Ray Ray gets a Talkshow

No surprise, I guess.

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/

This could be the first sign of the upcoming apocalypse.

And there's a magazine, too -- Every Day with Rachel Ray.

Well, at least it rhymes.

Cynthia wrote:And there's a magazine, too -- Every Day with Rachel Ray.

Well, at least it rhymes.

30 minutes with Rachel is like a whole day.

cito wrote:This could be the first sign of the upcoming apocalypse.

Darn, you beat me to it

stevez wrote:30 minutes with Rachel is like a whole day.

Wait until FoodTV2 comes out. We'll have nothing but 30 minute Meals, Tasty Travels, and $40 a Day reruns.

Coming to a Theatre near you: E.V.O.O. the movie

Reviewed by the Chicago Tribune Good Eats section as "YUMMY"

Flip

excuse me, Flip -- with Ms. Ray...that response would be..

YUMMO

not Yummy.



she's sooo inane.

DELISH!

Oh-mah-gawd....like, um totally gag me, okah!

I suggest we move this conversation here.

It's a good reminder that the whole country is not a sophisticated metropolitan area -- plus, watching someone make meals from can foods makes people feel less inadequate.

I actually enjoy watching the preparation of dishes with which I'm entirely unfamiliar. But some people watch TV cooking shows to learn how to make what they already know. (Why else would absolutely everyone remember green bean casserole with mushroom soup.)

I am reminded of the fact that, when I was at Kraft Foods, I learned that, even if all the other products went away, Velveta and Miracle Whip could keep the corporation afloat. The people buying Velveta and Miracle Whip love Rachel Ray -- and bless 'em, I'm glad there is someone who can accommodate them. There just isn't enough foie gras or truffles to have everyone go high-end. I'm just sorry that FoodTV is being devalued to please the crowds. Can't we have Just FolksTV AND Serious FoodieTV? Or are we too rare a viewer to keep the network folks grinning?

Cynthia wrote:(Why else would absolutely everyone remember green bean casserole with mushroom soup.)

It's printed on the back of almost every can. (I don't mean to be a smartass, but I couldn't help it)

Flip

Flip wrote:

Cynthia wrote:(Why else would absolutely everyone remember green bean casserole with mushroom soup.)

It's printed on the back of almost every can. (I don't mean to be a smartass, but I couldn't help it)

Flip

Yeah -- but everyone HAD cream of mushroom soup. And while a lot of people were enjoying it as soup, a significant number of people were buying it BECAUSE it has that recipe on the can. The recipe on the label was the forerunner of today's FoodTV show on cooking stuff using canned foods.

Cynthia wrote:The people buying Velveta and Miracle Whip love Rachel Ray -- and bless 'em, I'm glad there is someone who can accommodate them. There just isn't enough foie gras or truffles to have everyone go high-end. I'm just sorry that FoodTV is being devalued to please the crowds.

I have to strongly disagree that RR is aiming at the bottom of the food provider skill set: while she does open the occasional can, it's often of artichoke hearts or fresh pasta, not cream of mushroom soup or mac'n'chese; she often makes quick tomato sauces from real tomatoes (shock! amazement), salad dressings from their oil and vinegar origins, and so on.

This is a big step up from the Semi-Ho (Semi-Homemade with Sandra Dee) -- RR is at least teaching some basic food preparation and combination, instead of gussying-up a box and a can.

I'm by no means a big supporter of 30-Minute Meals, but on occasion it has given me an idea or two for a quick meal, and that's what it's all about. It worked.

And if you think the drinking-game-level vocabulary of "EVOO" and "Yummo!" are intolerable, try listening to Paula Deen's y'all-drawl, Rick Bayless say "unctuous", or whossname the barefoot contessa gush about her husband. At least RR gives the appearance of having fun.

Sure, I'd rather watch Mario, Alton, Michael Chiarello, Ming Tsai or Anthony Bourdain (in no particular order)... but FoodTV still beats most of what's on my satellite dish on any given hour, so long as they're actually showing how to cook, and not cookoffs or Mr. Rogers-level industrial films.

Sorry if it looked like my point was dissing RR. It wasn't. It was that she is filling a need. If she didn't have a market, she wouldn't be so ubiquitous. The majority of the world is not looking for ways to spend more time in the kitchen, and it's great that someone is speaking to that.

I just hope they continue to have a lot of programs that aim higher.

When Christopher Kimball, editor of the esteemed Cook's Illustrated, was in town last year, I asked him how much the editors care about authenticity. Summed up, his answer was, "We try to get 80% of the flavor with 20% of the effort."

Ray has espoused the same percentages, but Kimball's a hero here and Ray's pretty much the Antichrist. (And Ray continues to make her Trinity with green peppers, which Kimball has essentially (and sadly) banned from his magazine and show.)

I'm not defending Ray -- I agree exactly with JoelF, and add that if she can coax a few people from the microwave back to the stove, they've probably come out ahead. (When my brother left the hospital after a heart attack last year, the information packet they handed him included no recipes, but had a two-page list of acceptable microwaveable meals. Even our hospitals have sunk to this.)

While she's as annoying as a hill of fire ants, she really does fill a niche. I have many friends who are not confident in their cooking abilities but have become more confident watching her show. She makes cooking appear more "every day"; the "heck, if she can do it, *I* can do it" approach, if you will. I'll also admit to purchasing her cookbooks for my friends in an effort to boost their confidence.

I think people are starting to take a look at what's in prepackaged food (and fast food) so if this is the place to start, so be it. Anything to get people to appreciate food on different levels, if you catch my drift.

I haven't watched her show in years, but I found myself nodding when reading Joel and Bob's posts. I don't think her audience or approach is lowest common denominator or that she's aiming low. In fact, I think her show is one of the more "real" cooking shows there is. By "real" I mean it's the most similar to what most people think of when they think of cooking. Her ingredients are accessible but not pre-processed. Her recipes have flavor but don't require any special skill. The show makes sense to watch. It's not over-produced. It focuses on very clear instructions.

Out of curiosity, I read through some of the recipes from recent episodes on the Foodtv website. Some examples:

--Green Beans with Olives, Raisins and Almonds
--Poached Eggs in Chorizo-Tomato Stew with Garlic Croutons
-- Mockbraten (Flank Steak with Sauerbraten Style Sauce), Smashed Potatoes with Horseradish and Chives, Red Cabbage with Apple and Onions
--Spanish Pork Chops with Linguica Corn Stuffing and Cherry-Rioja Gravy

Pretty interesting and ambitious stuff for what's billed as quick, cheap, and easy. A look through the ingredient lists, and the worst offenses you'll find are canned stock and red cabbage out of a jar. I'll give her a pass on those. I think I may make the egg recipe this weekend.

In the fight against over-processed, factory food, Rachel Ray is fighting the good fight.

Best,
Michael

In fact, I think her show is one of the more "real" cooking shows there is. By "real" I mean it's the most similar to what most people think of when they think of cooking.

Yes, this is pretty much what coming home for dinner's like every night for most of America right here.

eatchicago wrote:In the fight against over-processed, factory food, Rachel Ray is fighting the good fight.

I agree -- the vitriol expressed against this lil gal is amazing to me.

Hammond

I think she's cute as a button, and as I said, most people are not looking for ways to spend more time in the kitchen, so a show on fast, tasty meals is great. However, I do think there is such a thing as over-exposure, and I wonder if the original reaction of the first posters might not have been to the talk show and magazine, rather than just the cookig show. But that's just guessing -- and it's possible some people really dislike her. I just don't find that I'm learning anthing new from her shows, so I don't bother, but she fills a niche. And if she didn't have a big market, she wouldn't be getting a talk show and a magazine.

David Hammond wrote:... the vitriol expressed against this lil gal is amazing to me.

David,

To me far more amazing is the enormous popularity and success of someone of who combines such a modest measure of talent with such affected and bizarre mannerisms. She is one of the greatest monuments to the power of marketing in the history of these United States.

Which gets us back to the topic of this thread, namely, Reychull Rey the Talk Show. I'll agree in a general way with the comments about her actual cooking show (JoelF, Bob S., EC). Of course, her cooking is not intended for fans of 'authenticity', for people who are seriously interested in learning about the exotic or the new or, for that matter, the old. And there is little mismatch between what she claims to offer and what she does offer. That is good, and I think we can agree on that. And as a teacher of how to make simple things that appeal to the palate of a large segment of the society, she apparently succeeds. Getting people to cook their own food rather than reaching for the packaged dinner is a good thing too. If the 30 minute show was all there was, I'd not be inclined to engage in too much Rachil bashing and would rank her highly compared with some of the other tv cooking 'personalities' (which is the faintest of praise but a sort of praise nonetheless). But the cooking show is now just a part of the Raychill Rai entertainment empire, for shortly after the 30 minute meal show appeared, there soon followed the truly moronic travel show, followed by the celebrity chat show. And now, a talk-show. In the future, she will surely host an awards ceremony of some sort.

Clearly much or most of her success is not especially tied to the qualities of her cooking but to the celebrity- and cult-of-personality-packaging that she and the folks at FN have cooked up for her. When people go that route and continue on to such further 'heights' of stardom, such as hosting a talk-show, they become legitimate targets for ridicule and contempt and, yes, good old vitriol.

I doubt she minds -- too busy spending and investing -- and we get to blow off a little steam, because, let's face it, to many she's cute and enthusiastic, but to many others she and her mannerisms are extremely irritating...

Luckily, one can change the channel or, better yet, switch off the set, but one watches enough to have an opinion... Morbid curiosity... Indeed, why do any of us stop and observe horrific spectacles?

And why do you fans of Ms. Rae want to deprive us our our chance to enjoy our spleen and vitriol? Oh you cruel and oppressive mainstream of American pop-culture...

May those who find pleasure in her shows, find greats heaps of it. I'll just tune in for a couple of minutes every now again to remind myself what I'm missing, as it were.



Antonius

In the future, she will surely host an awards ceremony of some sort.

You're thinking too small! Governor Rai, Senator Rae, President Rey... even, perhaps, Il Papa Re...

Antonius wrote:And why do you fans of Ms. Rae want to deprive us our our chance to enjoy our spleen and vitriol? Oh you cruel and oppressive mainstream of American pop-culture...

People, of course, have complete freedom to get all torqued out about whatever they please. Far be it from me to stand in their way...or even criticize.

Driving home just now and listening to some hip-hop station, I heard about a petition started by the fans of Beyonce. These disgrunteld fans really really REALLY don't like her new music video (apparently, the dancing is uncontrolled, there's some lurid suggestive stuff with JayZ, and the wardrobe selections are just stupid, they say). So, you know, I think anyone should feel free to get all splenetic and vitriolic about anything they want...or not.

David "Hey, a cute gal cooking...what's not to like?" Hammond

David Hammond wrote: So, you know, I think anyone should feel free to get all splenetic and vitriolic about anything they want...or not.

Good, 'cause I have a lot of spleen and vitriol I've been saving up lately...

"Hey, a cute gal cooking...what's not to like?"

If you mean Tina Nordström, perhaps...



Antonius

P.S. What is a 'Beyonce'?

Antonius wrote:P.S. What is a 'Beyonce'?

Short for "Beyonce Green Door." You should check it out.

I enjoyed a vitriolic spleen stew at TAC Quick just the other day. Truly delicious. The acid of the rice vinegar went perfectly with the pork spleen and tripe.

JeffB wrote:I enjoyed a vitriolic spleen stew at TAC Quick just the other day. Truly delicious. The acid of the rice vinegar went perfectly with the pork spleen and tripe.

Is that type of stew available in cans?

[quote="Antonius"]
P.S. What is a 'Beyonce'?
quote]

That's short for Foxxy Cleopatra.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:

Antonius wrote:P.S. What is a 'Beyonce'?

Short for "Beyonce Green Door." You should check it out.

Hmmm, now I'm curious (yellow).

(I keep hearing Artie Johnson (SteveZ's cousin, if I remember correctly) saying that in my head... beyon-ce green door... very interesting...)...

A...

Ray fever has begun. There was a big article about her talk show this week in USA Today. It included this quote from the woman herself, where she admits to her mediocrity:

"I had better not become especially good at any one thing. I'd be out of all nine of my jobs."

We at Television Without Pity.com have watched this train wreck for you, so you don't have to. You're welcome.


It's the Rachael Ray Show! Cover your ears!