[Phalanx]

I've seen it.
I don't really watch any of the better known cooking shows religously...I find they focuss more on the "being a chef" bit (which is actually misleading, most of those guys own restaurants in which they can do whatever the fuck they want), and less on the actual cooking. It might be interesting to watch a guy swear his head off, or to see "how it is" or...how it supposedly is...for a while, but to be honest it all gets a bit boring to me.
I prefer recipes, demonstration of varied local cuisines and history in cooking shows. Probably my favoutire int. chef would be Rick Stein, who has more shows than I can count yet shows more passion in the subject matter than I've EVER seen out of ANY of the rest, it's more like watching a documentary laden with easy to complex recipes.
My favourite local chefs...a tossup between a guy called Neil Perry, and a chick called Kylie Kwong...also with a few shows and books of their own, each has one of the leading restaurants in Sydney...probably the only chefs from 'round my way I'd consider worth checking out. Unless you count the posers on our "ready steady cook"...Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of great chefs here...our whole massively multicultural deal and availability of interesting produce makes for some wonderful food...I just think in general, the whole "fame" deal hasn't quite caught up here...or could be no-one gives a fuck.