Last week’s “Art’s World” feature was about my love for model trains. This week here is an unlikely trio, so just what does it mean? It simply means that these are three more of my favorite things when it comes to TV shows. Don’t get me wrong, I still have my other favorites like Jeopardy, Blacklist, NCIS, The Voice, The Masked Singer, AGT, Yellowstone, Big Sky and others and of course sports with my Rays, Bucs and Lightning and a few others along with some good movies, but it has mainly been the three I mentioned.

When it comes to food, what else is there but the Food Network. For us, “Guy Fieri’s Diner, Drive Ins and Dives” and “Guy’s Grocery Games” top the list. It is very interesting to see how so many different places around the country can create so many different dishes, sandwiches, dinners, etc. that absolutely hit the mark. I always have a pad and pen ready to take notes and try things from the show, as I have been cooking and baking most of my life. On Grocery Games, I love the competitive nature of everyone and the games that Fieri comes up with to make their cooking a more challenging and fun. I really enjoy Robert Irvine and “Restaurant Impossible” and what he can do in a couple of days from a new look, to personal situations to new menus. That is another show where I have a pad and pen ready. His new show “Dinner Impossible” is just that but he pulls it off in just several hours in some unusual places and themes. I enjoy “Chopped” and seeing what chefs can do with some of the wildest, craziest ingredients, most of which I wouldn’t try. For comic relief “Worst Cooks in America” tops the list. Then there are the special shows built around the holidays that are always fun and require my pen and pad. Of course there are the Gordon Ramsey shows on Fox that are outstanding. I especially love the one with the kid chefs. I can relate because I began learning how to cook and bake from my mother when I was about ten years old.

As for history, the History Channel has such a vast library that you learn from on so many shows that, unfortunately, kids today will never learn in school. Their various series like, “The Men that Made America” was an exceptional and very deep, honest look at people like Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller, Morgan, etc. Then they had the “Automobiles that Made America”  getting into the lives, ups and downs of  Ford, Chrysler, DeLorean, GM, Iacocca, etc. and it was an eye opener. There was also “The Foods that Made America” digging into how people like Pemberton(Coca Cola), Hershey, Kellogg, Birdseye, Heinz, Post, Mars, Col. Sanders, the McDonald Brothers changed the food landscape over the last one hundred years plus. Currently they are running “Engineering That Built the World”. That has given us a look at how the Statue of Liberty, Panama Canal, the NY subway system and much more all came about to change the U.S. and the world. At the end of this month they will begin another new series “The Toys That Built America” and from the teasers that looks incredible. In all of these series there are so many unknown facts uncovered it is amazing what foresight and determination these geniuses had. I am sure at some point they will also repeat the specials they did on the Empire State Building, Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam, Brooklyn Bridge and more that were true eye openers. If you like history and finding out many facts and truths you might not have known about this great country and its trials and tribulations, then the History Channel is where to go.

Now we come to animals, and when I come back in my second life I want to work with them. The Animal Planet Network has a host of different shows with something for everyone, but my number one favorite is “The Zoo”. What makes this so enjoyable and unique is that the segments are mainly from the Bronx Zoo in New York City, but they also do segments from the Columbus, Ohio Zoo and the San Diego Zoo so you really get to see the inner workings of what goes on and how fantastic these various species are cared for, taken care of and the conservation efforts. Another big reason is that they also have a series of shows from right here in our own backyard with “Zoo Tampa” with all the segments done at Lowrey Park’s Zoo Tampa, which is one of our favorite places to visit during the year. One other show that was a favorite and became a casualty of the COVID pandemic was “Saved By the Barn” which is a farm animal sanctuary in Michigan run by a father and two brothers and their staff. Every episode had humor, tears and wonderment with these beautiful animals so they can live a better life at this well maintained sanctuary/farm. Hopefully this show will make a return in the near future.

So there you have my “Art’s World” for this week about Recipes, History and Animals. It is something different, but I hope you enjoyed it, learned a few things and will give some of these shows your attention. If you have never seen any of them, you are in for a real treat and won’t regret it.

Art Koch, National Features & DVD Editor, NightMoves Magazine and AAN