[Freebase-discuss] TV genres "cooking" vs. "cooking show"

[Jeff Prucher]

On Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 3:09 AM, Iain Sproat <iainsproat at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 30, 2010 at 10:51 PM, Gordon Mackenzie <gmackenz at google.com> wrote:
>> I'd say that /en/cooking is the subject of the TV program (such as Yan
>> Can Cook on our local PBS station), but it is of the tv genre
>> /en/cooking_show
>>
>> If it is a popular genre, it most likely has it's own specific topic
>> about that kind of tv show, book or film, and use it. Similarly, war
>> and war film are the subject and genre of movies like that of the War
>> Lover.
>
> This is a good point, and I now wish to change my position on this
> matter for the following reason:
>
> Most programmes I associate with the cooking show genre typically
> consist of a chef in a kitchen guiding the viewer through the
> ingredients and steps required to prepare a particular dish.  The
> subject of these types of shows is cooking, and the genre is cooking
> show.
> It is, however, possible to have a show about the subject of cooking
> but which doesn't follow the cooking show format/genre - e.g. a
> historical show discussing medieval banquets, a documentary discussing
> space food, or a documentary describing the mass production of
> processed food.
>
> Similarly, all War Films have a subject of war but not all films with
> the subject of war are in the genre of War films.  (Also worth
> pointing out that not all films *set* during a war will be War Films,
> or even have the subject of war)

That's a good analysis. A genre is a class or category of a medium
that is characterized by a set of conventions (such as form, style,
theme, content, etc.). So I agree that there are definite genres of
"cooking show" and "cook book"; I don't know enough about cooking
magazines to be able to say whether they have their own genre or
simple share the same subject.

Jeff