Food on TV

Does anyone remember the name of the first cooking program on tv they remember watching or the chefs that made you think your mom really did not know how to cook?  I only remember the feel.  The chefs were almost never American.  There may have been some instructional voiceovers while they focused on the cooking.  Most importantly, they were in what looked like a real restaurant kitchen.  They were making dishes I can't remember, would probably never make myself and maybe would never even eat.  It was about their skill and the food.  They were chefs!  I was a kid!  I got hooked.

Wikipedia says The Food Network launched on November 1993, when I was ten, but I must have seen some programming on public television before then.  I still hate Emeril Lagasse as much as I did the first time I ever saw him.  Back when The Food Network was about food, and not people who make cupcakes or people who can't cook, Emeril could not be avoided, and he ruined everything.  No, please do not kick it up a notch.  His audience?  They probably stunted any growth I would have had in culinary arts back in the 1990's.  Same with Sandra Lee in the 2000's.

Quality programming I try to catch on the weekends?  America's Test Kitchen. Chuck's Day Off.  I feel the same way about Chuck Hughes that I did about Jamie Oliver in high school.  And that is tingly, ladies and gentlemen.