After viewing Monday’s episode I think so. He has become as pretentious as the people he points his fingers at and calls pretentious, maybe more.
“Oh, that’s the best deep fried carmelized doo-doo liver I ever had!”
I think he should stick to foreign countries and their street foods.
When he had a ridiculously blatant Slate credit card product placement in the middle of an otherwise good Istanbul episode a while back, I knew the show was on a downward slide.
I enjoyed Monday’s episode, and it strikes me as an odd one to single out for that particular criticism. He took a back seat for most of the show, and made it abundantly clear that he was just tagging along in the wake of these famous chefs like all the other journalists. It would be pretentious if he suggested he was somehow their (the chefs’) peer.
Mike - you dont like him. You call him an ass. So why watch the show? I’m with Brian, but hey, different strokes, etc. But it’s always mystified me when people will diss something… then watch it all the time.
Sure, some shows are better than others. A few are spectacular, some are duds. That’s true of any endeavor though.
Paula is doing Ham commercials on TV. Product placement on his show may be out of his hands. That said, if you are being offered money to sell stuff in front of a camera in lieu of working, good for you.
I think it has run it’s course. At some point, you run out of cool places to go… kinda like one of my all time favorites, “The Thirsty Traveler.” Brauch would go learn about a region’s favorite alcoholic drink, get totally blitzed and then have dinner at somebody’s house. When you find yourself doing a show on spit-fermented tree bark juice, it’s time to call it a day and go do play-by-play for Iron Chef.
No. Some shows aren’t so great and sometimes I feel Tony struggling for dialogue, but man some really hit the mark. They run such an ad-hoc production that there really isn’t a mold so when they nail a good one, it’s like being brand new. Some recent episodes, like Rome, El Bulli, and the one down in Louisiana with the pig roast, with his brother down in Brazil, were positively epic. It’s not just about where you go, or even what you eat, it’s subculture and you never run out of that. There are stories that have nothing to do with the food and are pure social commentary. They are at their best when they romanticise.
I don’t think the “problem” is the subject matter; there are plenty of great visits/subjects. I think the problem is the format: highly predictable pontificating about the “right” way to create food; repititious comments from show to show, often about his hangovers/drinking prowess. Basically, the guy can be annoyingly pompous. And, the overdubbed commentary part of a very predictable
“schtick” Shtick Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster, as almost all shticks are (yiddish words are so concise!).
Though I am very tired of his shtick (which perfectly describes his one-trick pony routine), I never tire of finding some interest in his activities. So, I continue to watch. But, I also realize the show’s more about him than anything else, unlike some other such shows…like Zimmern/Adam Richman, etc. They can be predictable, but they stay away from the psycho-babble and chest-thumping and let their subjects shine through. Even Fieri manages to do that. I don’t think those others take themselves…or their missions…anywhere nearly as seriously…in a good sense.
Definitely ran his course and is now just milking the cow for all the cream he can extract. Can’t blame him for cashing in though when its there for the taking. He does travel to some interesting places but the show is just so shallow and after an hour I ask myself why did I sit through that for the last hour!!
He has an opportunity to really show something interesting about the area he is visiting but seems to be really orchestrated by producers, directors and other members of his entourage and probably in a mad rush to get to the next filming location.
I would like to have a drink with him though.