Now, I'm sure Penny is a lovely lady but her presenting style is at times painfully cringe-worthy. This can be seen on the faces of the shows guests. Valentine Warner, a man whom I greatly respect seemed to be holding back from rolling his eyes at Smiths' constant annoying questioning. It may seem like a terribly snobbish thing to say, but sod it I will say it anyway, the show has been cheapened, it's all a bit ITV now isn't it? Penny Smith is a prime example of the art of opening your mouth before you think. Today Valentine Warner was to make a London inspired twist on Salmon topped buckwheat Blinis, sounds delicious. Smith muscles her way over to see Warner starting to place Flour and Buckwheat into a bowl only to ask Warner what part of the recipe he was making (needless to say he wasn't constructing a smoked salmon.) A mild yet noticeable example of Smiths inabilities as a presenter adding nothing but air-headed unintelligent comments to the mix.
Market Kitchen in days of old was brilliant, the sophistication and knowledge of Matthew Fort, the infectious enthusiasm of Tom Parker-Bowles, great distinguished guests from the world of food and drink, something I wished to be a part of and as a result went on the show as a diner. In the new shows guests have included such foodie 'greats' as Coolio or Jon Culshaw whose input was lacking to say the least, some of us were 'lucky' enough to catch a performance by dance troop Diversity also.
I am reassured that I am not alone in my concern. It seems that if you are to search 'Penny Smith' on Twitter there are tens upon tens of posts bemoaning the loss of the Market Kitchen we all grew to love, some of which no longer watch due to the shake-up, which I'm sure you'll agree is a great shame. Same goes for the Good Food Channel website comment boards, one such comment from a chap going by the name 'DavidR301' states:
"to echo previous comments, it was great to see the old Market Kitchen Christmas Shows over the last few days, as I stopped watching the current mishmash masquerading as Market Kitchen weeks ago (I'm at pains to say excluded are of course the Chefs, whom I feel sorry having to put up with Penny Smith's stupid comments all the time...)"
I hope that the powers that be will listen to the Market Kitchen devotees and things will get back to a state of normality soon. Market Kitchen has proven itself capable of so much better, the show wasn't broken and didn't require a fix in the form of it's so-call 'exciting new format.' Don't get me wrong, it isn't all bad, the core of the show is still there, brilliant and noteworthy guests have included Stefan Gates and Tim Hayward both of whose opinion I respect greatly.
So for those of you who are spending Christmas watching The Big Adventure such as I am but weeping into your Port and Stilton, here is a reminder of the past to warm the cockles of our aching hearts...
I disagree entirely! Change is a good thing...old show was getting boring and same-ish. Penny comes across as sharp and on-the-ball. She only asks obvious questions for the sake of viewers, most of whom are thinking the exact same thing at home. She makes it accesible, and she's far more interesting than Matthew Fort and Parker-Bowls put together.
ReplyDeleteHello Amber, thank you for being the first comment on my new blog and for taking the time to read. Most people I talk to have the same opinion as me but it is interesting to hear opinions either way. Thanks again and for taking the time to comment. Matt.
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