Alton Brown: Under-rated, Underappreciated, and Unaware

Seeing as my blog has finally found it's way onto Google(after weeks of trying to get it noticed), I thought I wanted to try this One. More. Time.



So, here goes-and, Mr. Brown, if you're out there, and you see this, just an acknowledgement that you've read this, would be greatly appreciated.







Seems you've had quite the summer. From trying to donate to a webpage whose administrator basically admitted to not being a fan and then going on to let her readers ridicule you again, to being nearly crucified because of your endorsement of Diamond Chrystal Salt, being compared to TV Evangelists, it seems that people just don't get you.



And then finally, yesterday, as I was having my 'quiet time' and surfing the internet, I found an article about Guy Fieri, which contained this quote: "Susie Fogelson, head of marketing for Food Network explained his (Fieri's ) appeal. "I haven't seen anyone connect to this range of people since Emeril".-end quote.



Um. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot?



Excuse me, and, gentle reader, indulge me, as I blow a proverbial gasket. Sigh. I have watched the Food Network from Day One, when they re-ran the same shows,. showed very old cooking shows, which I didn't mind, because it gave me a chance to appreciate Julia Child in a different way than I did when I watched her when I was small. I enjoyed the network greatly, but around 1999, it seemed to be on it's way out.



Then, one dreary and miserable August night in '99, I was channel surfing, and stopped there as I often did. Here was a new show, "Good Eats"-hosted by a guy who looked like a cross between Thomas Dolby and Sherman from the old Bullwinkle cartoons. I stopped, I watched, and at the end of that first half hour I was shaking my head, and laughing. Two things ran through my mind-THAT was a cooking show? , and, I have got to see this show again.





The more I watched the show, the more I liked it. Not only did I realize that Mr Brown knew his stuff, but it was one of the few things that could make me laugh, even when I'd had the worst day. And for a few years, the Food Network had the same idea, and Alton was treated like the Golden Boy at FN. Until, the season of The Next Food Network Star when Mr. Fieri won. Somehow, after that, the dynamic of the network changed.

Gone was the emphasis on instructional cooking shows. In it's place were more and more loud, obnoxious entertainment, 'reality' or 'challenge shows whose aim seemed to 'entertain' rather than teach. And, that's sad.
What's sadder was when I heard Mr Brown himself talk in an appearance about the fact that the network wouldn't let him do anymore "Feasting " programs--they'd (because of 'budget constraints' rather funnel that money into things like "Diners, Drive-in's and Dives", that insipid half hour where the host stuffs his face, talks with his mouth full, and asks very possibly the stupidest questions ever to the owners/managers of the places he visits. Nothing is really learned by watching.

And I don't know if maybe these recent developments have left you dishearted, discouraged, and maybe a little jaded. Perhaps that's why you behaved rather pompously when you were on The Next FN Star this year.
But Alton, maybe you're forgetting something. There are fans of yours who've followed you from the beginning, and feel the same way I do about FN, and the same way you do. We know you wanted to do "Ten Foods That Changed the World" and it was seemingly taken away from you, revamped and given to Mo Rocca, (why?). We know you are underused and under-appreciated at FN.
But, we want to help. However, we need to know that you still care about us. Take a moment to consider your die-hard fan base-those who blog about you, promote you, and still, well, love you. Don't group us in with the others, who don't get it. In other words, please. Let us know you're still out there, and you care. I feel that you do, you've just lost sight of it. I hope I'm right.
Thanks for listening.
Please feel free to comment.