It may have gone off the air in 2002 (after more than two decades) but “Cookin’ Cheap,” the gag-filled culinary show hosted by Larry Bly and the late Laban Johnson was still making news recently. And in a big way – Cookin’ Cheap was hailed in the New York Times of all places as the “Best Cookin’ Show Ever.”
In an editorial published on Friday, March 29, Lawrence Downes said that Cookin’ Cheap, which aired on Blue Ridge Public Television and for a time on PBS, was “the real deal…a heartfelt display of genuine Southernness.” Downes liked that recipes often came in from viewers, and consisted of items one might pull out of the freezer. “What makes this show so good,” wrote Downes, was also “the chemistry of Laban and Larry.”
Bly, who runs a Roanoke-based creative agency these days, was contacted by the Times just before they published the editorial. Downes left a message, telling Bly he grew up watching Cookin’ Cheap “and just loved it.” The former host (Johnson died before the end of the show’s run), was floored. “I just can’t believe that people are still talking about the show after all these years.”
Cookin’ Cheap, which was produced in Roanoke, lives on via DVD’s that can be purchased at cookincheap.net, although masters of most seasons of the show were actually thrown out by Blue Ridge Public Television. In his editorial, Downes especially liked the part of the show where Bly and Johnson dressed as southern ladies, The Cook Sisters, to dispense advice.
One viewer did write to say that she was upset that the hosts often used their fingers to taste recipes – she called it a health hazard and said they should be taken off the air. Bly still gets letters from fans of the show and said many fans had taped episodes of Cookin’ Cheap. You Tube also features segments of the program.
Bly didn’t remember the particular episode Downes referred to, where Johnson struggled to remove the skin from some chicken thighs – pausing to honor the memory of the birds that gave their lives for the host’s meal. “We did probably five or six hundred shows. There were so many memories like that.” In later years the show found its way into larger markets like Philadelphia, bringing their version of Southern cooking to other parts of the country.
Bly thought the piece would run in the arts & entertainment section; instead it wound up on the venerated editorial page of the New York Times. “It’s very humbling…but I shouldn’t be surprised. It obviously connected to a lot of people on different levels.”
He sums up Cookin’ Cheap thusly: “It was just two guys being themselves on the air, having a heck of a good time and making each other laugh. We did that on and off the air.”
By Gene Marrano [email protected]