WGBH is starting up "The French Chef" again!
The flagship PBS station in Boston is bringing back TFC starting this Saturday at 12:30pm as part of their cooking show line-up! They've had mini-marathons, but they're bringing back 40 episodes...for those who haven't seen them, don't have them on DVD, etc. :-)
LindaWhit
Nov 04, 2009 05:55PM
That is *great* news, Linda. TY so much for letting us know.
Just in time for winter, too, when I tend to be home more often on Saturdays...cooking with cooking shows on in the background. And I don't know what show could be better than that one. :-)
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EXACTLY. I'm still surprised that WGBH took so long with this decision.
I'll watch NH's PBS channel from 11-12 for Jacques & Julia, then Eric Ripert (probably repeats of his new Avec Eric), and then wait for 12:30 for TFC. :-)
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If I can watch Julia Child, Jacques Pepin and Eric Ripert, I'm happy and can do without the rest of it--except for maybe Ina Garten, but FC has gotten into this irksome habit of playing the same few recent eps over and over again. Why not replay some of her earlier shows, instead?
Anyway, I'm in Connecticut and we get the PBS NYC area affiliate and one of Connecticut's. One plays the cooking shows on Saturday afternoons, and the other later on Sunday. So between the two I've been able to catch J&J fairly regularly and will now happily look for TFC.
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I don't have cable - since digital conversion, I am no longer able to get the 3 NH stations that my rabbit ears captured, even after having purchased a more expensive enhanced indoor digital antenna. Surprising to me that WGBH does not carry Ripert, but the Julia revival is most welcome news! I'd enjoy seeing the early Pepin shows again, too, for the sake of technique, but I assume that the richness of the recipes means we'll never see these programs again.
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I hope one of the Metro New York public channels will pick that up! They were truly wonderful. I have the original "companion book!"
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I didn't get home from errands in time to see the NH PBS shows (Jacques & Julia and Avec Eric), but enjoyed seeing Julia on TFC talking about puff pastry...and then, WGBH had a Jacques & Julia episode immediately following (this one featuring Pork). It was very enjoyable to see the 1960s Julia (rather free-form show) and then the 1990s Julia (still with a sense of humor but the entire show was definitely more "in control"). A big difference in styles of shows - with TFC being the grande dame and originator of culinary TV shows, anything goes. It was a very enjoyable hour.
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Re LindaWhit's observation about the 1960s "free-form shows." My husband bought me a couple of DVDs of the originals, and we've been watching those early shows one by one. No wonder home cooks could identify w/ the early Julia. She'd flip an omelet or something and perhaps partly miss, reminding viewers that it is necessary to practice and be courageous. She'd pour or ladel a liquid into a smaller vessel and sometimes spill a bit. She'd be making several dishes on one show and try to find a place on the counter behind her for a cooking utensil or bowl that she was finished with. The camera didn't move much. She just cooked and explained and made delicious things happen, without pretense, retakes or a squadron of directors, stylists, lighting engineers, sound engineers or cameramen. A country learned to be daring in the kitchen from her -- in black and white.
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Today's rerun "debut" was in color but I did not catch the year and don't know how many seasons/shows were in B/W before they began filming Julia and her famous purple spoon or towel.
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