Icon Analysis

Jay Leno (Tonight Show-Actor/Comedian), Bobby Flay (Restaurant Owner/Iron Chef/Food Network TV Star), and Emeril Lagasse (Restaurant Owner/Food Network TV Star-Master Chef)

The three contemporary icons I chose to write about today are Jay Leno, Emeril, and Bobby Flay. Jay Leno has been the host of "The Tonight Show" for the past 17 years. Emeril Lagasse is a world renowned chef and host to several shows on Food Network and the Planet Green channels. Bobby Flay is another well known chef, restaurateur, and TV personality.

I chose Jay Leno because Friday, May 29th will be the final, 3,775th episode for Jay, as Conan O'Brien will be taking over as the host. "The Tonight Show" was a huge success in part to Jay's signature comedy pieces such as Jay Walking, Headlines, and one of my favorites, Iron Jay. It seemed that throughout the years Jay's always had the best jokes regarding public and political issues no matter what the topic. During his final episode, he even took the time to thank Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Monica Lewinski, and Michael Jackson for giving him so much material to work with over the years. Jay will be moving to another show on NBC at 10pm beginning hopefully this fall. It seems that a lot of his staff may be going with him to his new show, so I'm very excited as it could be similar to the Tonight Show, only before my bedtime.

In addition to watching TV, I love to cook, and enjoy working in the kitchen and outside on the grill. Emeril has been very influential to me and have really helped to spark my love of cooking and creativity in the kitchen. Watching Emeril Live was one of the highlights of my week, and I got countless recipe ideas and dishes I just had to make at home for the family. His personality is very inviting, and his stage presence is one that really takes a person in and captures my attention and desire to take my cooking to another level. Actually, my interest in culinary arts which began by watching Emeril, has also lead me to be a big fan of Bobby Flay.

Now, Bobby has a completely different style of cooking than Emeril, and it's one that I also can relate to as I love to grill. What I enjoy the most is watching Bobby on the "Iron Chef America," "Throw down with Bobby Flay", and "Grill it with Bobby Flay" as I get recipe ideas and learn new ways to really enhance my cooking and sharpen my skills on the grill. Many people are turned off by his aggressive attitude and cockiness, however I feel that he's one of the best chefs out there and can afford to have a chip on his shoulder; he's certainly earned it. Maybe one day you'll see me on TV with Bobby doing a throw down challenge.



References:
Carter, B. (2009). The New York Times. Television: Jay Leno Takes Final Bow on ‘Tonight Show. Retrieved on May 30, 2009 on http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/arts/television/30leno.html?em.
Emerilology (2009): Home. Retrieved on May 30, 2009 from http://www.emerils.com/emeril/
Bobby Flay (2009). Retrieved on May 30, 2009 from http://www.bobbyflay.com/index.html.