Jeff Smith, who used to do the Frugal Gourmet cooking show, used to emphasize two themes. One was that "frugal" didn't mean "inexpensive" but rather getting your full money's worth. The other was that inviting someone into your home, cooking food, and breaking bread together was a religious experience experience, a sharing of communion.

My late first wife, Em, said that he wrote interesting cookbooks, but that they were too expensive. The price of the book was high, but mostly, the expense lie in cooking his recipes. They weren't inexpensive, and they were terrible recipes. I have to admit that the concepts he was pitching were appealing, though. As I age, I'm increasingly selective about who I'm willing to share a meal with, whether in my home, or sitting next to at a lunch counter. Stramgers are often delightful dinner companions, but I only eat a few meals in a day, and if I live a century, that's too few meals to waste any by eating with someone whose values I detest.

The Folks We Like

Increasingly, too, I'm of the opinion that television shows and books are successful more because of the characters than anything else. There's little difference between the Law & Order of years ago and today, but Jerry Orbach and Chris Noth were exceptionally appealing. The new Chris Noth plays a much darker character, one who's more interesting in a way, but not as much fun to watch. There's little difference between CSI and CSI:Miami, but David Caruso is exceptionally unappealing. I watch CSI infrequently, CSI:Miami never. I watch the various Law & Orders infrequently, and usually, it's an old, old, rerun.

I recently started watching Larry's Country Diner. It's based on country music, and I'm not a big fan of country music, but the show is conversational and welcoming, and unlike other talk shows, it's much more like a conversation that might occur in a friend's family room. I don't know how to explain it. Nobody is acting hyper and "on", it's all very relaxed and impromptu. The guests are people I haven't thought about in years. Remember Ed Bruce, who played the former sheriff and co-owner of the Red Ox saloon when James Garner starred in "Bret Maverick" for a season in 1981? Remember Bobby Bare, who sang "by day I make the cars, at night I make the bars - I wanna go home"?

Killer Apps

The various cable channels tend to be defined by a breakaway hit, just as computer operating systems are defined by a "killer app". RFD-TV has lacked a breakaway hit, and as a result, they have a hard time getting carriage on cable television systems. They went so far as to broadcast Imus after he got cancelled on another network for a women's college basketball team a bunch of prostitutes, as seems appropriate. It seemed incongruous that Imus would sit there, with heavy city traffic visible through the studio window on the street outside, on the cable channel of rural America. Apparently, the management at RFD-TV think that rural folks want to watch a broadcaster who continued to make more such rude comments. Imus is gone, though, so apparently RFD-TV has learned their lesson.

I don't think Larry's will be RFD's breakaway hit, but it's good television anyway. On DirecTV, it's channel 345.

William Shatner is also in the breaking bread together business, holding his own talk show ("Shatner's Raw Nerve") that breaks rules. Instead of sitting behind a desk, while the guest sits next to him, both facing a studio audience, Shatner and his guest sit almost facing each other, along in a studio with the cameras. Biography Channel, channel 266 on DirecTV. Fran was on at 7 AM this morning. He'll have Wayne Brady and Judge Judy on Tuesday, back to back, from 7-9 AM and 2-3 PM.

Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens

It's probably a good thing Shatner doesn't have an audience, because he asks questions one doesn't answer in front of a crowd. As I am typing, I'm watching a TiVOed episode with Fran Drescher.

I don't particularly care for Fran Drescher. It's not just her voice, one that CNN described as able to strip the rust off an engine block. It's her manner as well. It's not that I hate her in any way, but given the choice of dining alone or sharing a meal with my wife, I'd choose my wife at least 99 times out of 100. Given that married couples fight, it's saying something that Fran only scores a 1 on the Dine With Index.

And yet, with Captain Kirk asking the right questions, it's fascinating to watch Drescher. Perhaps it's like slowing down when there's an accident on the other side of Route 222. You don't want to see corpses. If anything, you're hoping for people to be walking around, perhaps with the most minor of limps, so you know that nobody was hurt very bad. On the other hand, you try to do a little accident reconstruction. Looks like someone sideswiped someone else. Sheet metal's not even scrunched up too bad. Good. Cross my fingers that it doesn't happen to me.

Gawker Fare

Fran is talking about a home intrusion. The guy tied up her hubby, raped her girlfriend and Fran. Fran said to him, let's figure out what you want, and see that you get it. And leave without killing anyone, she's thinking. If he kills them, who will be the last one, the one who has to see the other two killed? Real gawker fare.

Drescher has a cute little dog, a chocolate pomeranian. Looks like a little stuffed animal. It seems so wrong, she says, that she lost her uterus to cancer, and lost her dog, all in the same year. She'll never love again, she thinks. And then the new dog comes along, and the dog is wonderful. And then Fran goes on to talk about sex. Apparently, she screws a lot of different guys, and it's all matter-of-fact, as if nobody listening is going to judge her. Shatner doesn't. I don't. But I know the lady next door would be positively scandalized. She thinks sex is horrid, and won't even sleep in the same bed as her husband, much less sleep with him, if you catch my drift.

It Takes All Kinds

It takes all kinds. Maybe I'd share a meal with Fran now. Maybe I'd share a meal with the lady next door. Or not. And Jerry Orbach isn't going to come knocking on my door; he's dead. I guess I'm lucky my wife is such a good dining companion. Got plans for Thursday? I'm thinking about the Water Street Mission. Wavey Gravy declared at Woodstock that there's a little bit of heaven in a disaster zone; people helping each other. Lunatic asylums and homeless shelters tend to have people helping each other, too, because they have to. Maybe you'd prefer to eat with a celebrity, but the poor, the infirm, and the downtrodden are more the kind of people I'd like to break bread with.

Other Bloggers On Related Topics:
Bobby Bare - CSI - David Caruso - Ed Bruce - Fran Drescher - Frugal Gourmet - James Garner - Jeff Smith - Jerry Orbach - Judge Judy - Larry's Country Diner - Law & Order - RFD-TV - Star Trek - Wayne Brady - William Shatner