Table of Contents
Guide
GOOD EATS
THE FINAL YEARS
GOOD EATS
THE FINAL YEARS
ABRAMS, NEW YORK
So its not really to the fourth power; its just the fourth Good Eats book.
ALTON BROWN
This book is dedicated to the Good Eats crew,
whose collective talents and artistry made it all go.
What a long, strange, wonderful trip its been.
Editor: Michael Sand
Designer: Headcase Design
Design Manager: Danielle Youngsmith
Managing Editor: Lisa Silverman
Production Manager: Anet Sirna-Bruder
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021946811
ISBN: 978-1-4197-5352-7
eISBN: 978-1-64700-250-3
Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition ISBN: 978-1-4197-6398-4
Signed Edition ISBN: 978-1-4197-6429-5
Text copyright 2022 Alton Brown
Photographs and illustrations copyright 2022 BrainFood Industries
Illustrations by Alton Brown
On-set and behind-the-scenes photographs by Cole Cassel. All others
by Alton Brown, except (top) by
Cabeca de Marmore/Shutterstock, by Picture Partners/
Shutterstock
Cover 2022 Abrams
Published in 2022 by Abrams, an imprint of ABRAMS.
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GOOD EATS
: THE FINAL YEARS
CONTENTS
Forget the guy pointing
the important one is over his
shoulder: key grip Marshall
Millard, whos been with me
since episode #1.
/ 7
W
HEN WE STOPPED PRODUCTION
(the first time) on Good Eats in 2011, I knew it
wasnt gone for good. The sock puppets went
into cold storage along with those silly bongos and the terri-
ble shirts. Bessy, the fiberglass cow (at one time the most
expensive prop wed ever bought), went on the road with me
as I launched a couple of live culinary-variety tours.
Television-wise, I moved on to make two hundred episodes
of a show called Cutthroat Kitchen , and I wrote a cookbook
called EveryDayCook .
Then, in 2017, something made me watch some old GE
episodes (dont remember why), and I was struck by how old
they felt. Things had changed so much since then. I had
changed. The food world had changed. And, truth is, Id just
gotten a lot of things...
... wrong.
Repairs and renovations were clearly in order. And hon-
estly, I wanted an opportunity to make fun of myself, because
with age often comes the realization that your younger self
was an irritating gasbag, albeit with a full and sensuous head
of hair.
I called up the president of Food Network and said, Id
call it Good Eats: Reloaded and itll be a lot cheaper than
making new ones.
A week later we had an order for twelve episodes.
Deciding which shows to reload was easy. Just go onto the
Food Network Forum and pick the recipes with the fewest
stars and the most complaints. The only problem was that
wed need several more seasons to cover them all.
Production on the first Reloaded s was difficult, because
the original set had not survived, so we ended up re-creating
the main counter, oven, and fridge; everything else was shot
in front of a massive green screen so that we could composite
me into the old footage whenever possible. With that season
as an appetizer, it was easy to start thinking of brand-new
shows, and so season 1 of Good Eats: The Return followed.
INTRODUCTION
(and a bit of instruction)
The first Reload set was bare-bones.
/ 8
INTRODUCTION (AND A BIT OF INSTRUCTION)
(continued)
We needed an updated set, and Im fortunate that my wife,
Elizabeth, is a designer who grokked not only what it had
been, but what it could be. Launching into The Return was
both comfortable and challenging. Filmically, technology
had evolved to the point that we could produce things not
possible a mere decade ago, so the director in me had to ante
up. Culinarily, everything had changed, from the ingredients
made attainable by the web to the fixation on edible imagery
made ubiquitous by Instagram. We started from scratch and
had a blast.
Then came the second season of Reloaded , and after that
another Return , which was really tough, because production
took place in the summer of 2020. Covid was in full rage, and
taking the required precautions to keep people safe made
shooting a nightmare. When we finally wrapped, I looked at
the show list for Reloaded 3 and thought... I cant. Under-
stand, I own the production company, and, honestly, I just
didnt feel I could take any more risks, either with peoples
health or with my savings account (you cant insure against
Covid). So we finished developing the applications for the
third season (thats what I call recipes, in case youre just tun-
ing in) but didnt actually produce the shows. Im not saying
theyll never be made, but as I stand here typing on June 27,
2021... well, never say never.
So what you have here is five seasons worth of shows:
three Reloaded s and two Return s. Theyre in chronological