Ryan Seacrest and Jamie Oliver may put Miami on a diet

Look out Miami! If the unlikely duo of Ryan Seacrest and Jamie Oliver show up in your city soon, you'll know your collective population is too fat. Seacrest and Oliver are teaming up for a reality show that's as now unnamed but is scheduled to hit the airwaves on ABC next fall.

Seaver or Olicrest, as I am calling them, will show up in America's chubbiest cities and put all porkers on a diet. According to Reuters,"the series is loosely inspired on Oliver's acclaimed school lunch project in the U.K., where the chef set about to improve kids' nutrition." (Another rip-off British show to join The Office, American Idol, Kath and Kim and a bunch more.)

The network has ordered up six hours of shows. No word on the cities but according to Men's Health's annual fit or fat study, the top 10 fattest American cities are: 1. Miami; 2. Oklahoma City; 3. San Antonio; 4. Las Vegas; 5. New York; 6. Houston; 7. El Paso;
8. Jacksonville; 9. Charlotte, NC; and 10. Louisville-Jefferson, Ky.

I've got an idea for a reality show. How about the fat cities show up in the fit cities and try to get them to fall off the wagon. Click here for a list of slim cities.

Photo of Jamie Oliver in a fat suit for his U.K. show, People.com

Sandra Lee has new budget cooking show on Food Network

She calls it Suze Orman meets Julia Child, which may be a little ambitious. Still, Sandra Lee's new Sandra's Money Saving Meals, which debuts at noon Sunday on the Food Network, has some good ideas for people rededicating themselves to cooking in order to deal with the lousy economy. She also offers recipe ideas that utilize leftover ingredients. Clever.

She's not as glammed up as on Semi-Homemade Cooking, which is now airing at 2 p.m. weekdays. But, the first episode about brunch does include a cocktail, mock though. No tablescapes on this show.

Read my interview with Miss Sandra here.

Photo: askmen.com

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Food Network launches new Web site for younger, hipper viewers

 
The Food Network attracts lots of 20something, and younger viewers, with shows like Diner, Drive-Ins and Dives, Bobby Flay's Throwdowns, Ace of Cakes, Iron Chef and all of those challenges, cakes and otherwise. Doesn't everybody love to see those skyscraper cakes teetering as they're moved to the judging tables? Do you secretly hope for a disaster? Anyhoo . . .

Now the network is reaching out to its younger viewers with a new Web site: Food2.com. This ain't your mother's Food Network site (which as you know is infuriatingly slow). Lots of videos and invitations to Twitter and join them on Facebook. Plenty of photos and super short items. All very Twitter-like.

I watched a couple videos and found them fun even though I am way out of the demographic. You'll see Kelsey from the Next Food Network Star and Spike from Top Chef. There is also a how-to series from food blogger Adam Roberts of The Amateur Gourmet.

Serious cooks probably won't get much out of the silliness but for those kids who never saw anyone make a quesadilla at home, there's much to learn. Kraft ads figure prominently so you know that big food conglomerate sees a market.

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Sandra Lee has a new budget-cooking show on Food Network

 

First things first. I love this photo of Sandra Lee, she of the themed cocktail and elaborate tablescapes. It was taken at the 12th Annual Bette Midler's New York Restoration Project's Hulaween in 2007. Clearly, she out-divined the Divine Miss M.

But I digress. I noticed about a month ago that Sandra and her Semi-Homemade meals had been bumped from a late-afternoon slot on the Food Network. Uh-oh, I thought, is she being Emeriled? Is she soon to be banished? (Not that I was that concerned, seeing that I hardly ever theme any meals.)

She is moving on, but not off.

Sandra Lee's new show, Sandra's Money Saving Meals, based on one of her books, premieres on Mother's Day (May 10) at noon. The new daytime programs will feature budget-friendly recipes and supermarket shopping tips. And in typical Sandra Lee fashion, there's an alliteration shtick. According to publicity material, she'll be touting her "triple A factor of accessible, aspirational and affordable."

Photo from www.topnews.com.

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Food Network: Magazine, yes; Web site, uh, no

Circulation figures for the Food Network magazine are climbing, nearing the 1 million mark after starting at about 400,000 last fall. The next issue comes out May 5 and focuses on grilling. with Surprise! Bobby Flay front and center. Plus it includes a pull-out booklet that includes 50 summer drinks.

I've liked the magazine since its debut and wish it came out every month instead of just six. However, that's probably what will keep it profitable right now. Print media is really suffering through the lousy economy. It's advertising that keeps it going; not those low, low, low subscription rates.

While I give high marks to the magazine, my thumbs are pointed way down on Foodnetwork.com. It used to be a great place to look for recipes and find out show times, but these days it moves at a snail's pace. A redesign a few months ago has made it unfuriating to use. What's up with that? *

Look out, Andrew Zimmern! Jeff Corwin eating bizarre, too

For those who wonder how far the Food Network can roam from actual cooking shows, they'll have their answer with this one. Wildlife dude Jeff Corwin from the Animal Planet will have a show on the Food Network this fall. And he'll be eating extreme cuisine. But the question is, will he face a throwdown from Bobby Flay? Deep-fried cockroaches, anyone?

Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwinwill have the hyperactive animal lover traveling the globe to sample the food in places like Greece, Morocco and Peru. The show got a preview in February and Corwin ate such delicacies as silkworms and blood cockles in Thailand. Viewer feedback showed that an 8-episode series was in order. And a lot of water to wash it all down.

He tells the New York Daily News, though, that the show is not about gross-out foods. Really?

"I want it to be visceral and real and gritty, but above all that, I want people to take something away that they can apply in their own life," Corwin told the Daily News. "I think that's what will make this different from other shows. To open a window and step into a cultural experience that we might not normally have access to and seeing how people use food to celebrate life."

Sounds an awful lot like Andrew Zimmern's gig over on the Travel Channel. I think he likes him a big plate of silkworms, too. With a side of larvae. My prediction? It will be wildly successful.

Photo from the Travel Channel. No word on whether the reptile is dinner.

 

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Cook yourself thin? Tune in

Can you cook yourself thin in front of the stove? I supposed it's possible, but you'll probably have to put the butter under lock and toss the key.

Nevertheless, the three hosts of a new Lifetime series say "hell yeah."

"Cook Yourself Thin is hosted by Season 1 Top Chef contestant Candice Kumai, food writer Harry Eastwood, at left, (yes, Harry is a girl), and chef Allison Fishman (from TLC's Home Made Simple). Eastwood wrote the book that begat the British show of the same name and then spawned this one. (Do we ever come up with our own TV show ideas anymore?)

Just to bring you down to Earth and rid your pretty little head of the idea that you're going to be able to eat what you want and lose weight, here's your reality check: Cook Yourself Thin encourages women to lose weight by changing their eating habits. Duh. Anyway, watch as they scale back the calories of extreme recipes to manageable amounts. A companion book will come out at the end of April.

The shows debuts with back-to-back shows at 5 and 5:30 p.m. on May 4.

Photo from Cook Yourself Thin

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