Old Cooking Shows From The 70s

Justin Wilson and other lost cooking show classics...

silence9 | Sep 12, 200609:18 PM 211

Hi... I'm sure many here remember that fiesty cajun cook from the 1970s, Justin Wilson. I certainly enjoyed every moment of his (seemingly) unscripted cooking shows, what with his wine-sippin' and generous hand with the tabasco, his folksy philosophy on food and women, and mostly, how he seemed to truly enjoy eating (as opposed to merely tasting) the final product of his labors. I enjoyed watching his belly expand further and further over his belt with each season, and his 'blasphemous' approbation of ordinary canned products in the service of down home cooking. When he'd look the viewer square in the camera, you sensed that he genuinely understood why both he and you were sharing that moment. Anyway, I wish those shows were available from somewhere. And wouldn't it be cool to have a 'classics' cooking show station, the way classic cartoons and situation comedies from the 60s and 70s have found viable markets? I don't have cable/satellite/etc, due to latent luddite tendencies, so I don't know if such a station or series already exists. But I suspect not. I only see PBS cooking shows on the weekends. I tell ya, if the PBS pledge drives were willing to show those old-skool classics (along with very early Julia, Graham Kerr, and the now infamous jeff Smith & sidekick Craig!), I'd be much more inclined to make a pledge, instead of having Susie Ormond, Wayne Dyer, and that gangly piano tutor force-fed down one's throat every three months. I won't hold my breath, but it would be great to see those cooking show pioneers brought back to show the Food Network hacks how it's really done...

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