"tlc" news and stories

At first glance, it hardly seems like Joanie Dener, an attractive, 27-year-old suburban mom from California belongs among the likes of those who populate cable TV's 24-hour freak-fest of bizarre human behavior (animal hoarders, toddlers in tiaras, Snooki, etc.).

Then you see her rifling through a dumpster searching for, of all things, coupons...with her toddler in tow.

Welcome to the world of Extreme Couponing, which debuted last night on Discovery's TLC channel. In the premiere episode, just as you're trying to wrap your mind around not only the fact that "coupon" can be a verb, a bona fide activity, but that it can be "extreme" (on par with heli-skiing and class V whitewater kayaking?), here comes a view of Dener in her garage, which looks kind of like a family-sized version of Costco.

"I could basically stop grocery shopping and be fine for a year," she says with the same sort of self-satisfied domestic pride with which Martha Stewart might finish off the perfect apple tart.

The fact that Dener's "hobby" ("addiction"?) leads her to collect 500 coupons a week makes it seem unlikely that she'll really stop shopping anytime soon, which of course begs the question: Are you really "saving" any money when you buy more toilet paper than you could ever use in a lifetime? And do you really feel safe by the fact that, like another couponer, Nathan, you have more than a thousand boxes of cereal that is so packed with preservatives that it won't give you food poisoning by the time you use it?

Freaky Eaters -- the show that makes us all feel a lot less guilty about our own food consumption -- will return in Summer 2011 for a second season. The Hollywood Reporter confirms that TLC will continue exploring the "freaky" side of eating, where issues of control and diet diversification are wreaking havoc on one person's life. Throughout season one, psychotherapist Mike Dow was on hand to provide insights into the human mind, while nutritionist J.J. Virgin supplied the physical health issues.

Season one aired this past September, with the six episodes exploring

TLC is carving out time for food sculpting later this month. On August 16 at 10 pm Extreme Food Sculptors will spend an hour looking at three different food sculptors and their chosen mediums, and the lengths they go to transform food into works of art for clients. While most people are familiar with ice sculptures, Extreme Food Sculptors goes well beyond the frozen.

First up is chef Ciril Hitz, renowned bread maker and department chair of the International Baking & Pastry Institute at Johnson & Wales University. Hitz takes a stab at setting a world record, baking and constructing an 18-foot-tall showpiece entirely out of bread. He's aided by students and faculty as he only has three days to get the project done, rising and falling to the various pressures of getting some good loaf going.

From there it's onto sugar with executive pastry chef David Blom, where his team is working under deadline to feed a Barrett-Jackson invite-only gala and car auction. They've been asked to create thousands of individual desserts, but also on hand is a flaming tire (pictured above) made of "sugary goodness" to coincide with the event's theme.

TLC continued seeking out the "Best Food Ever" last night, highlighting 10 Bodacious Bakeries. Unlike last week's premiere -- where the food selections were either over the top in price or concept, the Bodacious Bakeries episode sought establishments that prided themselves on organic ingredients and making sweets from scratch, all with a (mostly) modern flair. That said, it seems the producers didn't veer too far off the path regarding the cities where the bakeries were located. In other words, it's hard to believe that there's not one bakery in all of Vermont that qualifies as "bodacious," but maybe this list is just the 2010 edition.

Find a rundown of the most Bodacious Bakeries, in rank order after the jump.

Last night, TLC debuted their six-episode series "Best Food Ever," and kick started things with their ode to Sensational Sandwiches, counting down what they promised are the top 10 sandwiches across the United States. Let's be clear here: by sensational, they don't mean that your taste buds are going to jump right off your tongue. They're invoking the blockbuster movie use of the word -- extreme, massive and potentially heart-threatening. They did highlight a few that were known for their tastiness (and not their quantities of meat), but for the most part, "Best Food Ever"' was more about "Biggest Food Ever."