The Chew: Too Many Ingredients in One Dish (Video)

By Laine Doss Tue., Sep. 27 2011 at 9:05 AM

Categories: Musings

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The Chew: Too much to digest in one sitting.

The Chew, ABC's new five-host foodcentric talk show, premiered yesterday amid technical difficulties, timing issues, and what looked like amateur camera work.

The show promised to be a mix of cooking, chatter, current events, and audience interaction but seemed to be one recipe after another. Oh, and Mario Batali literally phoned it in... from a golf course in New Jersey.

First Michael Symon made a healthy pork dish that he claimed would take five minutes to make and
come in at around $4 per serving. But the ingredients were prepared in advance, so tack on an extra 15 to 20 minutes' prep time. That's not heinous, so just come clean with the audience, Michael, and fill us in on the real deal.

Then Daphne Oz (who, in case you've been in a medically induced coma, is the colon-obsessed progeny of Dr. Mahmet Oz), made a purple smoothie that she guarantees will make both your colon and your children happy. Technically, it's not her recipe -- her dad served it to her as a child. Hey! That would make a great cue for her dad to make an appearance -- so he did! By the way, the smoothie costs under $2 a serving to make. A Dr. Oz appearance is significantly higher.

In case you were all burnt out on recipes, Carla Hall updates an old Betty Crocker chestnut, Mario Batali makes pizza on a golf course, and Clinton Kelly looks for a cocktail.

The Chew clearly has some issues that need to be worked out (and we're not even talking about technical ones like Mario Batali's mic failing, Michael Symon having problems reading the TelePrompter, and the oh-so-wobbly cameras that, at times, made The Chew look like Cloverfield Two.

We're not writing this show off yet, mainly because there are some interesting people on the panel of hosts, and if the producers allow them to shine, there may be something there.

In a nutshell -- slow the frantic pace, let's see more host-to-host interaction, 86 some of the cooking (five demos is just too much), and let the personalities of the hosts shine through. Then The Chew might be a tasty little afternoon bite.

Follow Clean Plate Charlie on Facebook and on Twitter: @CleanPlateBPB.

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