FN Cancellation

For all FN foodies, a cancellation has hit the already beginning to plummet network. Remember that show "Dessert First?" The news was recently leaked that despite several episodes of the second season have already been taped, the network decided not to renew the show and air a second season. Why, you might ask? Because it came out that many of Anne Thornton's recipes were merely rip-offs of other recipes made famous by Martha Stewart and The Barefoot Contessa's Ina Garten, just to name a couple.

The article I read this from specified a couple of Stewart & Garten's more recognized and signature recipes and Thornton's "twist" on them, which for some cases was only a bit of orange zest on top or a fruit topping of strawberries as opposed to just syrup. I am guessing that someone tipped the network off that the similarities between these recipes were too striking and in a surprise move, FN actually listened. After reviewing Anne's cookbook against the recipes she was said to have plagiarized, the producers and the network became concerned as the wording was also more similar than they originally noticed. Upon reviewing the first season, there were simply too many common factors between the others' recipes and Thornton's. At that point, the network made the decision to yank the show from the air.

When asked about the cancellation initially, Anne responded that the show was pulled from the network strictly for performance and ratings reasons. Later on, she was asked about the "real" reason for the show's cancellation and she gave a rather basic response along the lines of that everyone pretty much rips off of others. The example she used was her lemon squares recipe, one of the recipes speculated to be a rip off of Ina Garten's lemon squares. She said that Ina Garten is one of her idols but that there are only so many ways to remake the same item. On that note, I can agree with her, because for many recipes, especially ones that are baked, the skeleton is pretty much the same. Other than minor twists to provide certain flavors, you can't remake lemon squares. The same basic factors have to be there, otherwise you didn't make lemon squares. I'll give her that point.

However, don't try to pass it off as your own when really, minus an ingredient or two, it's someone else's hard work that you're baking on national television. Admit where the inspiration came from, admit whatever twist or variation you may have implemented. Otherwise Anne comes off looking exactly how she did--like she stole it. Maybe she didn't intend to and she was honestly trying to put her own twist on it. That's fine. But not originally giving credit where its due is where she messed up and lost credibility, and her show for that matter. Ina Garten is already a very popular celebrity chef and FN has no problem giving her more airtime for specials and whatever other cooking related show they want her to do. Martha Stewart is doing quite nicely for herself on Hallmark. Why would they feature a ripoff of popular recipes when both originators are still on the air and capable of doing such themselves? This idea is especially true because since BC got revamped, Ina's been going through her old recipes and putting a new spin on them anyway--it's very likely that at some point she could have revamped her lemon squares herself. There would be no reason to have another chef on the same network airing repeats of recipes Ina made from scratch.

So to save face, FN yanked the show and hasn't spoken another red word about it. I can't say I blame them, their already slipping credibility would have taken another hit if more people had come forward with these accusations and they continued to ignore them. Not to mention that legally, both Ina & Martha could sue the network if they found credible proof themselves that Thornton's recipes were in fact plagiarizations of their own creations and the creators kept her on the air anyway. The entire fiasco could have been avoided if they had looked first to ensure there would be no issues before airing the show. I understand how is someone to know that certain recipes are actually someone else's handiwork, but at the same time people's reputations are either being established or tarnished here. Do the work. From the report, even the wording between cookbooks was similar--it sounds to me that these similarities would have been rather easy to spot had someone actually taken the time to look, instead of airing an entire season and taping another one before looking into it. I can't say that this was an honest mistake rather than simply the lazy slipping between the cracks of a network greedy to get more shows on the network, quality or content irrelevant.

It has been said many times that FN as a whole is slipping, and I'm prone to agree. I used to be an avid FN watcher and when they first started bringing on a couple of new faces, giving familiar faces new shows (Giada at Home ring a bell? How about one of Bobby Flay's many shows?) or changing up sets a few years ago (hello 30 Minute Meals!) it was something to get used to, but I was open to it. When they scrapped two hours of programming for more reality crap, got rid of the Fine Living Network and made it the Cooking Channel (or the former FN chef graveyard, whichever way you want to look at it lol) then proceeded to add even more  new faces to the lineup, I began to grow a little weary. I remember wondering around 2007 sometime if FN would ever figure out how to enter the reality world. Other than a few cooking or baking competitions, at that time FN was dominated by how-to programming, and I loved it. I am guessing I spoke too soon, because next thing I knew the disaster better known as Private Chefs of Beverly Hills was premiering. That, to me, was the beginning of the end. And indeed it was. Before I knew it, instead of ending the programming on the weekends at noon like they always did, it was ending at eleven. And then ten. Hell, one Sunday it ended at nine. After a Semi-Homemade mini-thon. Are you serious? The rest of the day was dominated by reality bs of varying kinds and that is how its been ever since. The Cooking Channel has been a somewhat less than acceptable substitute, but if there's more actual food related programming and less reality trash on there, I'll take it.

Back to topic though. In short, Anne may have had the honest intention of putting 'a twist' on recipes she enjoyed. All home chefs do, so who would I be to judge? That's completely fine. However, I am not only not writing a cookbook about said recipes, I am not taking them to national television and airing them--while the recipe's originator is on the same network. That was plain stupid on her part, and even dumber on the network for risking a lawsuit and not checking first.