This afternoon I was at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center in Atlanta, GA watching the live matinee performance of “Good Eats Turns 10″ with Alton Brown. What a blast! I had a fantastic time.
I don’t think I’ve been to a live TV show recording before (except for sporting events), so it was cool to see all the HD cameras, including the boom camera and the guys with the steadicams roaming around on the stage and in the audience. I was in the seventh row from the stage so I had a great view of the action plus it should be easy to find myself in some of the panning crowd shots (I was wearing my gold “Science, it’s what’s for dinner” t-shirt).
Patrick Belden (who composes all of the music for the show) and his Small Orchestra warmed up the crowd before the performance while they displayed a slide show of behind-the-scenes photos on the huge chalkboard that was the projector screen. The on-stage set consisted of the orchestra on the left, the giant chalkboard in the center (“not the actual chalkboard from the show” quipped Alton), and tons of Good Eats props on either side (“As you can see,” Alton said, “we kinda just dumped the truck.”). I spotted such classics as the beef cow, the lemon meringue pie slice, the giant popcorn kernel, etc.
The stage manager briefed us on how to applaud out on the “commercial breaks” (i.e., “we’ll be right back!”) and then also gave us our cues to applaud when coming back from those breaks (i.e., “welcome back to Good Eats Turns 10!”). We also practiced yelling “Good Eats” as part of the opening theme music for the beginning of the show.
Without spoiling any of the surprises for those of you who will be watching the birthday show when it airs on Food Network, he’s a basic breakdown of the episode:
- Alton sits down with Ted Allen for some interview questions about Good Eats, how he came up with the idea for the show, what his philosophy is (“laughing brains are more absorbent”), etc. The interview is supplemented with video clips, along with Alton’s countdown of his top 10 favorite Good Eats recipes and his favorite inventions/hacks.
- Ted challenges Alton to create an invention out of the only uni-tasker in his kitchen. This was a great segment, just like on the show: Alton pieces together the hack while talking/thinking quietly to himself as the band vamps the theme music in the background.
- … 15 minute intermission …
- Alton brings out three of the winners of the “Good Eats Turns 10″ contest to challenge him head-to-head in Good Eats Trivia Takedown.
- Ted interviews the Good Eats Players (Bart Hansard, Daniel Pettrow, Widdi Turner, Lucky Yates, and another “special guest” who wanders in a little later) about what it’s like to work on the show.
- And finally, what’s a birthday show without a birthday cake? Alton, Ted, “sister” Marsha, and W put together a cake, “Good Eats” style!
- Curtain call: the entire cast and crew present, including Alton’s wife and daughter, come out on stage and receive a standing ovation from the audience.
All told, the show was about two and a half hours! It was really cool seeing all of these celebrities (or “cable-lebrities” as Ted Allen put it) in person just a few feet away, on stage. Portions were obviously scripted, but since it was being done in front of a live audience there was a lot of ad-libbing going on, in addition to interaction with and responding to the crowd. There were a few technical difficulties (I saw one of the steadicam guys on stage slip and almost fall over!) and even something for the blooper reel.
Only one thing really annoyed me: I won’t say too much, but let’s just say that one of the contest winners was really annoying once she got up on stage. She apparently didn’t realize (or care?) that the show was about Alton and Good Eats, not about her. She kept trying to throw out funny lines, or interact with Alton more than she needed to, which caused what I thought was some awkwardness between Alton, Ted, and herself that really detracted from the segment. I really hope the editors are able to piece something usable out of that (or maybe cut her out entirely). Maybe I’ll comment on this more once the show airs.
“Good Eats Turns 10″ will air on Food Network on October 10. Watch for me! 
P.S. The title of this post is a reference to one of Ted’s first questions to Alton (“what do these words mean to you?”) Can you guess what the answer is? Tune in to find out!
