316586 Thu Aug 10 20:21:20 -0700 2006 12 33 Food Media and News 0 1800214 The TV show Check Please started in Chicago and expanded to San Francisco last year (http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/302468?) as noted in a Not About Food thread that probably should be transferred to Food Media and News. Today's Chicgo Sun-Times (http://www.suntimes.com/output/entertainment/cst-nws-check10.html) contains a story that the program is expanding to Los Angeles in 2007 on KCET-TV with negotiations under way for Seattle-Vancouver and New York. In Chicago the Check Please Effect is a surge in business for the three highlighted restaurants after the show appears with later small surges whenever the program is rerun, which is multiple times on WTTW, which is the PBS home station for the series. Thu Aug 10 20:21:21 -0700 2006 11364 Eldon Kreider 1 1800917 i used to watch the san francisco show sometimes, but the host (leslie sbrocco) drives me absolutely nuts. on the show she is incredibly fake and obnoxious. i stopped watching because of her. i do like the idea of having people talk about local places they really care about (though there was a posting on the sfboard pre-website-upgrade about how that's not exactly the case). hopefully the new shows will have less annoying and more intelligent hosts! Fri Aug 11 01:25:36 -0700 2006 1800214 12336 artemis 2 1801266 Yeah, I'm with you on the SF host. I just can't sit through that show even though I liked the pictures of the restaurant, food and little chat with the owners/chef. Also, for the most part the participants are so PBS. It is almost like a Saturday Night Live parody. I find myself checking the way I talk about food so I don't sound like some of those people. For the handful of interesting guests compared to the others, just not worth my time. Fri Aug 11 05:37:44 -0700 2006 1800917 10264 rworange 3 1966757 I really liked the guy who is a student who recently brought Suppenkuche to the table. He is obviously a "baby foodie" and I loved his 20-something perspective and the fact that he frequently said, "That was soooo killer" in kind of a surfer dude drawl. A breath of fresh air. Mon Oct 23 20:25:43 -0700 2006 1801266 10658 Atomica 1 1802253 I like Leslie Sbrocco for being knowledgeable and having a very Chowhoundish attitude that cheap can be as good as expensive. But the stylized perky routine grates. I lost some of my interest in the show when I learned from a (deleted) thread on Chowhound that, due to the producers' requirements, participants (1) may be reviewing not their favorite restaurants but their sixth- or tenth-favorites, and (2) if the place turns out to have gone downhill and sucks, the person who chose it has to pretend to enthuse about it anyway. Which explains the bizarre discrepancy among the reviews in this episode: http://blogs.kqed.org/food/?p=77 Fri Aug 11 17:59:39 -0700 2006 1800214 11369 Robert Lauriston 2 1802584 yes, that is the post i was referring to, but i couldn't find it in the new boards. Fri Aug 11 19:54:26 -0700 2006 1802253 12336 artemis 3 1803705 That post created some of the most hostile comments I've read on this board. Although originally approved by the mods it was deleted when things got nasty. I hope the producers in Los Angeles do not impose the same inane restaurant restrictions as the SF show. Not only are they missing out on great chow, they are often featuring subpar restaurants and guests are less enthusiastic because they aren't really discussing their favorite. A few other requirements: 1) The restaurant has to be open for two years (which eliminates all the hot, new places) 2) The restaurant must look good on film (which eliminates great dives and take out spots). 3) The restaurant must not feature similar cuisine to any other restaurant picked that season. (Applies to ethnic restaurants only. There were probably 10 Cal-Cuisine restaurants last season.) I must say in Sbrocco's defense, she does a good job keeping the discussion moving on schedule and focused on the food. I think here perkiness often balances out rather boring guests, and she is definitely a Chowhound. Also, bear in mind each restaurant bit is filmed in one take and is mostly improvised. Sat Aug 12 06:49:27 -0700 2006 1802584 10793 Morton the Mousse 4 1804121 I think the two-year requirement is fine. A place that lasts two years will likely last more than five, and the show needs to work in reruns. Sat Aug 12 18:05:11 -0700 2006 1803705 11369 Robert Lauriston 2 1926865 You are right about the perky routine. They don't eat! Why have plates? They don't drink! Why have glasses of wine? Fri Oct 06 05:30:09 -0700 2006 1802253 11737 NoeMan 1 1926863 I like Leslie, but find the geographic focus too broad. It should be Check Please San Francisco. I have absolutley no interest in or likelihood to visit all these other places. I've already expressed this frustration about chowhound and the sunday reviews in the SAN FRANCISCO (not bay area) CHRONICLE. Fri Oct 06 05:27:32 -0700 2006 1800214 11737 NoeMan 2 1966383 KQED's audience, like the Chronicle's, includes the North Bay, East Bay, Contra Costa County, and Peninsula. People who live in one part of the Bay Area often visit other parts for work, study, or play. Mon Oct 23 18:32:28 -0700 2006 1926863 11369 Robert Lauriston 1 1966371 Brocco's toned down the perkiness in the second season (now airing). I think the show's gotten better. Mon Oct 23 18:30:08 -0700 2006 1800214 11369 Robert Lauriston 1 2136838 I'm sorry, but Leslie Sbrocco is terrible. Did you watch her with Jacques Pepin? All unctuous and filled with cliches? She's an embarrassment to our food-living culture, and it's appalling to think they can't find anyone better to fill that role. Fri Dec 29 16:14:20 -0800 2006 1800214 12360 peterme