UK Fascination with Food

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IamnobodyIamnobody Frets: 6887
It's very rare I sit and watch TV these days but on my own today having dinner so flicked the box on and I have the choice of:

BBC1 - Bargain Hunt

then...

BBC2 - Hairy Bikers food 
ITV - James Martin food
Channel4 - Eat the Week with Iceland

If you excuse the pun - is there really an appetite for these programmes. We are 50/50 in our household the Mrs could watch them all day whereas I wouldn't watch one unless you put a gun to my head...
Previously known as stevebrum
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Comments

  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    cheap telly production
    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
    __________________________________
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  • DominicDominic Frets: 16013
    Not just UK ......Spain,Italy ,Germany ....just the same
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  • IamnobodyIamnobody Frets: 6887
    Dominic said:
    Not just UK ......Spain,Italy ,Germany ....just the same
    Ah ok. Maybe I'm the odd one out then. I can't think of anything worse or less entertaining.
    Previously known as stevebrum
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  • ronnybronnyb Frets: 1742
    I've always thought this that the majority of the  British people aren't really fascinated with their food. It's far more of a social thing in other countries ie France and Spain. Families getting together in the evening. Like has been commented before, pardon the pun, we're force fed this stuff because it's cheap television.
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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    Japan too.
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  • guitarfishbayguitarfishbay Frets: 7953
    It's the fascination with buying/selling/doing up houses I don't get. Food is way more interesting from a cultural perspective.
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  • DominicDominic Frets: 16013
    Cheap,easily made tv fodder 
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  • chillidoggychillidoggy Frets: 17136
    It's like the post Chrimbo gym membership: we watch all the programmes, buy all the recipe books, and after the initial flurry of activity, we revert to cooking the same old shite we always cook!


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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    I think they need to be careful how they store the programmes.

    Every time I see one is going to be repeated it makes me feel ill.
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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    I don't think that's every night though is it, when it's comedy night or drama night or documentary night or whatever doesn't mean theres an unhealthy appetite for those as well does it?
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
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  • WhitecatWhitecat Frets: 5378
    Maslow's hierarchy of needs - food, shelter, sex are right at the bottom, the "foundation" of the pyramid, if you will. So there's Masterchef, Location Location Location, & Love Island. It's basal sh*t.
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14324
    edited July 2017
    There must be millions of saddos out there, getting vicarious enjoyment from looking at pretty pictures of visually attractive food whilst, in all probability, munching away on microwavable convenience junk food.

    Reminds me of the restaurant scene in the film Brazil. The clientele stare at laminated photographs of luxurious meals whilst swallowing grey, sludgy stuff.
    Be seeing you.
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  • FreebirdFreebird Frets: 5821
    edited July 2017
    It's lazy TV. Everytime a new type of programme comes along, the copycats are not far behind.
    If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it.
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  • RavenousRavenous Frets: 1484
    Iamnobody said:
    BBC2 - Hairy Bikers food 
    ITV - James Martin food
    Channel4 - Eat the Week with Iceland

    If you excuse the pun - is there really an appetite for these programmes.

    When I'm parked in front of a telly with nothing to do, I'll watch any niche program with an engaging presenter.

    I once spent four hours drinking beer and watching non-stop Norm Abram woodworking programmes. I was crashing at my Folks', and they'd popped out for the day leaving me with a telly and a fridgeful of beer...

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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    I love watching food programs.  As a teenager I actually loved watching ready, steady, cook. Despite all it's cheesiness I think I learned a lot from it.

      After a few hundred episodes you start to see how the chefs think about a bag or random ingredients.  That mindset has helped me pull some truly amazing meals out of an "empty" cupboard.

    i sometimes spend a day or two thinking about what I want to eat at the weekend.  I have even been known to spend a day or two cooking it.


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  • DominicDominic Frets: 16013
    There must be a primitive fascination with food
    even my kids when age 4 used to love childrens TV programme ....BIG COOK ,LITTLE COOK 
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  • FreebirdFreebird Frets: 5821
    WezV said:
    I love watching food programs.  As a teenager I actually loved watching ready, steady, cook. Despite all it's cheesiness I think I learned a lot from it.

      After a few hundred episodes you start to see how the chefs think about a bag or random ingredients.  That mindset has helped me pull some truly amazing meals out of an "empty" cupboard.

    i sometimes spend a day or two thinking about what I want to eat at the weekend.  I have even been known to spend a day or two cooking it.


    These skills are transferable into the music world!
    If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it.
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  • chillidoggychillidoggy Frets: 17136
    WezV said:
    I love watching food programs.  As a teenager I actually loved watching ready, steady, cook. Despite all it's cheesiness I think I learned a lot from it.



    I saw what you did, there.


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  • RocknRollDaveRocknRollDave Frets: 6435
    As others have said, it's cheap TV. 
    Also, it's appealing to as wide an audience as they can - everybody eats food. More chance of mass appeal than a specialised show about, say...trains or electronics or whatever 

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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    There's a lot of assumptions in this thread about these programmes and those of us that watch them - should every programme on TV be expensive experimental and boundary pushing? Is it that much of a surprise that they choose to make some programmes that appeal to vast amounts of people?

    I enjoy some food programmes but not all, but that's often based on either whether I can tolerate the person presenting it (Ramsey and Ainsley I cannot, for example) but also what type of food it is. I've really come on vastly in my cooking skills over the last 18 months by taking on things I've seen or heard of, and shared the results with lots of people in my life and it's been great. I've not shared any such experiences based on watching long drama series where you can't talk for fear of missing something, or gloomy soaps etc etc

    Different strokes for different folks - there's so much choice to watch other stuff these days  on demand so just don't watch them if you don't like them
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
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