Customer Reviews

"I valued learning more about Jeff Smith's career on and off the screen and the reasons behind its conclusion. I enjoyed his show and on-screen persona very much and have always been a bit shocked and bewildered about what happened. It was good to put the pieces together. My critical comment would be there is a lot of allegation, rumor, conjecture and hearsay presented in this program as proof, or at least heavy suggestion, of what happened. Much of what was shared in episodes 4 and 5 would not be admissable as evidence in a court. There are still many questions that apparently will remain unanswered."

"This is one of the most thought provoking, balanced, and throughly done documentaries I have ever watched. Worth every penny. It presents the whole of his story, good and bad, rise and fall, without it being tabloid like. I found it very thought provoking, and I say this as a survivor in my own world. While one might find his friends biased, or not, the documentary itself does an amazing job of just present the completely story, as is. As I said, both the good and bad and I really appreciated that. I highly recommend this to anyone who grew up with The Frugal Gourmet, as I did, those interested in thought provoking stories and people, and as those interested in seeing in how we have progressed, or in some cases not. I personally couldn't stop until all five episodes were watched and don't think you will be able to either."

"Very well done, captures the complexity of Jeff Smith’s personality. I’d like to see more display of names and relationships during the interviews, it’s not easy to keep track of who is who at some points. I also like the multiple appearances of classic Volvos."

"Very well done. Growing up watching Jeff's cooking shows greatly inspired and taught me so many techniques that I still use today as a home cook. The docuseries does a great job of telling Jeff's incredible story from his childhood to brilliant educator, chef, author, cooking television pioneer to his troubling fall from grace. I thought his fall was presented in way that was balanced and told the story from many perspectives. For me, the series brought back fond memories of watching his shows and learning about food and its preparation, however, in the end, it saddened me to learn more about the dark side of Jeff."

"It’s a very well-made documentary. Watching him makes me so sad. Partly it’s because my parents, especially my father (a minister with a love of food) were big fans. If they ever found out about this, but if so we never talked about it. I’m also angry for what he did not only to those boys but to our faith. The only thing I would have liked to see here was a philosophical or religious scholars who didn’t know him to discuss how to come to terms with acknowledging all the good and bad here and how to think about balancing mercy and justice. And how can we rehabilitate that beautiful phrase “I bid you peace”?"

"A chilling portrait of a man who brought so much joy to millions of viewers, yet so much pain to his family and his victims. I hope his victims are at peace knowing that the full story is now being told."

"It was very good. Well made."

"**May contain spoilers** Very well made and high-quality documentary. It was a fair presentation of Jeff Smith's early career and successes to his final downfall. I used to watch the Frugal Gourmet on Saturday evenings in the 90s. I had gotten an ick feeling about the show when they brought on Craig, the sidekick. I'm glad to hear Craig was a good person and well-respected by the production staff. I am disgusted to think that Jeff's wife, Patty, knew what was going on. I hope his adult children are living a peaceful life and nothing sinister happened to them as children I found it well-worth the $20.00 and am happy to support an independent filmmaker. I'm really surprised Netflix or Hulu didn't pick this up."

"Riveting from start to finish. Brilliantly researched and well documented. Thank you to everyone involved for sharing heartfelt stories and insights about how you were affected by your experiences."

"Like so many, I watched his show regularly and loved it. I have 2 of his cookbooks. Watching this show was so sad and poignant, and depressing. On one hand, he was so wonderful, but he sure had his demons."

"Compelling, sobering, sad. I feel almost guilty in the way I enjoyed every broadcast of The Frugal Gourmet, considering all the awful, damaging, cruel instances. Your program seemed (to me) fair, capturing both sides of a story - though I must say the former priest / friend had me confounded throughout...I don't think that man ever really accepted the damage done and the falseness of Mr. Smith's life and lifestyle. Alcohol played a part in both accelerating and blotting out the obvious grooming and victimization. I only hope, somehow, for peace for his victims."

"This was very well done. I was a huge fan of Smith's, and I learned all I know about cooking mainly from his shows and cookbooks. The peak behind the curtain revealed things I wish were not true. I wish we could learn more about what became of Channing, Jason, and Craig Wollam."