Month: August 2014

How one man destroyed the Food Network: Guy Fieri has made culinary TV into a viewer’s hell

How one man destroyed the Food Network: Guy Fieri has made culinary TV into a viewer’s hell

For me, watching the Food Network was always an easy escape from the stresses of daily life. There was just something calming about watching chefs in action, and this network had perfected Zen cooking. They’d often use a natural-light filter that made food appear delectable, as if the chefs were blissfully cooking their culinary delights in the sunlit designer kitchen of a tastefully decorated, impeccable home somewhere in the Hamptons. (Well, with Ina Garten, that actually is the case.) I’ve never been anywhere near a sunlit designer kitchen in the Hamptons, but I still found it all oddly soothing. I’d even try to time my Food Network viewing to when I was having a snack, as I’m convinced watching fancy cooking shows makes whatever I’m eating taste better.  So imagine my dismay when the very network that used to assuage my nerves after a rough day became one more source of stress. How did this polar change happen? Two words: Guy Fieri. That’s right, the so-called rock-n-roll comfort food king — but more accurately the …