Food Network conventions, part 2

Recently I wrote about how most Food Network cooking shows have to have some kind of plot, which I find annoying.

There is another common thread. Food Network seems to want to coordinate show themes on specific weekends. I can see that for Christmas, Thanksgiving, the 4th of July, Halloween and so on, but the coordination goes beyond that. For example, not long ago The Kitchen, Trisha’s Southern Kitchen, and Guy’s Big Bite all had shows about tailgating on the same weekend. Valerie’s Home Cooking was right there as well with a football-themed show. Why Pioneer Woman was out of sync with a program on mashups I have no idea.

The following week it was about competition. Trisha cooked as if she were a contestant on Chopped or another of the competition shows, with her sister Beth as judge. On Pioneer Woman Ree competed with herself, asking the cowboys to judge variant versions of the same dish. Valerie’s husband and his brother competed for the best home brew beer.

Show biz. It’s all show biz.

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