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Series / America's Test Kitchen

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America's Test Kitchen is a Cooking Show on PBS and essentially the TV version of Cook's Illustrated magazine, originally hosted by editor Christopher Kimball. Unlike most cooking shows (particularly those on PBS), it focuses on the "science" of cooking; it could be thought of as a more straight-up version of Good Eats. In addition to recipes and general cooking tips, the show also features a science corner, letters to the editor (Chris Kimball), an Equipment Corner (consumer cooking goods reviews) and a tasting lab.

A spin-off (more like very minor variation) is Cook's Country, once again originally featuring host Christopher Kimball and pretty much the rest of the America's Test Kitchen staff.

Kimball departed the series after season 16 (and Cook's Country after season 9) in 2016, and his two primary test cooks, Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin-Davison, took over as the new co-hosts. Kimball would go on to start his own competing series, Christopher Kimball's Milk Street.


Tropes:

  • Arc Words: From the very beginning of the show's history to the present, a key theme has been to "uncover the secrets" of a specific dish.
  • Dueling Shows: Kimball has noted the similarity to Good Eats, and taken care to point out the differences.
    • The show was a lot more similar to Good Eats in the early going thanks to a goofy "science desk" segment featuring John "Doc" Willoughby, which even used the same kinds of props and puppets Alton Brown used to explain food science concepts. This segment was dropped after the third season, though Willoughby returned some years later for a "Man on the Street" segment. A dedicated science segment has since returned intermittently throughout the show's run, finally becoming permanent after Kimball's departure with Dan Souza. He generally focuses on experimental demonstrations and object lessons, eschewing the "puppets and props" of yore. (Also by that point Good Eats had gone off the air, though it has since returned.)
  • Shout-Out: "Elegant Dinner Party" starts the brisket segment with Bridget declaring "I like big cuts... and I cannot lie".
  • Un-person: After Kimball left acrimoniously (resulting in he and ATK suing each other - they settled out of court) the show made a point of editing him out of their 20th anniversary special, resulting in many flashback clips where Bridget, Julia, and the other test cooks are speaking to no one in particular.


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