Good Eats: The Return maintains the original's greatness: Alton Brown knows to stay true to what works

Grub Street

Good Eats: The Return premieres Sunday, seven years after the last Good Eats episode. In that timespan, many great foodie shows on many non-Food Network platforms have popped up -- even Bon Appétit has become a streaming juggernaut with its unique online content. "The seven years since Good Eats went off the air has seen the rise of shows like Chef’s Table, Ugly Delicious, Salt Fat Acid Heat, Binging With Babish, Cutthroat Kitchen (which Brown hosted), Nailed It!, Hot Ones, and The Mind of a Chef," says Nikita Richardson. "While the shows may vary widely in terms of topics and structure, they have collectively helped raise the profile of food TV to levels of prestige viewing. How does Good Eats: The Return fit in? It fits in by staying true to what made it popular in the first place: Brown’s dry, silly sense of humor and knack for explaining food science in laypeople’s terms haven’t changed or softened, and it’s comforting to see a new show that is just like the old show. It’s a mindful panacea in times of chaos and unrest."

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• Good Eats: The Return is a reminder there is nothing else like it on TV
• Alton Brown discusses the Good Eats oven-cam shots -- he's still using the same oven from Season 5