A Curmudgeon Curmudges About The Cooking Channel

[Caroline1]

Does "Stay Hungry" bug anyone else? To me, "Stay Hungry" is synonymous with "Don't Eat!" Couldn't they have done better than that? What WERE they thinking! I could handle something like, "The Cooking Channel, Eat Well." Or maybe, "The Cooking Channel, Good Food." Or just plain, "The Cooking Channel," followed by silence. But "Stay Hungry?" It's like being thirteen again and my mother nagging me to go on a diet. <sheesh>

EDIT My apologies to those of you who live outside of The Cooking Channel's viewing area. They have a "signature" screen that says "THE COOKING CHANNEL," a pause, then "STAY HUNGRY" in smaller letters under it and a voice over that does the whole thing. Makes me want to throw rocks at my screen!

[Jay F]

I knew I hated paying money for cable for awhile before Cooking Channel started. I figured I'd wait to see what it was like before I quit, though, hoping it would be cooking shows like Ina and Tyler and Giada and Alton, and the contests could just stay on FN, which I could then delete from my remote.

That's not what happened, so I dropped down to basic-basic cable ($8.95/mo). I don't miss the rest at all. I don't even remember the "Stay Hungry" phrase. I can say for sure that life is better without the possibility of landing on the likes of Sean Hannity.

My point is that no one _has_ to have cable, especially now that so many shows are available online. How online TV will shake out in light of Comcast now owning NBC, I don't know, but for now, I'm happy.

[paulj]

CC does have Tyler and Giada. I don't recall any contests, except Iron Chef Japan.

[Jay F]

I was referring specifically to letting the competitions stay on FN, such as:

Chopped
the Sunday night cake competition
next Food Network star
all the Iron Chefs
Food Network Challenge
Cupcake Wars
I don't remember the rest.

[paulj]

I don't follow. Are you complaining about what they still have on FN, or what they put on CC?

[hill food]

gotta admit while the hosts can be annoyingI still like "Worst Cooks in America" on FN. the rest can go jump down the insinkerator. (and if I were the producer it would weed out the contestants starting with the OK and leave the show with the truly wretched (Iknow that would just be mean and painful)

I'll go hide now.

[Rella]

I, too, hated paying money for TV - 3 HD amounted to over $90 a month and I was only watching a 2-3 channels, FN, CC, and Travel just for Bourdain. When CC came on I was happy, but not to the tune of $$ and before long, it was more and more repeats. When my contract was up, I dropped everything.

I couldn't stand the "Stay Hungry" phrase because it was so nasal and reminded me of being stuffed up from something one eats, so 'don't each so much.'

[jmcarthur8]

It reminds me of the 'can you hear me now?' tag line from one of the phone companies. Does that mean if I can hear you now, then I couldn't hear you earlier? If your phone's so good, why couldn't I hear you?
Some ad geniuses don't understand that you want to sell what the product DOES.

As far as 'stay hungry', that's exactly what Cooking Channel should not want its audience to do. How about 'Stay Satisfied' ? Isn't that what they are really trying to sell?

[paulj]

Do you feel the same about the Hungry Girl show, blog (and book)?

[Caroline1]

Haven't watched or read her, so I can't say.

[Caroline1]

Okay. I watched about fifteen minutes of her show today. She was extolling the use of canned tomato soup instead of tomato sauce or paste in a recipe because it tastes so good. NOT my style of cooking! I'll bet she's the Queen off Hamburger Helper. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm strictly from scratch. And tomato sauce or paste is "scratch," tomato soup isn't! '-)

[Shrinkrap]

Who are you asking?

[paulj]

who ever is bothered by the 'stay hungry' slogan.

[Neecies]

I'll play devils advocate with you; I like it. It's direct and clever, referring to the dual meaning of the word "hungry" as it applies to a quest for knowledge, not just the food you put in your stomach. It's like saying, "Don't get complacent", or "keep learning". Now the extent to which the Channel actually succeeds at providing a way to do that is another issue, but I think it's good marketing.

[Shrinkrap]

I assume stay hungry for knowledge. That's how they seem to describe the hosts; always looking for something new. I DID notice the diet one (Hungry Girl?) does NOT say stay hungry on her commercial.

[HillJ]

No, Hungry Girl's tag line is: chew the right thing.

[HillJ]

While I see your point C1, I also feel that being sensitive, politically correct about the plight of the hungry isn't the audience/goal/focus of this tag line or its stamp of the CC. Should it be depends on the perspective one has on life. In the context of CC, stay hungry reminds me of my own belief to teach, learn, explore food in every way that I can. I'm not offended in that context and I'm not holding this tag line against this new channel.

[Caroline1]

I didn't t hink they were addressing the plight of the hungry either. But I do feel invitiing people to a banquet and then telling them to "Stay Hungry" is like being put on a diet. If you are going to offer m e plenty, whether it be actual food, new and interesting recipes, or information about an esoteric subject I'm deeply interested in, for pity's sake, DON'T steer me toward a luxury buffet and tell me to stay hungry! That's NOT what i'm there for.

[MplsM ary]

See, my take is much darker than yours. In this day and age where according to World Hunger there are "925 million hungry people in 2010 ," this is just a slap of a tag line. Food Network can join Share Our Strength and boost for hunger charities, but this callous tag line lets me know that they are clueless when it comes to perception vs reality. My hopes for Cooking Channel were very low based on the tag, alone.

[paulj]

Isn't there a dieting advise to the effect of 'eat until you are barely satisfied', as opposed to being stuffed? Think of this 'stay hungry' as 'enjoy food, but don't over indulge'.

[Caroline1]

I don't think anyone, including me, is unaware of the possible ambivalences the phrase offers. The bottom line is that whoever they paid to come up with a memorable tag line for the network was grossly overpaid and undertalented! Pity.

[paulj]

Maybe they outsourced the task to India
http://www.stayhungrybook.com/
or Apple
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6... (last sentence)

[bards4]

I totally agree. That was my first thought when I heard "stay hungry." There are certainly lots of people in the world who do stay hungry, although I doubt they would choose to.

[DiveFan]

Ya, that tag line is annoying. BTW notice that NadiaG of Bitchin Kitchen uses it just before the commercial break in a sarcastic tone. Guess the OP won't like that show ....

[judithflo]

I agree with you totally, it is truly annoying especially with all the hunger around the globe with people who have no choice but to be hungry......I CANNOT IMAGINE WHAT THEY WERE THINKING.......

[paulj]

It's better than 3 minute filler between programs on CreateTV.

[coney with everything]

"It's better than 3 minute filler between programs on CreateTV."

Oh God, the woman with the perky face? Head the size of a Macy's parade balloon? Annoying music?

ITA.

[bob96]

Obviously Create has no budget for any other promos, so we're stuck with the perky one and those terminally annoying "real folks" chopping the garlic and threading the bobbins. The endless march of these segments also drives home how overused the word "passion" is. I guess "passion" is the new "interest". I reserve passion for my loved ones, and engage great enthusiasm and interest for what I eat and cook.

[coney with everything]

If you ever have to interview for a job, bob96, you need to put "passion" on your resume as well!

[Jay F]

Yeah, Bob. On 110% of them.

[bards4]

Okay, but how about the woman whose kitchen smells like her grandparents. Makes me say "ew" every time....

[DoobieWah]

I thought it was a play on the The Most Interesting Man in the World's "Stay thirsty, my friends.".

(Doesn't make it less annoying though.)

[Phaedrus]

See, that was my first thought, the Most Interesting Man in The World. But then again, I am projecting a sense of humor on the creative people behind the Cooking Channel.

[yfunk3]

I always thought it was more of a connotation than a dictation, referring to "stay hungry so you'll eat more" and "stay hungry MENTALLY so you'll always want to learn more and try more".

But then again, that's how advertising usually works, through lots of implication and sublimation.

[Gio]

Yes, "Stay hungry" and we'll show you how to assuage that hunger with great food.

(If you're lucky... (¬_¬) )

[mamachef]

Midnight bacon. But only if you're super hungry.

[susans]

I try my best to press the Mute button before I'm forced to hear that stupid phrase again. If I want to stay hungry, I would not be interested in shows about food and cooking. I'll help you collect some rocks.

[hill food]

I thought that was only on the pay-per-view Food Porn channel and airs in the middle of the night.