Hey...Weren't You a Talk Show Host?
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 | posted by Mike
Maybe that’s not the most complimentary thing to think when you see someone, but it was the first thing to popped into my mind the first time I saw Gordon Elliott on the Food Network. After all, my only frame of reference for him was The Gordon Elliott Show, which was around during the mind-boggling avalanche of talk shows during the mid-1990s. I just figured that he disappeared into the atmosphere like Charles Perez (remember him?) once the show was cancelled. Of course, I thought the same thing about Marc Summers, and look where he ended up!Like I said, it was a mild surprise to see Elliott hosting Door Knock Dinners, but it was even more of a surprise to find out how involved he was in developing and producing programming for the Food Network and other outlets. A nice recap of Gordon’s role at FN, and particularly his eye for talent evident in the discovery and development of Paula Deen, can be found in an article from last week in the New York Post.
Apparently, the queen of Southern cooking wasn’t an easy sell, but it was a decision that paid off handsomely in the end:
When the former talk-show-host-turned-producer first approached the network about doing a show with Paula Deen, the channel's executives were reluctant. After all, Deen had no TV experience or celebrity cachet and eschewed dishes like foie gras in favor of favorites like bacon-wrapped corn on the cob.So, it should have come as no surprise to see Gordon Elliott as part of the team shepherding the contestants through The Next Food Network Star when that show appeared. A quick look at his bio on Wikipedia shows that he has been involved in local and national programming, on the television and on radio, both here in the U.S. and in his native Australia, so he obviously seems to have a knack for showbiz.
It took Elliott two years to convince Food Network executives to give Deen her show. But it's a good thing they did.
You can find out more about Elliott’s involvement in other television shows through his Follow Productions, which he founded in 1999, at their website. By the way, I always get a kick out of Follow Productions' bumper animation at the end of their shows. Those things are an art in their own right. (Watch how My Name is Earl's changes for each episode.)
Labels: Gordon Elliott
