Certainly there's places in the TV culinary world for diverse shows and talent to exist with each having their fans with even an overlapping portion. Ask anyone who comes to mind as of 2017 and don't be surprised if you get the answer Guy Fieri. Guy has changed the landscape. Starting out with a somewhat "unconventional conventional" cooking show, he found his massive audience with the seemingly ubiquitous Food Network show called Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives in which he does no actual cooking himself instead finding some talent that is mostly obscure outside of their locality. This is like mining and finding gold because it's a synergistic match between the host, viewers, and the food auteurs profiled. It is in no small part due to Guy who started out a bit edgy in his earlier show, but became more warm and fuzzy as his wise-cracking good-time dude persona fully formed. A wide audience accepted him as the wacky relative that no get together is complete without.
The simple concept behind "Triple D" is brilliant. It's one almost everyone can relate to since these places are almost all universally inexpensive and accessible. Even if you haven't been to a single "joint" you've seen on the show you've probably found a similar place at some time in your life and you know it's a special kind of fun. The hard to define part of DDD is that without smell or taste the viewer joins in on the on-screen fun. In my best analysis I credit this to the intersection, or collision if you will, of the personable host and plenty of inspiring cooks plying their trade with true passion outside of any glamour or glitz
save their less than 15 minutes of fame with Fieri.
When I first started seeing Fieri I wanted to dislike him because he seemed like a kind of poseur who wanted to be in The Red Hot Chili Peppers or ape the style of his friend Sammy Hagar but with food. As I watched more and more Triple D shows he won me over. Regardless of if it was a created character I started to just connect with Fieri's obvious love of what he's doing. He makes it look so easy and natural to which I know it's not since he often starts very early and works for several days to do a short profile on each food establishment. If you say this couldn't be the real deal since every place he visits has food that is wonderful you'd not be out of line. Well, you have to realize that due to costs of production the places are carefully vetted after coming to the attention of either Guy or his producers. The idea is to profile only the places doing something just slightly amazing - and if the place itself is humble, the owner/cook eccentric,or a blend of cuisines against the grain that's even better. These things are what makes the show a winner. And as a bonus aspiring cooks can actually learn something just by watching actually making it a tool to propel future talent or just help one raise the bar at home.
I imagine there are those for who Guy's style is a turn-off. He has his critics in the industry no doubt to which if you're interested it's easy to Google. But, for many, and I include myself, even though I'm not going to start bleaching my hair and wearing bowling shirts I find his style engaging. After watching so many cooking shows where there is too much seriousness ,and dishes I can't easily replicate ,this seems like a great blend of a food show where I can come away with some fresh ideas and I'm supremely entertained. It's an every-man's food show that is truly fun.
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