Friday, May 23, 2014

TV Shows that Made the Food and Drink!


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The Big Bang Theory ...Party of Seven

There’s probably not a single episode of The Big Bang Theory that doesn’t show our favorite geeks and popular girl, scoffing down Chinese food take-out or the cafeteria’s special-of-the-day.  I usually crave anything Moo Shu or something from The Cheesecake Factory after watching the show.  I may not act on it until days later …with may being the word in question. 


The Middle at Dinnertime

And what about our favorite working class family—The Middle’s Heck family--let’s visit them at the dinner table, or should I say ...the dinner couch.  What’s great is that our girl, Frankie, gives today’s busy moms permission to visit fast food windows at dinnertime on those super hectic days. 

Between soccer and ballet practices; sporting games and recitals; the dropping off and the picking up—I’m sure many Moms connect with Frankie’s, it is what it is, attitude that takes away some of that Mommy guilt.  Of course, Frankie’s super hectic days are an everyday occurrence. 

Nevertheless, Thanksgiving dinner with the Hecks is an entirely different bowl of mashed potatoes.  See for yourself.



(Kiki)

Miracles and Blessings, Kiki here for this week’s text-webisode:  TV Shows that Made the Food and Drink.  Since we’ll be eating a lot of barbeque and drinking a lot of sweet tea over this Memorial Day weekend, my iCafe Woman Moderne divas thought this would be a great time to revisit our favorite television shows that made us hungry and crave java. 

Some of you may know that I wear another hat in this cyber-world.  You’ll find me getting in trouble over at Joan B. Average, Scriptwriter, where I chronicle her adventures or missed adventures in a creative world of possibilities.  

I dug up one of my favorite Joan B. Average spiels I’m sure you’ll enjoy.  Food ...television, what could go wrong?


Where Art Thou Frazier and Niles 
…Daphne …Roz …Anybody?
   
Can't you picture analytical Frazier and fastidious Niles still meeting for their morning non-fat cappuccino with light foam and espresso at CafĂ© Nervosa?  I still have visions of Niles meticulously wiping his seat down with a hankie before sitting his persnickety fanny down.  I'm sure Starbucks coffee sales climbed when that popular series ran the air waves.



And of course our infamous Friends at Central Perk loved their cappuccinos and lattes too ...and like The Big Bang Theory dwellers, they also enjoyed scoffing down Chinese food, while spinning funny stories about the Ugly Naked Guy across the fire escape.
The Best of Friends
Seinfeld Puts 
Ordinary on the TV Map
So many memorable food moments made us laugh our heads off.  We can begin at Seinfeld's cornucopia of cereal boxes and Kramer's frequent shopping trips to Jerry's kitchen with his "what's yours is mine" attitude ...or with Jerry hilariously mugging an old lady of the last marble rye from Schnitzer's bakery.  

This was one of my favorite episodes.  I couldn't stop laughing.  I'd crack up just at the sight of a marble rye in a supermarket.  That's what television does, it sparks laughter in our mundane lives.  And it doesn't get more mundane than grocery shopping.  



It goes like this.  George takes his parents over to Susan’s parents' house for an anniversary dinner. On the way, Frank Constanza insists on picking up a Marble Rye from Schnitzer’s Bakery to bring to dinner.  

After dinner, Frank realizes that Susan’s parents never brought out the rye and steals it back. But Susan’s "eagle- eye" parents notice the missing rye. George gets Kramer to distract them with a horse-drawn carriage ride around Central Park for their anniversary, so he can sneak another rye back into their home. 

George recruits Jerry to purchase another rye from Schnitzer's, but they sell the last one to an old lady who refuses Jerry's $50 offer.   He snatches the rye from her and takes off.

 Seinfeld's Rye Bread Episode - January 4, 1996


Earlier that day, Kramer fed the horses cans of Beef-A-Reeno because he had an excess after shopping at a wholesale food store. During the carriage ride, the horses release horrible gas. Susan’s parents end the carriage ride too soon and foils George's plan. Those memorable food moments usually started and ended with a wacky Kramer. 
  


Fans loved the famous mango discovery that supposedly gave them a shot of the Love Jones -- and cracked up over Mr. Lippman's muffin top business with its own shot of lunacy.  

May 8, 1997-- The Muffin Top
 

Elaine inspires her former boss, Mr. Lippman, to open up a muffin top business called "Top of the Muffin to You!" after he notices Elaine only eating the top of a muffin at a party.   

He seeks Elaine's advice when it doesn't go as planned.  Big mistake.  She tells him that he's doing it wrong by just baking the tops.  He has to bake the entire muffin and pop off the tops.  Only problem ...he's stuck with a pile of stumps. 

Elaine and Mr. Lippman try giving them to the homeless, but even they don't want them.  They end up with bags of stumps, until Norman, "the human garbage disposal," comes to the rescue with four bottles of milk. 



Self-Served Yogurt?  
Remember when Kramer invested in a popular non-fat yogurt shop Jerry, George and Elaine frequented?  Kramer began noticing that Elaine and Jerry were gaining weight. Jerry and Elaine secretly had the yogurt tested at a lab and found out it was not low fat and was indeed packing on the pounds.  Yeah, like they were so portly.



And then there's my other favorite episode ...the "big salad" debacle.  My husband still teases me when I order a large salad.  "Oh, you want a big salad, Elaine?"



Our television shows' preoccupation with food had been going on for decades.  Fans of The Golden Girls probably gained a few pounds watching their golden escapades around the kitchen table.  

They often ended their Saturday night dating disappointments, commiserating over a cheesecake and chocolate syrup with three forks.   I'm craving a slice just thinking about it.

But it doesn't stop with the sitcoms.  Oh no, Nanette ...I still crave coffee and a 7-Eleven Big Gulp when I tune into NCIS on Tuesday nights.  At any given moment, Gibbs and Abbs can't resist slurping down their favorite beverage fix during the prime-time hour.
Abby's Caf Pow!

You also can't tune into reruns of Burn Notice without seeing Michael and Fiona scooping vanilla yogurt into their mouths.



Got Yogurt ...Anyone?



Cheers gave the bar happy hour business a boost in the eighties.



Popeye had his spinach that turned a generation into spinach lovers.  Lucy Ricardo's (I Love Lucy) hilarious episode on the chocolate factory assembly line still lures fans to the nearest box of chocolates.







What's your favorite television show that made the food and drink?  iCafe Woman Moderne wants to know.  Do share?