It was the end of an era for curious cooks when Alton Brown's part-academic, part-comic Food Network staple "Good Eats" aired its final new episode earlier this year. For 14 seasons, the show's host introduced viewers to recipes, kitchen tutorials, funny skits and plenty of culinary trivia, and he made it all look easy.
But evidently, it wasn't so easy for Brown. In fact, looking back on the show that became an obsession of sorts for him, it was almost more than he could take.
"It was my life's work up to this point," Brown told Zap2it when asked if he missed his "Good Eats" days. "For 13 solid years, I spent 80 percent of my waking hours on planet Earth either thinking about, researching, writing, shooting or editing 'Good Eats.' It also nearly killed me."
While his not-quite-deadly "Eats" days are behind him for now, they may not be over forever. In his interview with Zap2it, Brown teased that he planned another venture that would "recreate a great deal of that" online sometime next year. And in a recent Nerdist podcast, he explained that there's still some hope for the original show to return one day.
"I've put 'Good Eats' into cryogenic holding," he said. "I'm not saying it's gone. I didn't shoot it in the head. I didn't kill it. But after 13 solid years of production, I needed a break. ... It eats your life."
"Good Eats continues to air in reruns on Food Network weekdays at 11 a.m.
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