Good Eats
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Good Eats is a television cooking show created and hosted by Alton Brown that airs in North America on the Food Network. Likened to television science educator Bill Nye, Alton explores the science behind the cooking, the history of different foods, and the advantages of different kinds of cooking equipment, especially multi-purpose tools like aluminum foil. Each episode of Good Eats has a distinct theme, which is typically an ingredient or dish, but also may be a more generic theme such as Thanksgiving or "man food".
The show has a distinctive visual style involving dutch angles shot from cameras placed inside and on various items in the kitchen, including the ovens, refrigerator, and microwave oven. In each episode, Alton and other actors play various characters to tell the story of the food. For example, in the episode "The Big Chili", Alton played a cowboy trying to rustle up the ideal pot of chili. He also uses various makeshift teaching aids to demonstrate scientific concepts. Each episode of Good Eats begins with an introductory monologue that always either ends with or leads into the phrase "good eats", and the show typically closes with the same phrase.
Brown requires members of the show's filming crew to appear on screen at some point, at least in minimal roles. There are several characters that are supposedly part of his family, though most are actors. His real grandmother Ma Mae did appear in an episode in which she shared her recipe for buttermilk biscuits. Additionally, Brown's daughter Zoey has made at least one appearance on the show.
The pilot for Good Eats first aired on the Chicago, Illinois PBS affiliate WTTW in July 1998. The show was picked up by the Food Network in July 1999, and as of 2005, new episodes are still airing on that network.
External links
- Food Network: Good Eats (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ea)
- Alton Brown's Official Site (http://www.altonbrown.com/)