I'm not fond of Emeril, so I don't mind seeing his show vamoose.

But I will love the Food Network so long as it keeps my beloved Alton Brown on the air.

Yes! I totally love Alton Brown. He's intelligent, I learn a lot of stuff watching his shows, and it doesn't hurt that he's cute.

He IS cute. But mostly, I love the pseudo-scientific approach, and the way he adds in a storyline and characters to move his show forward. It's a very fresh approach.

And don't forget Robert whatzisface, the guy that does Dinner Impossible. He's a real chef too. And cute enough, if you like that pinched-features look (not my thing, but he isn't ugly, at any rate).

Mario's never on when I'm watching, but I used to like his show. Rachael Ray is cute as a button but I just want to smack her whenever she says "EVOO" or "Yummo". Still, her show has the right idea, showing people how to make good things quickly.

Alton comes the closest to a show that teaches you how to select the basic ingredients and equipment, but I wish there was a show that did exclusively that. I don't suppose it could be very interesting, however. Even Alton sometimes says "Get it from a reputable supplier (blah blah) on the internet (blah blah)" And it's like, without your telling me, exactly how am I to know who is a reputable internet supplier? I know they can't promote other businesses, but it gets annoying. I think Food Network is missing out on a potential line of business here. I know they're getting into the equipment business, if the stuff I saw (in abundance) at Kohl's is anything to go by, but they should consider opening up a specialty food items store on their website. Especially if they keep the prices reasonable... people would flock there.

Morri you should check out this show Americas Test Kitchen. My Aunt was telling me about it. It's on PBS. They make recommendations on just about everything from equipment to produce.

There's also a show on I think Fine Living called Chefs Shop or some such. I've only caught it a few times. They have real chefs that go out shopping for various equipment/ingredients and they show you what to look for.

America's Test Kitchen aka Cooks Magazine and Cooks Country Magazine absolutely, positively rules. They don't accept advertising so their recommendations are on the level.

Rachael Ray's voice is about as pleasant as the sound of a steel rake being dragged across a chalkboard.

I don't watch any of the shows on Food Network to learn how to make dishes. I just try to take away techniques and pretty much any of the cooking oriented shows provide those in some way.

The increasingly pervasive non-cooking shows are generally useless to me. I've learned the occasional thing from Rachel Ray so I am ok with her. I don't watch daytime TV so I don't end up feeling burned out with her. Emeril is annoying but at least he cooks on his show instead of visiting restaurants to be told "sorry, secret recipe" or running video press releases for processed food manufacturers.

I was watching French TV last night and thought of this thread.

There is a cooking show with two hosts who take on-camera cooking lessons with a different chef each episode. Usually, they make two dishes (that are realistic for the home cook) in the half hour. The cooking lessons take place on the chef's home turf. That way, you also get a glimpse into a different famous kitchen each week, as well as the front of the house.

The format could work really well in this country, too.

A format like that seems to be somewhat common on local PBS type cooking shows. I know there's one here in the Bay Area that always seems to be cooking in some area top restaurant.

But I can't give details. Being that it is PBS, I immediately fall asleep out of ingrained habit.

Who needs Lunesta when you've got PBS, eh? The hosts on the French cooking show don't fawn - this may be a critical difference.