Good Eats is a television cooking show created and hosted by Alton Brown that airs in North America on Food Network. Likened to television science educators Mr. Wizard and Bill Nye, Brown explores the science and technique behind the cooking, the history of different foods, and the advantages of different kinds of cooking equipment. The show tends to focus on familiar dishes that can easily be made at home, and also features segments on choosing the right appliances, and getting the most out of inexpensive, multi-purpose tools. Each episode of Good Eats has a distinct theme, which is typically an ingredient or a certain cooking technique, but may also be a more general theme such as Thanksgiving, or "man food".
Format
The show has a distinctive visual style involving Dutch angles and shots from cameras placed inside and on various items in the kitchen, including the ovens, refrigerator, and microwave oven. In some episodes, Brown and other actors play various characters to tell the story of the food. For example, in the episode "The Big Chili," Brown played a cowboy trying to rustle up the ideal pot of chili. In the episode "Give Peas A Chance" (a parody of The Exorcist), Brown plays a Father Merrin-like character who tries to convince a "possessed" child to eat (and like) peas. In other episodes Brown is simply himself, but interacts with fictional characters such as his eggplant- and tomato-wielding neighbor Mr. McGregor, or a city councilman who refuses to eat fudge. He also uses various makeshift teaching aids to demonstrate scientific concepts.
Episodes of Good Eats typically begin with an introductory monologue that almost always either ends with or leads into the phrase "good eats." The show often closes with the phrase as well. For the first several seasons, Brown himself would say the words "good eats." More recently, however, Brown avoids saying "good eats" at the end of the intro, stopping just short and letting the theme music fill in the phrase.
Episodes are primarily set in the (fictional) kitchen of Brown's house, although his actual home kitchen was used in "Give Peas A Chance".[1]. In Seasons 1–4, the episodes were shot in the actual home kitchen of Brown's mother-in-law in the Atlanta, Georgia area. In Season 5, taping moved to the new home of the show's Line Producer (Dana Popoff) and Director of Photography (Marion Laney), in which they built a much larger and more versatile kitchen for taping. A 7 ft (2.1 m) section of the island was built for the show and placed on wheels, so it can be moved (or removed) for various shots, and a 12 sq ft (1.1 m2). (1.1 sq. m) grid of pipe was hung from the ceiling, for easier placement of cameras and microphones. Starting with Season 7, the show moved yet again, this time to an exact replica of the previous kitchen and surrounding areas of the home, built on a sound stage. In the "Behind the Eats" special, Brown said that complaints by Popoff's neighbors prompted the move. The stove top and the sink are the only functioning pieces in this kitchen. Many of the other appliances have even had part of their backs removed, so shots of Brown can be taken from inside cabinets, ovens, and refrigerators. This change was generally not known until after Season 7 started airing when the house used in Season 5–6 was put on eBay for sale. It was then revealed that they had moved. It is generally thought that in the "Q" episode on barbecue that was taped in Brown's Airstream trailer, when Brown says that they are "building the set for Good Eats: The Motion Picture" this is in reality a reference to the new house set. The set was not officially unveiled on the show as a set until the Avocado Experiment show.
Incidental music during the show is typically a variation of the show's theme, which in turn was inspired by music from the film Get Shorty. [1] There are dozens of variations of the theme played throughout, crossing all genres of music, including the keypad tones in "Mission: Poachable" and nearly every incidence where a countdown of ten seconds is used. New music is composed for each episode by Patrick Belden of Belden Music and Sound. Brown met Belden while working on other projects before Brown's culinary training.[2]
Each episode also features text pieces containing trivia related to the food or cooking technique featured in the episode. These are always shown just before ad breaks, and are often shown between major transitions in location or cooking action. The information presented is usually notes about the history of the food or technique, helpful cooking hints, or technical or scientific information which would be too detailed or dry to include as part of the show's live content.
During the show's first seasons, at the end of each episode Brown would give a summary of the important points covered during the episode; these points would be shown on the screen as he talked. Brown also traveled to food manufacturing facilities frequently in the first few seasons to talk with experts about the foods being featured.
Beginning in Season 9, episodes have been filmed in high definition, and these episodes also appear on Food Network HD.citation needed
Cast and crew
A staple feature of Good Eats is the presence of several recurring characters who play important roles on the show, from Brown's relatives and neighbors to various nemeses. In Season 9, the episode "Behind the Eats" offered a backstage look at the show's production and revealed the origin of several characters. Also in "Behind the Eats", Brown stated that anyone who works on the show has to appear on the show at some point.
A few members of Brown's real-life family have appeared on the show. His mother had a walk-on part; his daughter, Zoey, has appeared in several episodes; and his late[3] grandmother, "Ma" Mae Skelton, co-hosted the biscuit episode, "The Dough Also Rises." Even his Basset Hound and iguana have shown up in a couple of episodes. However, his wife DeAnna (who is also the show's executive producer) has never been documented as having appeared on an episode, although she was mentioned in the episode "Where There's Smoke, There's Fish." Specialists who hold real-life positions commonly appear as themselves to provide Brown with useful information on the topic at hand.
Recurring characters
Fictional
| Character |
Played by: |
Role on the show |
| "W" (Vicki Wong) |
Vickie Eng |
A parody of James Bonds' Q, "W" is a manager at stores where Brown goes to find kitchen gear. "W" is antisocial, sardonic, and finds Brown very annoying. Brown realizes this, and intentionally fools with gadgets and acts silly to get a rise out of her. He also likes to sabotage her attempts to make sales. Even so, she is the most reliable source of equipment for Brown, as she knows everything about kitchen tools and appliances. Her appearances are accompanied by a theme that sounds similar to those heard in the James Bond movies. "W"'s full name is revealed in the episode "Salad Daze II: The Long Arm Of the Slaw." In later episodes, "W" began working in the "Good Eats Testing Lab". In season 11 her role was interchanged with that of the "The Dungeon Master", especially for food gadgets that imply food disintegration, such as blenders and meat cubers. She reappeared in season 12. "Behind the Eats" revealed that in real life, Vickie Eng is Brown's chiropractor. |
| Marsha Brown-Brady |
Merrilyn Crouch |
Brown's older sister. Marsha is a constant source of annoyance to Brown (and, as revealed in some episodes, to members of the Good Eats production staff also). She often tricks or cajoles Brown into cooking for her, which usually initiates the topic of that episode. For instance, in "Circle of Life," Marsha manages to talk Brown into making dozens of doughnuts for her Bunny Scout troop's bake sale, and then tricks him into buying them all back. She has been divorced more than once, as Brown referred to her ink not having dried on her LAST divorce "yet" in "Behind the Bird." |
| Elton Brown |
John Herina |
Marsha's son, hence Brown's nephew. Elton is often featured as Brown's assistant, learning the ways of cooking in the process. Brown treats Elton almost like his own son, despite his and Marsha's constant bickering. Herina, who looks strikingly similar to Brown, also plays a young Brown when necessary, as in the introduction to the roulade-centered episode "Fit to be Tied," and also appeared in the 1996 movie Nightjohn as the character Homer Waller. |
B.A. Brown
AKA "Anti-Alton" |
Alton Brown |
Brown's evil twin of sorts. Brown uses camera tricks to appear as himself on one side of the screen and as his "brother" on the other. B.A. is often used in a manner similar to Goofus and Gallant to compare and contrast Brown's and B.A's cooking techniques and their results. In "American Pickle," for example, B.A. compares Brown's sweet pickled fruit to a recipe for extremely hot "Firecracker" carrots. As shown in the episode "Sub Standards," he is Brown's identical twin in the Good Eats universe and can imitate Brown perfectly when he wants to. |
| Colonel Bob Boatwright |
Alton Brown |
A white-clad Southern gentleman based on Colonel Sanders, Colonel Boatwright demonstrates traditional Southern recipes such as mint julep and upside-down cake. |
| Cousin Ray |
Steve Rooney |
Brown's cousin, who seems to be a bit of a redneck. Ray also appears to be either a con man or simply uneducated when it comes to food. In "Crustacean Nation," Ray claims that the shrimp he is selling are turning pink because they are happy to see Brown when actually, as Brown explains, they are cooking in their shells due to the heat. Steve Rooney also plays Brown's "Aunt Verna" who is seen at Brown's Thanksgiving dinner. |
| The Mad French Chef |
Steve Rooney |
Brown's arch-nemesis, who is stereotypically snobbish toward all non-French forms of cooking, and berates Brown for not using French techniques. Over the course of the series, the Chef seems to become more angry, as his title in different episodes changes to "Really Mad French Chef" and beyond. The Chef is currently voiced by Brown, as he is no longer seen on-screen except for one "appearance" as an oven mitt/puppet in the episode "Crepe Expectations." |
| Thing |
unknown |
Named after Thing from The Addams Family, Thing is a hand that appears in random locations to hand Brown ingredients and tools, to which Brown replies, "Thank you, Thing." In "Behind the Eats," it was "revealed" that Brown's Thing is the son of the Addams Family Thing. |
| Paul |
Paul Merchant |
Paul is Brown's apprentice and intern. Paul is generally incompetent and quite often seems to stress out regarding food-related issues. Brown often uses Paul as a human guinea pig for demonstrations. |
| Lactose Man |
Paul Merchant |
While appearing to be a superhero, he is in fact a nemesis to Brown, who is lactose intolerant. Lactose Man usually appears in dairy product-based episodes. A variation of the Lactose Man character, Lever Man (albeit in the same costume) appeared in the episode "Shell Game", which is dedicated to oysters. Brown may or may not know the true identity of Lactose Man, as he identified Lever Man as being his apprentice, Paul. The Lever Man costume was revamped for use as Lactose Man. In real life, Alton Brown is not lactose intolerant, which he revealed in "Breakfast Eats II". |
| Chuck |
Daniel Pettrow |
Chuck is Brown's "Butcher Neighbor." He has appeared in several episodes, such as "Bean Stalker", "Squid Pro Quo", and "A Chuck For Chuck". Chuck also appears in the episode "Romancing the Bird: A Good Eats Thanksgiving," where he drives a "Turkey Truck" and explains the difference between fresh, frozen, and refrigerated turkeys. In "Chops Ahoy," Chuck abducted Brown's charcoal grill 'Fireball' in order to convince Brown to buy a new propane grill. |
| Frances Andersen |
Widdi Turner |
Frances (a parody of Annie Wilkes from Misery) is Brown's self-proclaimed biggest fan. She has a collection of many of the show's props that she purchased from the internet. Brown first encountered Frances in "This Spud's For You Too" after his truck broke down, and she held Brown hostage in "Ill Gotten Grains" after he lost his memory in a fender-bender. |
| Farmer McGregor |
unknown |
An elderly man who has a farm near Brown's home, he prides himself on his home-grown produce and enters them regularly in county fair food contests. Brown used to pilfer from McGregor's prized tomato patch, but soon stopped when McGregor realized the tomato dishes Brown gave him were made with his own tomatoes. McGregor also has the skills to produce larger-than-average produce, making a potato that weighed 29 lb (13 kg). (13 kg), although it lost in the "Big Food" contest to Brown's modest olive. McGregor also appears in the eggplant episode and brings Brown too many eggplants to use, often using wheelbarrows and cardboard boxes as delivery methods. |
| Koko Karl |
Bart Hansard |
Karl is the symbol of conglomerate chocolate manufacturers like Hershey. In the episode "Art of Darkness II: Cocoa", he is seen peddling his products to people on the streets and does his best to force them down people's throats. After encountering Karl, Brown becomes fed up with Karl's inferior products and sets out to produce his own homemade versions. At the end of the episode, Karl ends up in jail for his "crimes." In "Power Trip," Brown visits Koko Karl in a solitary confinement cell in a parody of The Silence of the Lambs. In "Puddin' Head Blues," Karl is disguised as "Auntie Puddin'." |
| Sid Maxburg |
Bart Hansard |
Sid is a bombastic entertainment agent who is usually seen trying to revamp allegedly forgotten foods like vanilla ("My Pod"), sweet potatoes ("Potato, My Sweet"), and okra ("Okraphobia"). |
"Government Agents",
"Food Police", lawyers |
Brown, others |
These characters occasionally appear to deliver legal information pertaining to the food(s) featured in an episode. In the episode "Pretzel Logic", the show's "lawyers" inform Alton not to use lye in order to give brown color to his pretzels. The "government agents" appear as "Men in Black," mostly from the FDA or USDA, who usually give information about government quality standards for certain foods, speaking in a stereotypical loud, fast-paced, overly-serious tone. At times, they also claim that Brown's food does not meet government regulations, and as a consequence confiscate what he's cooked. Sometimes, Brown's aforementioned evil twin acts as a single "agent"citation needed; at other times, Brown and two other "agents" (generally played by members of the production crew) appear. In "Churn Baby Churn 2", Nic Sims of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a fan whose kitchen was remodeled by Brown in All Star Kitchen Makeover, played one of the "Agents," who were dressed as soda jerks. |
| The Dungeon Master |
Lucky Yates |
Brown's personal dungeon master (a parody of Igor and Sméagol), who appears in "Cubing A Round", "Tort(illa) Reform" and "There will be Oil". Brown usually disapproves of his loose grip on reality; for example, in "Cubing A Round" he spends $1,500 on a Swiss mechanical steak cuber using "the little plastic thing with the numbers on it" (a credit card). |
Real
| Name |
Specialty |
Role on the show |
| Shirley Corriher |
Author, chef, self-labeled "mad" food scientist |
Shirley appears on the show to help explain the scientific processes behind cooking. She is the author of CookWise, the Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking, which won the 1998 James Beard Award for Food Reference and Technique. Whereas Brown tends to use comedy around the other experts, particularly Deborah Duchon, he generally plays straight with Corriher. |
| Deborah Duchon |
Nutritional anthropologist |
Duchon is from the Department of Anthropology and Geography at Georgia State University, who helps explore the history of the episode's topic. In later seasons she tends to appear out of nowhere, with Brown reacting in mock fear to the words "nutritional anthropologist" appearing in the script. She is probably the most featured expert on Good Eats, appearing in many episodes since part of the show is normally dedicated to exploring the history of a food. Generally, Brown ends his scenes with Duchon by asking her, "how do you like your (food of the day)?" One fourth season episode ("Chile's Angels") featured a character called "Debbie Duchon" who was supposed to be Duchon's daughter. She was, in fact, a fictional creation of Brown's when Duchon was not available for filming, leading to a bemused reaction from Duchon when fans of the show asked her about her "daughter."[4] |
| Caroline Connell |
Nutritionist, dietitian |
Connell (and other similar experts) tend to appear on episodes where Brown features a food that has positive health effects, and uses nutritionist's data as evidence. She appears many times in the first seasons, but now it seems that Brown retrieves his information from many specialists that only come on the show once or twice. |
Carolyn O'Neil
The Lady of the Refrigerator |
Dietitian |
O'Neil is a dietitian who occasionally shows up to discuss nutritional value of foods with Brown. She also plays The Lady of the Refrigerator (a parody of The Lady of the Lake), who occasionally appears in Brown's refrigerator to impart information about the food or cooking technique covered in the episode, and to tease and needle Brown. |
| "Ma" Mae Skelton |
Brown's grandmother |
In addition to being referenced by Brown in several episodes, she appeared in "The Dough Also Rises," and baked biscuits alongside Brown. She also appeared in the first episode of season two,"It's a Wonderful Cake", as number 7 of the secret food organization, mimicking Phasma from the James Bond movie, and gave Alton the idea for a fruit cake. She passed away in 2001. Alton mentions her in an episode of Feasting on Asphalt first season. |
Brown also plays other roles from time to time, which usually consist of him explaining something close to the camera while another Brown performs the information that is being presented behind him (similar to the technique used to present B.A. Brown). At the same time, he also acts out alone or with others on camera while providing a narrative quite often (to re-enact such topics as cavemen discovering cooking techniques). There are also scenes where Brown talks to a character played by himself, cutting away to the other after each one has said their line. This is mostly used when the "USDA agents" appear to give grades and regulations placed on meats and dairy products.
History
The pilot for Good Eats first aired on the Chicago, Illinois PBS affiliate WTTW in July 1998. The show was picked up in July 1999 by Food Network, which now owns exclusive rights to the show. As of July 9, 2007, two episodes air per weeknight, at 8:00 PM (with a 3:00 AM replay) and 11:00 PM (with a 2:00 AM replay) Eastern time, with a third episode airing Wednesday nights at 8:30 PM (and 3:30 AM). New episodes premiere on Monday nights. On Food Network Canada, the show generally airs on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. The times it gets in Canada appears to change from week to week, but it tends to get sometime before 2:30 a.m. and/or after 7 p.m. on the aforementioned days.[5]
Awards
Good Eats won the Best T.V. Food Journalism Award by the James Beard Foundation in 2000.[6] . The show earned a Peabody Award in 2006. "Rarely has science been taught on TV in such an entertaining – and appetizing – manner as it is in Alton Brown's goofy, tirelessly inventive series."[7]
Episode guide
-
Trivia
- Rather than use cue cards or a teleprompter, Brown prerecords his monologue and then uses tiny earpieces to listen to it as he is on camera.[8]
- The clock seen in Good Eats is often set by the crew to a significant date such as a crew member's birthday, anniversary, etc.
- Whenever Brown mentions stuffing, someone holds up a sign that says "STUFFING IS EVIL." This is in reference to the Thanksgiving special, wherein Brown denigrated stuffing as increasing cooking time, being a harbinger of food poisoning, and not being good eats. However, he does make exceptions for when stuffing would be appropriate (particularly for stuffed pork), and he later recanted in Season 8 and agreed that stuffing, when done properly, is good eats (dedicating a whole show to the subject).
- The access codes for the Good Eats laboratory are:
-
- 0851390555 in Mission: Poachable (EA1C13 - Season 3 Episode 11)
- 180*745666 in Chile's Angles (EA1D01 - Season 4 Episode 13)
- Most Food Network shows do not display name brand names of products used during cooking, and care is taken to create false labels for products in these shows. However, in early seasons of Good Eats, Brown occasionally referenced brand name products on the show (e.g., a bottle of Karo corn syrup during the episode on cooking with sugar, mentioning Old Bay Seasoning by name). Currently, brand name product labels are altered, although the alterations generally consist of false names added to labels rather than entirely new labels (e.g., "Kerry" brand Worcestershire sauce). Sometimes, he will imply the name of a certain brand. Some examples of this are:
-
- When using crushed crackers in a recipe, Brown will usually say, "What kind? Well, I'm not going to tell you, but they look like this," and then hold up a Ritz cracker.
- Brown tells viewers to get a packet of unsweetened drink mix; he says, "I can't tell you which one," and then a fake Kool-Aid man (in a form of a drinking glass) crashes through the wall. (When Alton questions why it isn't a pitcher, it says that a glass was easier to make.)
- In another episode, while using baking powder, Brown refers to it as the brand "with the little girl on it" (Clabber Girl).
- Alton's A1 steak sause always has the label "B2".
- When making his own Cracker Jacks, he refers to it as "being the kind mentioned" in the song, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
- When making a chocolate/marshmallow/cookie treat, he says that they have a name for it in the south, but he can't say it. While saying this, a moon and a pie are held up behind him.
- However, on occasional shots taken from inside the freezer, frozen Publix brand vegetables can be seen. Kroger stores and products can also be spotted.
- In several of the newer episodes, Brown is wearing a t-shirt or hat from his other show, Feasting on Asphalt. Additionally, in the episode "Pop Art", the marquee at the Majestic Movie theater advertises "Feasting on Asphalt IV."
- Although it is his most prominent production, Brown says he makes no money from the broadcast of Good Eats. He spends the entire budget allocated by Food Network on producing the show and receives no residuals. Instead, all of his personal income comes from DVD sales, book royalties, speaking engagements, and corporate consulting.[8]
References
External links
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