It’s my birthday tomorrow and I’m old enough to remember when they used to play videos on MTV.

My wife is a superb cook and has watched the Food Network since Emeril Lagasse started going, “Bam!”, but unfortunately today we had the misfortune to witness its’ demise. For a while now it has been teetering on the abyss thanks to the plethora of competition shows (with the somewhat real and entertaining “Iron Chef” spawning crap like “Sweet Genius” and “Cupcake Wars”) and the orchestrated drama of the likes of “Restaurant Impossible” (it HAS to be finished by 4pm!!!).

Just like playing music on MTV, no-one actually cooks on the Food Network anymore…

The biggest star on the Food Network is now Guy Fieri, who is a charismatic host and his “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” is a fun show. But he doesn’t cook – anyone who has been to Tex Wasabi can attest to this.

The depth to which Food Network is now scraping the bottom of the barrel was driven home today, by a scripted disaster of a show masquerading as reality television, “Mystery Diners”. This was an insulting assault on the intellect of the networks’ viewers and I frankly was embarrassed that I had seen it.

It made me feel dirty. Some douchebag at Food Network HQ owes me 30 minutes of my life back.

The fact that they would even make this show let alone air it, speaks volumes for the direction of this channel. What started out as a culinary education channel, attracting thousands upon thousands of unbelievers to the ranks of Foodies, no longer wants to bother with pretending that anything it airs is even vaguely informative.

It’s a great shame but the Food Network is now officially in the hands of the Jersey Shore / Kardasian / Real Housewives Empire. Thanks for the ride Reese Schonfeld, it was good while it lasted.

RIP Food Network.

– MCZF1