Celebrity Cooks
| Celebrity Cooks | |
|---|---|
| Genre | cooking |
| Presented by | Bruno Gerussi |
| Country of origin |
 Canada |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Vancouver |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel |
CBC Television (1975-79) Global (1980-84) |
Celebrity Cooks was a Canadian cooking show independently produced by Initiative Productions and aired on CBC Television from 1975 to 1979 and on Global from 1980 to 1984. It was syndicated throughout Canada and the United States from 1980 to 1989. It was hosted by Bruno Gerussi who introduced various celebrities who chatted with them while preparing dishes for the audience. As such, it was considered a hybrid between a cooking show and a talk show.
The show was criticized for its apparent inability to get more than strictly minor celebrities for the show, although it was still a highly rated program at the time. The show was taped in Vancouver, British Columbia, concurrently with Gerrussi's starring role in The Beachcombers which was also filmed in the vicinity. Due to his visibility on Celebrity Cooks, Gerrussi became the pitchman for one of the first brands of microwave ovens to be sold for home use in Canada.
Among the guests who appeared on the show was a pre-stardom David Letterman. According to the book TV North, guests were paid between $196 CAD (for Canadian performers) and $350 CAD (for American performers). American performers were paid more to offset the cost of higher travel expenses.
Other guests included Margaret Trudeau (aired 3 February 1978),[1] Jean Beliveau, Barry Morse, Elayne Boosler and Bob Crane (in his last televised appearance). Crane's appearance on the show was scheduled to air in 1978, but Crane had been murdered before the scheduled airdate. Out of respect for Crane's family, the episode was never broadcast. However, the taping of Crane's episode was recreated in the 2002 film, Auto Focus, in which actor John Kapelos portrayed Gerussi. Hermione Gingold was the guest for the program's first broadcast on 15 September 1975.[2]
The film Heart Like a Wheel, the story of female race car driver Shirley Muldowney, features a scene where Muldowney makes an appearance on a Canadian cooking show that appears to be a thinly disguised version of Celebrity Cooks. In the scene, the show's host is portrayed as a chauvinistic womanizer.
Following the end of production in 1979, episodes of Celebrity Cooks were seen on the Global Television Network. [3]
The show also led to the creation of Celebrity Cooks cook books:
- 1977: Celebrity cooks, recipe book II (Fforbez Enterprises/Initiative Productions) ISBN 0-08-897602-5, ISBN 0-08-897602-1
- 1979: The New Celebrity cooks cookbook (Methuen) ISBN 0-458-94280-4
Key people
- Executive Producers: Keith Large and Derek Smith
- 'Financial Consultant: Mitchell Gold C.A.
- Host: Bruno Gerussi
- Cooking Consultants: Helga Theilmann and Joan Mitchell (Ottawa), Sue Morton (Vancouver)