Man vs. Travel Channel

I don’t like silence when I’m home, so I usually wind up having the TV on, even when I’m not watching it. CNN, ESPN, and the Travel Channel are my usual go-to's. The Food Network used to fall into this category, as well, but their hosts have become incredibly annoying and their production values very poor, so they’re out. Anyhow, for the past few days, while I’ve occupied my time with homework and other projects around the apartment, the TV’s been stuck on the Travel Channel and I just realized that the programming has very little to do with travel.

I’ll admit, I enjoy watching Adam Richman’s Man vs. Food from time to time. Without it, I might not have ever heard about the ghost chili pasta at the East Coast Grille's awesome Hell Night. I think that the concept of the show is fantastic and it’s very well executed, especially when compared to similar shows in the genre. I do think that the success of the show is somewhat amusing, however, considering the times that we live in. When so many people are out of work, barely able to put food on their tables, our society has made a cult hero out of a traveling frat boy who makes himself sick with outrageous quantities of food.

The Travel Channel has now taken the success of Richman’s show and run with it. Now we have Steak Paradise, Deep-Fried Paradise, Burger Paradise, the Chowdown Countdown, Extreme Eats, etc. etc. It seems like the only “travel” being done on this network is a never-ending trail of “belly-busting” burritos and greasy pizza. While it’s interesting to see some of these dishes, I think it’s dangerous and somewhat irresponsible to celebrate them. There was one restaurant, known for their french fries cooked in lard, who gave free meals to customers who weighed in at over 350 pounds. Another restaurant had a guest collapse, apparently from a heart attack, in the middle of the dining room. Well, turned out it wasn’t a heart attack. It was severe heartburn from the giant pancake challenge that he was attempting. Hi-larious! At some point these shows have gone from entertaining to kind of sad (not to mention completely over-exposed). I believe that people are responsible for their own actions and for what they eat, but I don’t really think that we need to be encouraging this sort of behavior.

I know that food and travel are intertwined by nature, but if the Travel Channel is going to keep such a narrow focus on food, it would be nice if they would pay attention to some of the nicer restaurants that are out there. The search for America’s most outrageous foods has gotten redundant and incredibly stale.

Another problem that I have with the Travel Channel is Andrew Zimmern. You know, this guy:


The Bizarre Foods guy. He always seems to come on after Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations and the difference between the two shows couldn't be more pronounced. While Bourdain usually sets out to far off lands using food as a way to understand the diverse cultures he encounters, Zimmern approaches other cultures as if they're animals in a zoo. Usually decked out in a bright orange shirt that screams "I'm not from around here," his show uses zany writing and "weird" foods to essentially mock these people. Zimmern is a world-class clown and I can't reach for the remote fast enough once he comes on.