Customer Reviews

"Unbelievable that people knew what he was doing and facilitated his behaviour on "teens". He should have been stopped way before he was. Shocking. We watched his show and bought his cookbooks. A damn shame."

"Excellent documentary. I was a fan of Jeff Smith and I even had a couple of his cookbooks. I remember when the news came out about what he was accused of doing and I was so surprised to read that. Didn’t realized what a complex man he was. Documentary did a great job telling the story."

"I think it was well done.But it was one episode too long. My ex husband and I watched the frugal gourmet beginning in the eighties, and we were very disappointed to hear the charges against him. I'm disappointed that he wasn't actually punished, and that nobody tried to help him with his alcoholism."

"I was born in 1986, and I remember Jeff Smith being on TV on PBS with Elmo, and my mother had kept a cook book of his, and my father said “Ah yes, the frugal gourmet… he had kind of a neat thing going on…until the allegations….” And then months layered this very well done documentary came out. I’m shocked no streaming service wanted it!!!"

"Excellent documentary. Just a bit repetitive b. Could use a lil editing. But good information. Very well done"

"I just watched the series for the second time and highly recommend it. The content was well-researched and presented in a visually pleasing way. I appreciate how the victims of Jeff Smith spoke so candidly about their experiences and am puzzled by those who deny Smith’s pedophilia."

"Poorly edited. Two episodes would have been more than enough. Needed to be much tighter."

"The Frugal Gourmet sparked my love of cooking. I was in high school when it was being filmed in Chicago. I bought every book. I watched every episode. The Frugal Gourmet was a part of my life, my memories. I eventually made my way to cooking school because of its impact on my life. I never truly understood what happened to Mr. Smith. There were rumors and then he was gone. I'm glad I purchased these videos. All these years later, it helped me to understand what happened, the effect it had on those around Mr. Smith, and those who were so wronged by him."

"This was great for those of us who were around in the 80s to see Smith’s rise to fame. I knew he was a minister prior to the Frugal Gourmet but knew little else other than my parents worshipped his show and books. For those who had not previously heard of Jeff Smith, I could see how the back story might have seemed a bit drawn out. Regardless, the documentary portrayed Smith in an unexpectedly fair and balanced manner without diminishing the gravity of what he allegedly did. This was a perfect Sunday afternoon binge."

"I thought that this docuseries could have been a two hour documentary at best. I felt like I was tricked into believing it was going to be much more than it was and it was so redundant! I guess there was a reason that it was self-marketed because I’m guessing no studio found it to be worthwhile? Perhaps I’m being harsh but l feel that I’m expressing my true opinion of the series."

"i almost quit watching it after the second episode…too slow and had nothing indicating what jeff smith had done to cause his down fall.."

"Having been a fan of Jeff Smith and The Frugal Gourmet, watching the docuseries was a bit of a healing experience. Many of us were left saddened and shocked by what happened, cookbooks and recipes in hand. It was a story that answered many questions we were left with at the end of Smith's career."