I Didn't Know Christopher Kimball Was Forced Out Of America's Test Kitchen

Here's some more info.

------------------------

Christopher Kimball, the face of the public television show “America’s Test Kitchen” and of the magazine Cook’s Illustrated, is leaving the company he helped found after a contract dispute.

Boston Common Press, the parent company of America’s Test Kitchen, announced the decision on Monday in a statement on its website. “Christopher Kimball’s employment with America’s Test Kitchen is ending,” the company said.

Mr. Kimball will leave immediately, though he will host the 2016 seasons of “America’s Test Kitchen” and “Cook’s Country,” another popular show that the company produces. He will also remain a minority owner of the company, though he will have no operational role, according to an email sent to employees.

“We made every effort to offer Chris a reasonable contract that reflected his significant contributions to the company and are disappointed that we could not reach agreement,” David Nussbaum, the chief executive of Boston Common Press, said in the statement. “We know this change will be a surprise to many, but we are confident that the ensemble cast, 50 test cooks, and support team for America’s Test Kitchen will continue to offer our audiences the same high-quality product going forward.”

Mr. Kimball, 64, whose signature bow tie, round spectacles and parted hair belied his status as one of America’s most influential home cooks, founded the company with the idea that everybody should understand how to cook. The company, which began with the first issue of Cook’s Illustrated magazine in the early 1990s, started the “America’s Test Kitchen” show in 2001 and eventually became a cooking empire that included Cook’s Country magazine and a television show of the same name, three websites and an online cooking school. Mr. Kimball declined to comment.

Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country both come out six times a year and contain no advertising. The company’s said that Cook’s Illustrated has 900,000 paid subscribers and Cook’s Country has 300,000.

The move by Boston Common Press follows an earlier management shake-up at America’s Test Kitchen. In September, the company, based in Brookline, Mass., just outside Boston, brought on Mr. Nussbaum as its first chief executive ever. At the time, a company spokeswoman told Boston Magazine that Mr. Kimball would remain at the company and that his role at would not change.

He's a supreme asshole, he really made the show almost unwatchable.

Oh well, he's reportedly worth $20 million. He'll be fine.

Our merry thread from at the time:

I used to really dislike him too. But over the years I warmed up to him. Early on he just never seemed to smile or act happy. I think they must have told him to lighten up and at least try to be a little funny now and then. It worked, at least for me.

Here's a letter from Jack Bishop, another one of the founders. I wondered why Julia and Bridget were hosting the show I saw last week.

--------------- To Our Viewers, Readers, and Listeners:

Because you are a loyal fan, I wanted to make sure you had an inside scoop on the news and were the first to hear it from me.

As you might know, Chris Kimball has recently departed America’s Test Kitchen. This marks the end of Chris’ tenure as a contributor to the TV shows America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country as well as to the magazines Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country. Chris' vision and leadership have been an important part of our success since we first launched Cook’s Illustrated together in 1992. On behalf of the entire America’s Test Kitchen family, we wish Chris all the best.

I'm pleased to announce the new hosts of America's Test Kitchen will be Julia Collin Davison and Bridget Lancaster. They have been fixtures on the show since that first episode aired back in 2001. You know their cooking skills (they have prepared hundreds of recipes on air) as well as their deep knowledge of food. They are both so funny, smart, and passionate about our mission, which is to help you become a better cook. I’m excited to see Bridget and Julia in their roles.

You will continue to see Chris in episodes of America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country already filmed and distributed to your local public television station. Julia and Bridget will make their appearance as co-hosts on brand-new episodes of America’s Test Kitchen starting in 2017. Check local public television station listings for the schedule of season 17 episodes. Chris will continue to host America’s Test Kitchen Radio. And stay tuned for upcoming news about Cook’s Country hosts; we’ll let you know as soon as we have news to share!

I want to thank our fans for sending along thoughts and messages over the past three months, as we embarked on the search for our new hosts. We couldn't be happier with the outcome.

Our staff and those of us on-air, including Julia and Bridget, are dedicated to helping home cooks like you, and that will never change. We will continue to bring you more of what you expect: unbiased equipment reviews, taste tests, and foolproof recipes from our test kitchen. With this exciting announcement, please join us in congratulating our new hosts at ShareYourFeedback@Americastestkitchen.Com

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Jack Bishop Chief Creative Officer

If you were already worth 20 million, would you have to be "forced out" of your job? I would have left at 5 million.

Is Julia a dyke?

They showed her husband on one episode -- I think he was a butcher or a seafood guy.

It ticks me off that you have to pay to gain access to their recipes online.

Fuck that! Martha, Ina, Anne, and Giada don't do that.

I actually record the show if I'm interested in a recipe and write down all the ingredients and instructions. I can pause the recording to jot down the information.

Chris was a goofball but he was okay.

I bought the gigantic Test Kitchen cookbook anyway so there's tons of recipes on it.

Not only has he been married 3 times, he dumped his first wife for his assistant. Then promoted her. Then ended up dumping HER for his new assistant!

Man has a strategy.

He is a bit of a pompous buffoon, but that made the show approachable. I've seen episodes with just Julia and Bridget and, while I like the two of them, I don't think the show has as much personality without Chris. BTW, because they are not allowed to profit from shows broadcast on PBS, the recipes that they use must be available for free for a certain period of time. They tried to make it that you couldn't get the recipe until a week after the show was broadcast, but they were forced to make the recipes immediately available. If you want a recipe, though, you can almost always find it on one blog or another. Also, that new book has every recipe and review they have ever done. I got it at Costco for around $20.

R9 You don't have to pay for the recipes for the season that's currently airing. You can go in and download/print all of them for free. Same with Cook's Country. So just remember to do that once each season.

Well he's still going strong in the bedroom. Just became a father at age 66!!

He was somewhat creepy. In dire need of skin rejuvenation. Glad he's gone.

I'm on their email lists. They often include several free recipes in the America's Test Kitchen emails. Cook's Country recipes require a subscription to access the full recipes. Sometimes instructional videos are included in ATK emails, many of which are on YouTube.

I got a promotional invitation for a free copy of the first issue of Milk Street magazine if I did a trial subscription. There was a production delay, so I received the second issue before the first one arrived. I have to say I wasn't terribly impressed by the sound of the recipes in either issue, but I plan to make several to see if they are better than they sound on paper. There's just something about the magazine that's meh to me. I cancelled the subscription.

Well, if he is an asshole there was a clue

On TWoP the used to call him "Creepy Bowtie Boy"

[quote] Mr. Kimball, 64, whose signature bow tie, round spectacles and parted hair belied his status as one of America’s most influential home cooks

What is with men that always wear bowties? They always look stupid. And they always seem to be jerks (yeah, I'm talking to you tucker fucking carlson)

Maybe someone would start a bow tie thread, R18. I too have questions.

R15, see R12.

When does the new, Kimball-free, season of Cook's Country start?

Couldn't stand him. Found him creepy, too. Tried too hard being funny and folksy when he just wasn't.

....

He gives me the creeps and I can look at him. Yuck.

^ can't

Now that he is gone, the two blonde women just talk to each other and to the tasting guy and the gadget guy.

Also, more face time for the younger chefs.

Back in 2002 or 2003, I was in a Toronto dyke bar and they had a blow up poster of Julia. She's straight, but our gals really like her.

Kimball is one of those blond white guys who hate chilies and spices

What do we think of blue-haired African-American Elle? All she seems to do is basic stuff like cookies and baked potatoes.

Glad he's gone.

I'd rather watch these two guys on the show instead.

[quote]Kimball is one of those blond white guys who hate chilies and spices

That's only part of the long list of things Kimball doesn't like. I think the show's recipes will improve without him disliking so many things they cook. You can tell when he sometimes only takes a tiny taste of something. He'll go on about it, but you can tell he didn't like it and I'm sure he tells them never to make that again.

I think his mother must be one of those boring white cooks we've talked about before on DL.

So I bought both the ATK book and the Cooks Country.

I can erase all those episodes from my dvr

I also have to write down all the Martha recipes I've been interested in enough to record her shows to see them and delete them as well. At least Martha's recipes are all online for free.

[quote]You can tell when he sometimes only takes a tiny taste of something. He'll go on about it, but you can tell he didn't like it and I'm sure he tells them never to make that again.

Do I get a prize for using the word "tell" so many times in two sentences?

Sorry, I got distracted before I could go back and edit.

I rented the house they film Cooks County at in Vermont. It's gorgeous. Owned by Kimball so I wonder how they'll still film there without him. I was there on Labor Day a couple of years ago, before he left and they were starting filming the next weekend but that wouldn't air until a year later. I knew I should have stolen the bow tie I found in the basement. I don't watch Test Kitchen with Julia and Bridget. Having watched them for years they seem so fake now. Trying to be so perky and funny when theyre just not. They've also hired a glam squad to make them up for the show. They were much better when they looked like they just rolled out of the kitchen.

I can tell you got distracted, R31

I'm glad you could tell, R33.

I've always liked Kimball, I thought he gave the programs structure. I've watched a few of the shows filmed without him, and they did suck. I like the two girls, but they were all tarted up to look like New England whooores. They seemed to be totally scripted and the scripts weren't at all good. I like the cast on this particular cooking show so will watch with or without Kimball.

If you think the makeover they on the show is bad, check out the book cover.

He's an asshole. I know people who worked for/with him before te break up at ATK, and he sounds like a supreme prick. good riddance.

Wife #2 is suing:

Milk Street Cafe is suing:

I never thought I'd want Chris Kimball back, but I do. The banter between the Chris-less productions is the lamest it has ever been. Julia and Bridget say things to one another like it's the first time it's ever been said. These women are accomplished cooks, and they act surprised at the most basic things that are related to them. Ladies, please, don't insult our intelligence. Get. Kimball. Back.

You need someone a bit astringent to bind it all together. "Nice" gets boring. You need sharp personalities to host shows. I like Julia and Bridget but they're too bland to center a show on...they're great second bananas when they have an old curmudgeon like Kimball to play off of.

ATK charges for everything because they're a PBS show. They don't get substantial commercial support, so I've given them a break about the money grubbing.

That said, my husband signed up for the magazine, and we started to get shipped and charged for books we didn't want. And, it was difficult to make them stop; we had to request more than once. They're a little sleazy.

Kimball was tough to watch. Too often his attempts to be funny were just cringe worthy. I like Dan. Even though he's experienced some type of medical episode that effected one side of his face, I think he's cute. Wonder if he's gay?

Sometimes you screw over the wrong assistant/wife. His ex-wife/assistant was probably ruthless in snagging him from the previous wife. Now she's ruthlessly taking her revenge.

It's typical that only a couple of posters seem to understand Kimball's value and function to the Cook's brand.

Without him the organization will slowly lose what had made it so good.

I really understood Steve Jobs' contribution & vision for Apple much better after I saw the movie with Michael Fassbender.

Clearly Apple is not the company it would've been had he survived.

Besides Christopher Kimball's "creepy" prickly pear on screen persona, it is HIS vision which was and always has been a very big part of what so many of us have loved about COOK's philosophy.

I also couldn't care less about his personal life.

It sounds like a lot of people in the organization had their knives out (ha!) for him and we're able to get him to move on. It remains to be seen how things will go, but already many posters here are saying they don't enjoy the show as much without him.

There are also those of us who are quite happy he's gone, R45.

Early on, the show did a "behinds the scene" doc for the PBS pledge drive and the round blonde said it was hard to cope with negativity when the source was the boss (Kimball.)

He calmed down a lot over the years, but check out the first and second season when he was at his jerkiest.

I think he got more subtle and didn't make as many nasty remarks as the years rolled on, but he was still very negative. In his last season, he remarked to one of the cooks that he didn't praise them. I think he was very difficult to work with, and his second office romance that ended in divorce and remarriage can't have made for a drama-free work environment.

R45, can you explain what you mean with value and function he had for the show? I understand that his on-screen role served as a link between all workstations. But other than that I didn't see a special role for him. Basically, the concept for this show is This Old House for cooking. I'm not saying everybody can play the host role, but I'm sure it should be easy to find at least 5 or 10 candidates who can fill the void just fine. And bitchy me might add it should be easy to find a candidate who is not displaying such a... controversial... persona as Kimball did. I do think though that the show needs a producer who has a vision, and who casts in a way that the chemistry among the cooks feels more natural than it does now.

As much as everyone complains about ATK and CC, they're still so far superior to 99% of what's on Food Network.

I thought of you, R30 when he was chowing down on those huevos rancheros today!!

He clearly did like them!

😛😛

Why are our sapphic sisters so obsessed with the Julia pussy?

[quote]his parted hair belied his status as one of America’s most influential home cooks,

The fuck?

Parted hair signals . . . something?

I'm watching an older 'America's Test Kitchen' ep on Pluto TV (currently playing 24-7 on Channel 605), and Kimball is a complete ass to everyone else on the show. The two blondes are there (the skinnier one definitely had her teeth capped later), and the gay bottom who does the technical equipment tests is also there (albeit slightly slimmer). I can only imagine if he was so snarky on the parts that made it to air, how insufferable and bitchy he must've been behind the scenes and off camera. Good riddance...they seem to have much more fun without him there.

"Without him the organization will slowly lose what had made it so good."

Yeah, three years after your comment and they're still basically the same.

I guess it's going to be a long slow ride to its demise.