ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

gbsparta48 If you are new to cooking, this is a great show to begin your journey. If you are a seasoned pro in the kitchen, this show is still necessary to keep your talons sharpened.Alton Brown has managed to make a highly entertaining, humorous, and original food show with great recipes while doing something that is lost on other food show hosts: Educating his viewer.There are many excellent qualities to AB's show, but his use of science is what sets his show apart from anything else food-related on television. Alton gets very, very scientific about why certain things must be done, why certain things do not need to be done, and why certain things may be done if desired. Other shows tell you to do specific things in recipes; Alton tells you why you must do this and how it affects the dish. While he educates the viewer, Alton takes his episode topic and turns it inside out. He teaches you how to use the ingredient, and how to cook in general (and bake, as well).Authenticity is another staple of the show. If you are looking for the most authentic version of, say, New Orleans' style "Red Beans and Rice," you need look no further than Good Eats. Alton also cooks the most authentic versions of more common recipes such as onion soup, spinach salad, or prime rib - he does so by exploring the origins of the dishes and determining how they were originally prepared. Alton also ALWAYS cooks and bakes from scratch. He does not cut corners. He is basically the opposite of Sandra Lee (Semi- Homemade). In fact, at times Alton even mocks himself and caves in and tells the viewer that they can cut a corner if he might be going a little too far (e.g. In an episode in which he teaches the viewer to make baklava, Alton makes homemade rosewater but jokingly tells the viewer there is no shame in buying the store-bought version).Alton always speaks with the viewer; never at the viewer. He frequently uses comedy sketches and comic bits to hammer home his point, and the actors he employs do a fine job (yes, actors are used). In summary, this is a great educational food show with terrific, authentic, made-from-scratch recipes. Being fun and amusing are added bonuses.Personal Note: Alton Brown's "Coconut Cake Revival" episode is jaw-dropping. This is a long, difficult dish to prepare, and what Alton goes through to make this cake from complete scratch is nothing short of remarkable. Halfway through the episode he makes homemade coconut milk, coconut cream, and coconut extract (to use in the dish), and when he finally finishes the cake Alton lets out a laugh at the end of the episode. Highly impressive, to say the least.

TVholic I avoid the Food Network like the plague. Whether it's the melodramatics of Iron Chef or especially the vastly overrated Emeril, I just can't get into the shows. I don't even like Rachael Ray and her obsession with "EVOO" (extra virgin olive oil). All of these shows have a fatal flaw to me. They're into hoity-toity foods with fancy ingredients that I'll never buy. I had to turn Emeril off after five minutes because he was so annoying. Don't get me started on Unwrapped. While that show can be informative at times, host Marc Summers probably doesn't know the first thing about his show's topics. His only connection to food is that he's a greasy ham. Good Eats, however, is a horse of a whole different color.I was hooked from the day I happened upon an episode of Good Eats. Until then, I hadn't really watched any cooking shows since The Galloping Gourmet and The French Chef back in the 1970s. Creator and host Alton Brown looks like he really enjoys cooking, like Graham Kerr and Julia Child did, rather than just showing off in the kitchen. He doesn't try to get you to buy overpriced cookware or utensils, simply whatever works best for whichever purpose, whether it's the cheapest kitchen shears or something that's not even normally found in any kitchen. For instance, he once described how to build a smoker from a cardboard box and some odds and ends. His recipes are often basic and rather than trying to combine ingredients in a way never before seen (the way other cooks do), he may, for instance, just spend a show telling you how to make perfect pan-fried chicken (my introduction to the show). He's more interested in how something will taste than in the aesthetics of the dish. He doesn't instruct you to do something simply because that's how he was taught to do it. AB tells you the actual science behind each decision, much like Harold McGee's book "On Food and Cooking," explaining it in layman's terms but never talking down to the audience. Better yet, when he's wrong, he'll admit it on a later show, mocking himself in the process. (Maybe I'll get on his case for saying 2% milk is whole milk that's had 98% of its fat removed.) AB often gives guidelines instead of immutable lists, as for the types of ingredients in a marinade, so you can choose your own ingredients instead of just following his recipe.Unlike other cooking shows, Good Eats actually has a varied cast of supporting characters. No, not like Emeril's live band. These people usually have pertinent information to impart. There is often a food anthropologist or a food science consultant. Cameo appearances by real life butchers, food vendors and sales associates at various stores and supermarkets. Occasionally actors playing food ingredients, government officials and agents, French chefs, even fake Brown family members, who are sometimes there to support the story. (Yes, unlike other cooking shows, each episode is usually couched in a story and is not just a visual recipe.) And, of course, the irascible "W," the kitchenware salesperson who verbally fences with AB while telling him the essentials of choosing the cookware or utensil he needs that day.The show is also not stuck in a studio kitchen with a live audience. That tends to become quite boring with the same, old camera angles and self-congratulatory applause and is the hallmark of a show that doesn't want to spend any money. Good Eats often ventures outside to various locales. Even when he's in his kitchen set, AB will use unusual methods to show the viewer information, from writing on pull-down screens, charts and windows to playing with toys to point of view shots from inside the oven.Alton himself - forever clad in loud, untucked shirts - brings an everyman's charm to the show. He's the kind of guy you might want over not only for a casual dinner party (cooking and eating it), but someone you wouldn't mind sitting around and shooting the non-cooking-related breeze with. He's willing to indulge in self-deprecating humor and look like a fool but still have fun in the process. I wouldn't be surprised if he was once a class clown. That's a big difference from the stone-faced stiff named Emeril, whose only gimmicky trademark is "Bam! Kick it up a notch!" No wonder Emeril's "sitcom," if you want to call it that, bombed quickly.If you love cooking, learning, eating or just being entertained, Good Eats is the show for you. With apologies to Alka Seltzer, "Try it, you'll like it!"

Bob O`Bob Good Eats is my favorite cooking show, ever. It's also one of my favorite science programs.AB's curiosity about nearly all things is catching, and that makes for the best kind of teaching.Is ANY topic safe from this man's parody? I certainly hope not.In "Give Peas a Chance", broadcast last night, he gives a recipe for a vegetarian burger-substitute. I'm a lifelong confirmed omnivore, but I've sampled many an amazing vegetarian dish, including some well-known commercial burger substitutes, and I'm probably going to have to give these pseudo-burgers a try soon.Even simple, straightforward tips like using Kosher salt are explained (in "Eat This Rock", an hour-long episode) not just pontificated. And that one tiny detail has made a seasoning mini-revolution in my own kitchen.Keep having fun, AB!

babytoes I've been watching "Good Eats" since it came on about 5 years ago. Alton Brown and his cast of zany characters makes learning about food and cooking fun. From a food's origins to putting the finished dish on the table, AB strives to make learning about food and its preparation educational, with recipes that are both easy and challenge the way we think about eating. We have tried and enjoyed many of his recipes.The shows are presented with humour, and many of them are sure to become classics. ("Romancing the Bird" being one)