I didn't see the airings you speak of.. I did see her on with I think Lisa Mason (I think it was her.) it was one of the Lisas...and they were having a ball..
Paula does tend to run the show no matter where she's "performing" though..

And therein lies one of the reasons I avoid her....and her recipes.
Linda c

I can't listen to her torture our lovely Southern accent.
Teresa

That's another reason!!!

Paula Deen is really a doll. I know this because our agency works with her. She is not a put-on, but really a sweet gal. That is part of her act. I didn't see the episode you mentioned, but I have seen her on several QVC segments.

I'm no fan of Paula Deen, but if she's on QVC selling/promoting a product, I would think she would appropriately be the focus and it's the job of the host to support her, not the other way around.

After all, she is a recognized celebrity with a large fan base, and I assume QVC wants to trade on that. The Paula Deen brand rakes in huge amounts of money.

Carol

I have mixed feelings about Paula. I love her story and think she's an amazing boot strapper. Her show is ok to watch in small doses, same with recipe's. Generally I don't like "gigglers" or "laughers".

I saw a sort of similar episode between Deen and Jay Leno.
Now normally you would think that a guest talking a mile a minute to get through their cooking spiel would be a good thing judging by the number cooks that get cut off "we are out of time" on talk shows but Leno started having fun with Deens accent. She kept bulldozing on, he kept making fun of her. At some point you could see she was starting to feel a little hurt and even made a quick comment. He just kept going for the laughs.
I wasn't sure how I felt about this. On the one hand I think Leno passed beyond good manners and knowing when to quit and on the other Deen doesn't seem to know when she should tone done either so she was sort of complicit (is that the right word?)

Paula Deen did a holiday special for Iron Chef with Robert Irvine, Tyler Florence, & Guida De Laurientiis. It's aired several times. On that show, Paula's in typical form...always needing to be the center of attention. Several times during the one hour show I found her behavior out-of-line. Yes, it did draw attention to Paula but in a negative context.

I didn't catch her on QVC this season but I can just see her dominating especially with a live audience.

She seems, IMO, to be unable to tolerate anybody receiving the accolades except her. The sweet, sugary front always seems to be hiding a highly competitive & aggressive interior. She, probably, had to be that way in order to claw herself to the top considering her hard-scrapple background & the feeling of poor self-esteem she's overcome (according to her biography).

She also has a scorpion tongue that I witnessed personally at a book signing when the attention was drawn away from Paula by a young women in line looking like she just stepped off a shoot for Vogue. Paula just 'had' to, in that sugary voice, toss out syrup coated insults. The young woman got out of line & put the book she was going to purchase & have Paula sign back on the shelf. In solidarity, I & others followed suit feeling very badly for that women who now uncomfortably had everybody's eyes looking at her. This was in the heart of Boston back when Paula was just starting to become nationally known with her "Lady & Sons" cookbook.

The QVC host/hostesses are also strong personalities with a love of both an audience & the spotlight. A few of them are bound to clash. I've always watched Paula with some amusement. I sorta enjoy watching her on rare occassion. But, I always come away with the feeling...sorta like, "Gee, I'm so Blessed that Paula Deen is NOT my mother-in-law! I feel for her DIL. I'm sure the poor soul can't do anything right & that Paula's 'correcting' her constantly with Paula sure her way is the 'right' way! LOL :)

You can also see tension in the way she interacts with her sons. It's clear, at least to me, that they love her deeply & admire what she's done with her life while, OTOH, as adults find her overbearing. As soon as Paula's off camera the boys relax & are much better, again IMO. When Paula's next to them...the mood changes visibly.

I admire Paula's grit, sorta even like her, but would never turn my back on her. LOL I do not, however, like her recipes. I like buttah as much as the next person...but really Paula...enough is enough. She is not a good image & I doubt we'll see her do a commercial for the National Dairy Council anytime soon.

/tricia

Can't stand her either. She is about as phony as one can get. We sell very little of her products in our cooking store. They will go the way of RR products did last year...put them on sale and when they don't even sell that way, box them up and send them to our clearance priced store where very little sells there too. NancyLouise

I suppose in this society 'get while the gettin' is good' applies, but really, why doesn't an agent or good friend tell people like Paula and Rachel to go for the long term career and not be so overexposed so quickly. If you are the real deal you can have a long and satisfying career. But I like many people get tired of so much overhype. C'mon, 2-4 shows each or more. Cookware, books, magazines, guest shots on Leno? I could deal with Paula or Rachel in small doses, but it is off putting to be overdosed with the y'alls and EVOO! Giggle. Smile. Giggle.

Duane

Find the story about Jay Leno and Paula interesting. Many people in other parts of the country equate a Southern accent with a lack of intellect. We are Texans, and you would have no doubt where we are from if you heard us.

BTW, Paula refers to a certain nut as a pee-can. That's a can that goes under the bed at night. Texans refer to it as a pah-cahn. By and large, I find most of her recipes to be rather unhealthy. Don't think I ever saw one without at least one stick of butter and some times two.

If you want to experience fine southern food, check out Frank Stitt's resturants in Birmingham.

Yup! Whether a certain nut is a PEE-can or a pah-CAHN depends on where you live. And so does the degree of 'drawl' or 'southern' accent. It even varies greatly between neighboring states.
And yes, most of Paula's recipes could hardly be called 'health food'. But the truth is, she can whip up some very tasty, appealing, attractive, and interesting dishes with the things any ordinary kitchen would be apt to have in it's cupboards or refigerator. No 'Epicurean', 'gourmet', or high priced, hard to find ingredients. And no 'food snob' dishes there, either.
As for 'fake', and sickening to watch, Guida what's-her-name, the so called Italian cook, takes the prize on that, followed closely by Rachal Ray.
At least, that's my humble opinion.
Rusty

I always find it amusing that Rachel and Paula garner such strong likes and dislikes. Personally I don't mind Rachel althought I very seldom watch her show. And I'd rather watch Paula's sons than her. But Rachel and Paula are both striking while the iron is hot and laughing all the way to the bank. They are making so much money now that they probably aren't worried about the next 10 or 20 years.

Ann

And to think...she used to be afraid to leave the house. Seems hard to believe with her overpowering personality.

I have a real problem watching her too. The last time I watched her, was on her Paula's Party show. It was about chocolate. She was making sexual innuendos to the males in the audience, which I thought was extremely tacky. Even more so, was when she stuck her tongue in the chocolate running out of the chocolate fountain. Then proceeded to coat things with it and then wanted to feed them to these uncomfortable males.

I think her boys are embarrassed by her. She is extremely bossy to them when they are on her show...then it seems she catches herself and tries to cover it.

I don't watch cooking shows and have never seen Paula in action. God knows, I don't need another stick of butter. I find all of the personalities and being walked through methods tedious at best. I like Alton Brown but he has a geeky science oriented schtick that I find interesting. I still miss Julia! ;)

What disturbs me is the unkind way people, and other women especially, speak of successful women in the spotlight.

I don't believe any of the above named celebrity chefs or cooks are phony. Just because they have strong personalities doesn't make them phony. I don't care to watch Rachel Ray's nor Paula Deen's shows, but I do believe they're genuine, and probably very nice people. I do like Giada's show, and have made several of her recipes.

I don't ever watch QVC, so I can't comment on what happened there, but I agree with Carol that when a guest is on a talk show, they are supposed to be the center of attention. It drives me crazy when a talk show host doesn't let their guest talk.

Actually, I have Rachel Ray to thank for getting my DIL interested in cooking. She's trying to learn to cook, and is using one of Rachel Ray's cookbooks to do so because it's so easy and approachable. Hallelujah! and Amen! to that if it gets my DS and DIL and GS off fast food and junk food.

Sally

Decidedly a not Paula fan....that yuck yuck laugh turns me off....and that exaggerated drawl...I have the feeling that If I woke her up out of a sound sleep she would talk normally!
And Rachael? Don't even mention it! that grating voice, the general lack of couth thea wful giggle!
Then there's Alton Brown with that tuft of hair he hopes disguises the fact of his rapidly receeding hair line....and that phony confidential way he gets in close to the camera to tell the "real truth"...Blech!
But Give me Bobby Flay or Mario Batali any day!
Somehos I am more amd more mourning the loss of the old classics like Julia and Jaques. What a lady....and she sure knew her foods!
Linda C

Eileen,

I could speak about many successful women in the spotlight in a very positive manner...but Paula's not one of them.

For instance, Mary Agnes Wilderotter (Frontier Communications Corp.) has, IMO, done a fantastic job as CEO in a difficult industry. I also liked her at Microsoft & Yahoo. I would be very pleased to have either of my daughters look to her as a role model. She may, or may not, have as much money as RR or PD but she sure comports herself well.

/tricia

Don't watch Paula or Rachel. Just CAN'T.

I like Alton Brown sometimes. I love Bobby Flay and Mario Batali, but my absolute favorite is Ina Garten. I love her laid back style--and every recipe I have made of hers has been wonderful and with fairly easy to obtain ingredients--which is a prerequisite for where we live since we can't get a lot of "gourmet" or upscale things here in town.

I generally shy away from the more entertainment-based shows in favor of nuts and bolts COOKING shows.

One of the QVC hosts involved in my original post was Bob Bowersox. By sheer coincidence, I am sitting here reading this thread and your very interesting comments about Ms. Deen. Over on the other side of our Christmas tree, my wife is watching QVC, waiting for the beginning of In The Kitchen with Bob, Bowersox' signature show.

Instead of Bowersox, we get David Venable. Venable starts by telling the world that Bob is no longer with QVC! He further tells the world that Bob wanted to be there to say good-bye but couldn't. They then aired a recorded farewell from Bowersox.

Something stinks big with this...

"What disturbs me is the unkind way people, and other women especially, speak of successful women in the spotlight."

Barnmom, while I agree that some of the comments thrown around here are pretty unkind, I'm not sure that I understand the "woman" aspect of your point. Most CF posters are women, and the two women being criticized here are being criticized for their personae and the fact that they are marketed to death, not the fact that they are women. A couple years ago someone would have probably thrown Emeril into the conversation, but he's not so much in the forefront anymore. Alton has been mentioned here somewhat; some don't like him, but on the other hand he's not in your face everywhere you turn. I guess I just don't think that gender has anything to do with either the giving or receiving end of these comments.

As for my opinion... love Alton, like Rachel, cannot stomach Paula.

Agree with Foodonastump 100%. I know several very successful women who are not obnoxious. OTOH, I know several who are indeed. Same with men. This isn't a gender-judgment, it's about personality.

RR has to be one of the most overexposed talents of all time, in any field, at any time, and anywhere. That being true, I'd love to eyeball her portfolio; the woman has to be worth tens of millions at a minimum. Am I envious? Well, yes, if only because that kind of wealth brings an independence few of us will ever know. Plus, she made it doing something she truly loves. The only negative of it all is this; she's right around 40, what does she do next? The answer, I guess, is that with her money, she can anything she wants.

Alton Brown gets weirder and weirder with each passing year. Yes, I do like Brown and, yes, I do watch him. But I gotta say there are times that he really stretches things beyond the limit and I find myself grabbing the remote and mumbling, "...for God's sake, give it a break." Having worked myself in the TV business for many years, I can tell you that some of the scenes on Brown's show have to take days to shoot and edit. All well and good, but expensive and just not necessary, and oftentimes, not very entertaining. Still, yeah, I do like the guy.

Mixed feelings on Emeril. Easy for me to say, but he got old in a hurry. I always liked him, watched "Live" regularly(he is at his best with an audience) and love his cookware(All-Clad made).

I can come and go with Deen. In the main, though, a little goes a long way. She apparently has to be in control and expects anyone around her to take a backseat whenever she's in front of a camera. I suspect that Paul doesn't play well with others.

The emerging star seems to be Guy Fieri. I think his (over)exposure will begin to rival RR's before long.

Obviously, my mistake in calling "Paula" "Paul" in the above post. Sorry!

I remember seeing Paula on one of the morning news shows when she started choking and couldn't go on. It was kind of hilarious. She wasn't choking on food, just got a dry spot in her throat so she kept hacking and hacking.

I detest her. I can't stand to listen to her speak and I don't think anyone should be allowed to promote the kind of eating/"cooking" that she promotes when the nation is struggling with an obesity epidemic. The fattest states are in the south, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Why I hate Paula Deen

well if we all had to hook our TV's and computers up to a treadmill or bike to get them to work...we could all eat Paula's recipes and be slim....

Her recipes aren't extreme...she's cooking and baking like people who worked HARD all day long have been doing for YEARS...(the difference...burned TONS of calories through out the day)

as to pecans..my husband is from NC..they are pea cans..my mom is from upstate NY they are puh cons...
I say it both ways...but usually pea can...

Rachel Ray is doing nothing more than Oprah has...thanks to Oprah's help...I watched Chefography on Rachel yesterday...She's a real person with a very big heart that is doing what she loves..and like Oprah and other money makers...is a work a holic to a fault...

I think the only recipe of Paula's I've ever made was cornbread stuffing, last year as a surprise for Elery at Thanksgiving. Her regular show is not as bad as "Paula's Party". if she LICKS one more guest I'm gonna be sick, so I won't watch that. I think her persona has taken over whoever she originally was.

Rachel Ray? My girls love her. I can tolerate her although her recipes always have a lot of ingredients that I don't have on hand, especially considering that they are supposed to be fast.

Alton Brown? I love Alton Brown, hair or no. He's interesting enough to keep me amused.

As for the money, I'm neverimpressed by money. I'm only impressed by what good people do with it.

Annie

I think AnnT hit the nail on the head about "striking while the iron is hot." And what smart person in their position wouldn't do that and "laugh all the way to the bank?" All of us would!

I don't think Paula used to be phony at all. All of this new personae came on after she got rich. That's what happens when people with no self esteem suddenly get too much. She's worse than brash, and I find her disgusting with her sexual innuendo's.I can't watch her, or the Neeleys, or the super phony Giada. Obviously many adore them. Some of the others such as Emeril, Guy, Alton, or Rachel may annoy me sometimes, but who among us never annoys anyone? So they aren't perfect. Who is? I also think it's extremely rude of anyone to make fun of the way someone talks.

The clip on Leno was so over the top suggestive. She had him making pork chops and told him to rub the meat and then to beat the meat. He in turn mocked her accent, suggesting that a cat got in the room. Speaking of non-healthy, she had a recipe for deep fried mac and cheese wrapped in bacon. She is comandeering and tries to make her boys into doting idiots, when clearly they aren't.
I used to like her, but she has become her own biggest fan.
Jo

I just checked out that Leno appearance....Oh! My!....the woman has absolutely no couth....nor sense nor manners nor a sense of what's fitting. Waaay too rude....and someone needs to tell her that that sort of behavior isn't cute!

I think for me, the problem is over-exposure. I used to like most of these TV chefs in the beginning, but they need to stick to the basics. It's hard to respect someone as a professional when they act like idiots on these live audience shows and market every product under the sun.

For those of you bothered by Paula's weird flirting, watch "The Neely's" sometime. The whole show is basically foreplay for them! Ewww! Get a room people!

Chrissy

But at least with the Neelys, they are married. Paula is simply trolling.
Jo

Meh. I don't watch the Food Network anymore...just the CF channel, LOL. Doesn't help that DH got a new TV setup and I don't know how to work the dang thing. Nothing on TV I'm interested in watching anyways.

I fall more along the lines of what Sally said, Actually, I have Rachel Ray to thank for getting my DIL interested in cooking. She's trying to learn to cook, and is using one of Rachel Ray's cookbooks to do so because it's so easy and approachable. Hallelujah! and Amen! to that if it gets my DS and DIL and GS off fast food and junk food. Baby steps for some who are intimidated etc., insert your own adjective. From Rachel to Julia? Why not? Some can make the jump, others like a gradual progression. (Am I coherent? It's 5:30AM....)

Paula is married also. Her husband appears on some of her shows.

To me the entire thing centers around the change in policy with the Food Channel, DIY, Home & Garden, etc. In the beginning of these channels they had people that actually cooked, folks that actually fixed stuff and people that actually gardened. Shows had more content, fewer commercials and commercials geared more toward the content of the programs.

All of that is pretty much out the window. Many of the shows are contrived with, IMO, Iron Chef taking the cake.

There are several shows I do like on PBS when they aren't having their endless pledge drives. I am a guy that actually cooks, fixes things, collects antiques, does woodworking and teaches high school science.

Anyone watching Top Chef? It's the only show I watch each week. I love it.

Texasredhead, you sound like a great guy to have around!

I'm watching Top Chef, and enjoy it, too. It seems a little less crass this year, too, which I'm liking. Everyone actually is being nice to each other, for the most part.

I find Iron Chef to be a fun show to watch, and don't take it seriously at all. It's basically a comedy. I'm annoyed by the sound effects they've added, but DH gets a hoot of of them.

Sally

I don't have cable and am blissfully ignorant!

I got rid of cable TV more than a year ago and rarely miss it. When I am somewhere where a TV is on I find it irritatingly noisy and intrusive. I seem to have enough distractions in my head already!

I haven't watched the food channel in some time now, for almost all of the reasons given above. But I do still go to Paula's books when looking for something, especially a rich dessert, to try. I've never watched the Neelys, and probably never will. Their commercial advertising their show was such a total turn off. I have enjoyed Bobby Flay's "Throwdown" though.
When does Top Chef come on? I've not heard of that one. . .
Rusty

My five year old grandaughter loves to help cook, loves watching Rachel Ray and is getting her first cookbook from Santa Claus this year.

I forgot that Paula is married. Sort of says something that that fact could come as a surprise.
Jo

Add me to the "can't stand her" list. She almost makes me ashamed to be Southern, even though I usually say, "American by birth, Southern by the grace of God." I'm in question about the marriage bit though - in an interview I saw she said she was divorced. Maybe she's re-married.

It was probably an old interview you saw. She remarried a year or maybe two or three ago.