Tuesday, August 26, 2008

The Idiot Box

Not sure why I'm thinking about TV this evening, perhaps because I've had a pretty full on day - good day , but full on.

But anyway, thought I'd blog about my favourite TV shows...

Grand Designs (8:30 ABC Tuesdays, or on Foxtel all the time)
Ok so generally, renovation shows aren't all that good, and I basically disagree with the rampant materialist notions that guide them. BUT... I do love Grand Designs. I think because most of the projects are so fantastical that it's more about the process of seeing something so unbelievable come to fruition. There's also the drama that big architect-builds bring (pretty much every episode is over-budget and off-schedule). Interesting to see how people justify spending so much money on an object, particularly when it usually causes every other aspect of their life to spin into chaos. It also helps that the presenter is a dapper englishman ;) He is a great narrator, always turning the builds into stories. And he's not afraid to confront the owners with the negative side of their project.

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (No longer on free to air!)
Yes, he's arrogant and insulting, but boy can he earn people's respect. I love this show because it's a great study of human nature. People have dreams for their restaurants that cloud the practicalities, so they end up broke and depressed. Enter Gordon Ramsay: he gives them a kick up the back side and tells them to face the reality. Normally they're really hostile at first and super defensive. Then when they realise he has their best interests at heart, they back down and LOVE him. I think Ramsay's a great example of commanding leadership. I think he needs to chill out and not be so personal sometimes, but generally, he is a great leader, particularly of men. I also like his show The F Word, but I like Kitchen Nightmares more. Not a fan of Hell's Kitchen.

The Cook and the Chef (6:30 ABC Wednesdays)

The ingredients are usually totally obscure (finger limes, sea cucumber etc etc) but they're such a cute duo. Maggie, the quintessential gourmet home cook mother figure, and Simon the rough diamond from the restaurant world. They always come up with yummy looking stuff, plus their theme song is hilarious - think high pitched operatics... Jo and I always try to sing along, and fail.


The Mighty Boosh
(see my previous blog post)


What are your fave shows?

4 comments:

Ben McLaughlin said...

i loved Kitchen Nightmares, but then the market became way too saturated.. he seemed to be on every second night. I didn't like his other shows that much. I reckon he is actually a pretty top bloke. Everyone jumps on the swearing bandwagon, and that he is so harsh, but it's only because he wants the peeps to succeed. He genuinely seems to care about the people. I like his strength of character, and how he can inspire people.

All I know of Mighty Boosh is 'Im old Greeegg!', which was a bit too weird for me:)

Bonnie said...

LOVE Grand Designs. It's the only show I'm sorry to miss if I'm not home on the night it's on.

What did you think of the Adam's family house? I thought it was waaayyyyy too overly ambitious and ended up being a shadow of what I think they were aiming for. Loved those victorian cottages he went to as an example of good neo-gothic. They were awesome!

Christine said...

I too LOVE Grand Designs!
It's fantastic - for all the reasons you've already mentioned.

soph said...

Ben - haha old gregg is a great episode. Slightly bizarre, but so funny. "Wouldya like some creeeamy baileys?"

Bonnie and Chris - yay! Grand Designs fans :) Yeah I thought their attempt at Gothic was pretty uninspiring. The staircase was cool, but it just seemed like they were as you say, being very ambitious considering their lack of experience. And it just didn't stun me like some of the others do..

hmm we'll have to have a Grand Designs watching day or something!