The early reaction to the word that Travel Channel's "Food Wars" is coming to town next week to film an episode has been interesting.
There's the group of people who are passionate about one of the two burger places going against each other in the food competition, AJ Bombers and Sobelman's. That sometimes leads to silly bad-mouthing of the burger they don't like.
There's another crowd that's been asking why "Food Wars" is focusing on burgers in a town where there are other more characteristic foods, say frozen custard or fish fries.
The bottom line is that the show's producers were looking for a good plot, and what we have here is a simple TV story.
What's simpler than a good burger?
On one hand, you have the brash newcomer, AJ Bombers. It's been open just over a year on Water Street, as close to a glitzy tourist district as Milwaukee will ever have.
The other competitor is Sobelman's, in a Menomonee Valley setting that makes it look like it's been around forever. It's only been there since 1999, which is like last Thursday in Milwaukee's reckoning of its own history.
Both businesses have savvy owners who understand how their markets continue to change around them.
AJ Bombers' Joe Sorge was an early adopter of social media, using Twitter to build a community of enthusiastic followers.
Dave Sobelman keeps a close eye on the trends in his business. When he opened an East Side spot last year, he focused on grass-fed beef burgers for Sobelman's Tallgrass Grill.
The TV competition that will be filmed May 6, 7 and 8 is all about David taking on Goliath. It could air nationally in a month or so.
Whether it's burgers or fish fries or frozen custard, picking the "best" is an entertaining game. And as bent out of shape as you may get by the results, remember it's just a TV show.
Both sides will win in this war.
By the way, there had been some early reports that a film crew was in town filming some sites for the show. Travel Channel says it's not so. Next week will be the first "Food Wars" visit to Milwaukee.
The shooting schedule calls for one day at Sobelman's, one day at AJ Bombers and a third day at a neutral spot, where a "taste-off" will determine Milwaukee's best burger.
At least, Milwaukee's best TV burger.
On TV: He can't perform on TV until September, but that contractual requirement doesn't stop Conan O'Brien from doing interviews, and he pops up on CBS' "60 Minutes" with Steve Kroft at 6 p.m. Sunday on Channel 58.
- Cable news viewership is down across the board, but Fox News Channel is still secure at the top of the heap, celebrating its 100th month in first place in April. It's averaging 1.05 million viewers throughout the day, and nearly 2 million in prime time, according to Nielsen Media Research numbers. MSNBC averaged 391,000 viewers throughout the day, 785,000 in prime time. CNN averaged 413,000 throughout the day, 569,000 in prime time.
- ABC's creepy new drama, "Happy Town," set in a small Minnesota town, debuts tonight at 9 on Channel 12.
- Fans of HBO's "True Blood," which returns in June, can start watching early with a miniseries of Webisodes of the vampire show.
- NBC plans a November airing of a movie about Britain's Prince Charles and his environmental work. "Harmony" will run during the network's fourth "green" week.
This isn't over: There's lots of show business in David Letterman's skewering of Jay Leno over the past few months. But there sometimes looks like there's more to it than a few chuckles.
On Monday night, Dave let loose on his CBS show, and it's worth a look:
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
