Ever since the writer’s strike began I have had to adjust my nightly rituals. Monday night no longer consists of the How I Met Your Mother group. Thursday evenings are now devoid of the people who work at Dunder-Mifflin or those who make that TV show with Tracy Jordan.
I have gotten a lot of reading done. I completed two books already this month. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. I figured that most of my television watching, however, would consist of the BBC or decorating shows (the wife loves those things). I was actually very surprised as to what channel consumes our television. Are you ready? Chef Stu will be so proud. That’s right it is the Food Network.
To be specific it is three particular shows. The first to grab my attention was Iron Chef America. The competition aspect of it all and the unique foods and secret ingredient get me every time. I get annoyed when the judges dump on a particular dish. Hey, those guys are the pros, just shut up and eat it.
Iron Chef, like a good gateway drug will tend to do, led to Throwdown! With Bobby Flay. Yeah, I think Bobby Flay is pretty darned cool. I like how he tries really hard to one-up someone who makes a specialty item. You just know that the person being challenged by him, who is generally not famous, feels special that a guy of Flay’s caliber is trying to make their specialty better than they can. It bugs me though when the judges choose Bobby over the specialist.
Another shoot off for us from Iron Chef was Jamie At Home which is a show by British chef Jamie Oliver who I think is wonderful. I think SueBoo told us that he is the guy from a show called The Naked Chef. I may just enjoy him because his dishes are quick and wonderful and I dig the Brit slang and accent. Don’t forget that I am an Anglophile.
Anyway, I just wonder how much of these shows we will watch once all of the shows on the big networks come back? I almost hope that something happens to drag the strike out even longer. Oh well. Do ya’ll watch any of these shows? Can you believe that I talked about cooking on TV but didn’t once mention Giada? Oops, I just blew it.
I support the writer’s strike … but I miss HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, THE OFFICE, and 30 ROCK, too! Especially, THE OFFICE. Oh, Michael Scott, how I miss you.
However, I’m also a big fan of the FOOD NETWORK … gotta love IRON CHEF AMERICA and anything with Bobby Flay. 
Have you seen the BBC TV show called LIFE ON MARS? It’s awesooooome! It’s kind of like LAW AND ORDER with a twist. The show only ran for two seasons (like most BBC shows), and I loved every minute of the show.
And thanks for the comment about Will Hoge … he’s a new artist that I have recently discovered, and I think he is simply amazing. Love love love love his voice.
I miss the Office soooooo much. That’s our favorite show. But I love the Food Network! I watch Iron Chef with my kids and they love it too.