"...THERE'S A LOT MORE TO LIFE THAN A HOSTESS TWINKlE"
Jean Shepherd is a man with a mission, a cause, something to believe in. Food. Especially American food. He thinks it's great, that it smells good, tastes good, and looks good. Anything from Maine lobster to Klondike bear stew, they're all the Mona Lisa to him.
So he's taking his crazy love affair with American cuisine to television, on JEAN SHEPHERD'S
AMERICA.
Shepherd believes that Americans are one of the most inscrutable, mysterious nationalities in the world today. And one way to figure out the mystery of what it is to be an American is through the stomach. We are what we eat, and all that.
So Shepherd shows us our food - like we've never seen it before. Loving, lingering close-ups of rocky mountain rainbow trout, Virginia pecan pie, New England baked beans, deep southern candied sweet-potatoes, fancy hogs-head cheese...the list goes on and on.
And, all the time there's Jean Shepherd in the background, smacking his lips. And cracking his jokes, telling his stories, talking about the mouth-watering food with genuine relish.
Maine lobster is one of his great favorites, so naturally there's a quick lesson in consuming one of these beasts. "I'm an ad-libber when it comes to lobster, not a classical lobster devourer," he admits.
There's a lesson to be learned from it all. Jean Shepherd puts it this way, "I just thought you ought to know, there's a lot more to life than Hostess Twinkies."
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| Fan Comments |
| [ Courtesy: Pete Delaney - 09-18-2016 ]
Jean Shepherd believes that Americans are one of the most inscrutable, mysterious nationalities in the world. And one way to figure out the mystery of what it is to be an American is through the stomach.
So Shep shows us our food like it's rarely been seen on TV before. Loving, lingering close-ups of rocky mountain rainbow trout, Virginia pecan pie, New England baked beans, deep candied sweet potatoes, fancy hogs-head cheese, Maine lobster, Klondike bear stew - the list goes on and on.
A "beautiful refrigerator", seen alone on a dark set, flings it's magic door open to the sound of a string quartet as Shep recites rarely heard food poetry. The highlight of this salute to gluttony is Jean's dismantling of a Maine lobster - "When it's floating around it's just another crustacean. When it reaches your plate, it's a work of art."
A C&W musical interlude follows ("Fried chicken and a country tune, they go together like a moon in June ... ") and the show ends with the fridge getting a huge ovation. |
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| Additional Comments: |
| Music played during the show:
Guitar Music - Rey Del a Torre
Muzaky Organ Music
"Fried Chicken And A Country Tune" Billy Ed Wheeler
"2001" Soundtrack |
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