with aging rocker, Sammy Hagar. They were taken at The Chop House (Guy's restaurant) in Santa Rosa, CA on January 28. Although it's obviously a publicity stunt for Cabo Wabo Tequila (or is it for Guy's Big Bite?), it looks like the Next Food Network Star is enjoying his time as a celebrity chef.

Have you guys seen his show? I assumed I'd dislike it, but I caught a fish taco episode the other day and actually ended up craving the food all day long. Guy definitely seems to be a dude's dude, but I suppose that's the one demographic that Food TV wasn't catering to.

To check out more images (including several of Guy & Sammy cooking, as well as the final food results), read more