Wendalicious » television

Larry King’s Replacement

wendalicious — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 03:49:02 +0000

Completely off-topic, but I’m hoping you’ll indulge me for a moment.

News broke tonight that oft-married, suspenders-wearing CNN host Larry King has decided to step down from his long running Larry King Live program this fall. The media world is in a frenzy tonight. 25 years this guy was on TV. Times Union blogger Kevin Marshall pondered the imponderable this evening, via Twitter:

Larry King’s retiring. NOW who’s gonna ask all the hard-hitting questions provided by publicists?! – @KevinMarshall

When asked by Bill Maher who he thinks should replace him, Larry King responded almost immediately. “Ryan Seacrest. Although I don’t know how he feels about politics.”

Ryan Who-crest? Never heard of him. But I, my friends, have the answer – someone as ridiculous as Larry, yet well-known enough to maybe pull it off:

Andy Rooney, the Most Annoying Man in the Known Universe

It would be an utter trainwreck. Must-see TV. Get CNN on the horn.

Apparently, Anyone can Have a Cooking Show

wendalicious — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:59:17 +0000

Except me.

I just found out (a bit late, admittedly) that The Food Network has given a cooking show to…Brian Boitano. Uh, yes. You read that right. Brian Boitano, Olympic figure skating champion. Huh?

From the Food Network website:

Everyone knows Olympic figure skater Brian Boitano is a champion on the ice, but he also gives a gold medal performance in the kitchen! In the new series, Brian demonstrates his culinary skills and passion for one-of-a-kind entertaining. In every unpredictable episode, Brian hosts get-togethers at his San Francisco home. With a humorous and knowledgeable approach to cooking, Brian puts his unique spin on irresistible dishes like Chicken Paella Burgers, Pear and Almond Crostata, Crab and Avocado Crostini, and Bourbon Bacon Apple Tarts.

In (what I must admit) is a clever cultural reappropriation, the title of the daytime series is “What Would Brian Boitano Make?”, a send-up of the song “What Would Brian Boitano Do?”, which was a goof on Boitano himself and part of the prototype cartoon for South Park that spawned the series. Apparently Brian has a sense of humor, too.

I haven’t seen the series yet, and I don’t really plan to, but the trailer is entertaining enough. And, as most celeb chefs do, Boitano has a catch-phrase: “Bodacious!” Yikes.

Series premiered August 23, airs Sundays at 1pm ET. Until it gets canceled.

Local Meat Gets “Unwrapped”

wendalicious — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:19:40 +0000

Bilinski's Organic Spinach & Feta Chicken Sausage

Cohoes meat manufacturer Bilinski’s (of chicken apple sausage fame) will be featured on the July 27 episode of the Food Network show “Unwrapped”. The episode will highlight the company’s new line of miniature chicken sausages called “Chicken Littles”, particularly the Blueberry Maple-flavored ones.

The adorable little breakfast links come in four other scrumptious-sounding flavors -Teriyaki, Buffalo Wing Style, Apricot & Rosemary, and Apple Chardonnay. I’d never heard of these before (although I am a fan of Bilinski’s other chicken sausage products). I’m definitely going to pick some up on my trip to the market this weekend. And, for Sarah: I noticed on their website that they’ve just launched an organic Chicken Tikka Masala sausage. I know that dish is your favorite…maybe I need to bring some of the sausage down to you next time I visit. Their Tandoori sausage sounds interesting too.

Bilinski’s is hosting a viewing party on that night (July 27) at Brown’s Brewing Company in Troy, beginning at 7:30pm. Prior to the 9pm airtime, guests can taste-test Bilinski’s food, meet the family members who run the 80-year-old company, and then watch the episode. Reservations are necessary; visit http://bilinskis.eventbrite.com.

Lazy, Lazy, Lazy!

wendalicious — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:05:28 +0000

OK, I admit that I’m very “Martha” when it comes to cooking and baking – I prefer to make things from scratch because they’re just better that way, and I take great pride in my culinary skills. However, I do from time to time cut some corners, and use store-bought products to either enhance or replace something that may be too time-consuming to create myself. BUT BISQUICK SHAKE & POUR IS JUST RIDICULOUS! Come on! How lazy can you get??? Pancakes are one of the easiest things in the world to make from scratch! DO we REALLY need this obnoxious product??

The tag line on the TV commercial is: “Just add water and shake!” It might as well say:

“Hey Mom! We know you’re way too busy working to actually prepare a decent meal for your overweight-yet-nutrient-starved children, so Betty Crocker created Bisquick Shake & Pour! You can keep pretending to be Supermom, while actually being completely neglectful of the health of your family. All you gotta do is add water and shake – and they won’t know the difference, until their pediatrician puts them on Lipitor!”

That might be a little long for a 30-second spot, though.

Public Broadcasting: Asleep at the Wheel

wendalicious — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:46:55 +0000

OK, I just experienced the strangest email correspondence. I wrote an email to WMHT (our local PBS affiliate) to complain that they were not airing the newly launched cartoon series based on my favorite NPR show, “Car Talk”.

Sadly, this correspondence needs no further explanation:

From: Wendy
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2008 9:28 PM
To: wmht.org New Station Wide E-mail
Subject: Click and Clack

I am extremely disappointed that WMHT has decided not to air “Click and Clack: As the Wrench Turns” at the time that it had been nationally promoted. I have noticed that WMHT has sent Click and Clack to the television equivalent of Siberia: Saturdays at 12:00 midnight. And you have also decided to hold off on even BEGINNING the program until 3 weeks past its announced start date.

Why is this?

According to NPR’s website, “Car Talk is public radio’s most popular entertainment program, airing on 587 stations with more than 4.2 million listeners a week tuning in for an hour-long tune-up on car advice and fun.”

Why would you purposefully ignore such statistics?

Relegating what promises to be a successful show to a lousy time slot is ultimately short-sighted and naive. I can only assume that your staff and/or board has decided that this program is too “pedestrian” for their tastes, and the tastes of WMHT’s highbrow viewers. This could not be further from the truth.

I am not a regular PBS viewer, but I would have been had you made the CORRECT decision to air Click and Clack on Wednesdays at 8:00pm, beginning on July 9.

What a sad statement you are sending to your viewers – that you couldn’t care less about what they would like to watch. Good luck in your upcoming fund drives – I won’t be pledging.

And, here was the puzzling reply:

Dear Wendy:

Thank you for your e-mail on the new PBS series entitled “Click & Clack As the Wrench Turns”. WMHT will air this series on Saturday evenings from 12 midnight to 1am, beginning July 26th.
We hope you enjoy this series and thank you for watching WMHT!

Best regards,
Jayne Robinson
TV Traffic Coordinator
WMHT Educational Telecommunications
4 Global View
Troy, NY 12180
518-880-3439
jrobinson@wmht.org

Almost Famous

wendalicious — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:02:54 +0000

I got a very interesting call earlier this week – the managing editor from Eagle Newspapers in Rochester called me (not exactly out of the blue, because I do business with one of their subsidiaries, and I’d met him once) to ask that become one of the Spotlight Newspapers’ website bloggers! The Spotlight is their Albany-based chain of weekly newspapers (14 editions in total). They’re looking to have someone blog about the local food scene, he really liked this blog (I casually worked it into the conversation we had months ago), and naturally thought I’d be a good fit for their website.

Pretty cool, I think. I’m excited about the possibility of many more people having access to the food knowledge and general insanity that peacefully coexist in my head.

I’m still working out the details (the hardest part will be coming up with a name as perfect as Wendalicious), but I hope to have the blog up and running soon. I’ll keep you posted. You’ll be able to find it at www.spotlightnews.com. There’s an RSS feed available, too.

Worry not, dear readers, Wendalicious isn’t going anywhere. The Spotlight is a family publication, and I need SOMEPLACE where I can use foul language.

Must-See TV

wendalicious — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:00:55 +0000

Bob and I have been watching the HBO series “John Adams”. It’s superb. Stars Paul Giammatti as John Adams – he’s amazing. It’s hard to believe this guy started his career playing a character called “Pig Vomit” in Howard Stern’s movie “Private Parts”.

Laura Linney is great as well – I love the fact that she doesn’t wear a stitch of makeup for the first 4 hours of the film – and then only because they had to make her look older. She’s just beautiful.

I also think the score to the series is fantastic, written by Joseph Vitarelli. It’s reminiscent of “Last of the Mohicans” – the theme is incredibly moving and inspiring. I find myself humming it all day long.

I know Joanne read the book that this series is based upon many years ago – is it worth reading? And can you loan it to me???