h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: 'Great British Menu' - the Television Series - A87879127
Author: SashaQ - happysad - Editor - U9936370

I enjoy this programme, as I like how formulaic it is, with the daily courses and the suspenseful 'However...'

I need to add links later, but I'm putting it in Peer Review now so you can see what you think of the flavour of the Entry

It is sad that there aren't more women chefs, in most American competitions there are a few, but probably less than 50%.











5

I love Great British Menu, I'm enjoying the current series immensely I was pleased to see last year's main course winner, Michael O'Hare, appear as this week's judge - to me he's the most memorable chef that's ever been on there, his Emancipation was phenomenal

http://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/01/23/d8/0123d871fe1ce57de4d82e7ecf5a568a.jpg

This is a great entry, Sasha, I've really enjoyed reading it and can't offer any criticisms.

Deb

Thanks for reading Elektra. Yes, it is interesting about the gender balance in these sorts of competition programmes. I've seen a few episodes of this year's Hell's Kitchen in the USA, and the 3 finalists are all women, so that's quite different indeed

Thanks deb Yes, Michael's food is a work of art as well as a flavour extravaganza! Memorable indeed

Not Anthony Worrall-Thompson! He'll kill us all!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7540648.stm
So Michael Caines founded the Abode chain of hotels and restaurants, eh? Not a lot of people know that… (I keep reading that as Adobe…)
Hmm, sorry I've not seen this series so I can't contribute anything useful...

<BB<

I too watch this show - it's brain-dead TV, but it's often the only watchable thing on when I sit down with a TV dinner.

Your entry is very well written, but I think it's a bit heavy on the mechanics of the show, whereas I think it's more about the personalities and rivalries between the chefs and the judges. It's also a breeding ground for new celebrity chefs (you do mention that Tom Kerridge, etc have gone on to greater things after appearing on it)

The other thing which is formulaic is the show's production values. Every show is pretty much identical - the same incidental music at the same times. The same cut-away shots of the experienced chef's legs as he walks down a corridor leading to the kitchen. The same edited glances between the chefs whenever one of them makes a remark - to give the false impression that there's some sort of rivalry. In truth, they all get on with each other, and assist with cooking their rival chefs' dishes if required.

But perhaps the most brain-dead thing about the show is the repetition. It's a classic 30 minute show with about 10 minutes of original content. The rest of it is either telling you what happened in previous shows, what's about to happened in this show, or recapping what you've just seen.

Finally, I agree with deb about Michael O'Hare's 'Emancipation'. This deserves a special mention.

Icy

Oh, and not for the entry, but some gossip.

Oliver Peyton's business went into administration this week:

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/18/peyton-and-byrne-goes-into-administration-sodexo

Thanks Icy - very helpful comments

I deleted a mechanical paragraph and replaced it with more about the programme format (I had wanted to mention the fact that the chefs will help each other sometimes, so that's good).

I've added more about Michael O'Hare - I found the recipe, but that's well beyond my capabilities!

I also tweaked the mention of Oliver Peyton's work as he's no longer associated with Kew - oops

To be fair to GBM, that thing about spending a lot of time reviewing what's gone on and what's coming is applicable to most TV programmes these days. Before the intro you get what the show is about. Intro. More on what the show is about. Introducing today's participants and a little bit of show. What's coming up. Adverts. What's been happening. What's coming up. Bit of show. What's coming up. Adverts...and so on.

I rarely put my remote control down so I can fast-forward through chunks of TV - I can usually get a one hour show down to half an hour

I do worry about the attention span of the average TV audience these days.

Sorry, it sems I'm hijacking your thread with a pet peeve, Sasha!

Deb

I don't know this show but this reads like a good summary.

Thanks Tav

No worries deb

GBM isn't the worst indeed - I watched (or rather multitasked during) something the other night where they had ad breaks plus recaps, but also did a recap in the middle of the segment as if there should have been an ad break, but there wasn't. Thus the people said the same things twice in a minute, which was excessive... It is quite good that if you're doing something else at the same time you can miss half the programme but not actually miss anything, though!

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

Thanks for contributing to the Edited Guide!

Well done, Sacha

Deb

Thank you