Cooking Under Fire

COOKING UNDER FIRE on PBS

I was pretty dubious when I saw the concept of this program. To date, the hallmark of PBS 'reality' program has been the emphasis on cooperation and teamwork, with a drive to teach the audience about something they normally have little contact with in life. But with CUF it was more of the same (as those other networks which I NEVER watch any more) - ego, competition, and pot-shots. Granted, the contestants were pretty engaging but the playing up combat and ego, EGO, and more ego was a bit much (and that last ego was for the 'hosts/judges').

I can't decide if I want to see more of this kind of programming on PBS - I like that it was different from other PBS shows but I disliked that in its difference it ended up being much like all the other garbage that passes for TV these days. Maybe that is a bit harsh since this show was clearly better than just about any other (non-PBS) 'reality' series and the goals and objectives were set and met, but as the Viewer's Poll points out, there is a disconnect between the Judges and viewers. Maybe PBS viewers believe that one person being "better" is too old school, too egotistical, and too New York. Maybe we choose PBS because we are tired of those ways of getting the job done and prefer accepting that different people bring different skills and by working together, we ALL get the job done better.

It was interesting to see Katie thrown to the wolves at the very end of the show since it suggested that she was just one of the pack from there on in and that too was a bit of a disconnect, but I thought all the way through she would win and clearly, given the goals and objectives of the show, she clearly deserved to win. But many of us will cling to the phrase, "Autumn lives!" Autumn lives in our hearts and best expressed our motto - I'm not better than these other two great women, I'm different! A great big hug to Autumn and Sara - Left Coast Style with the right attitude for me!