I have loved this show for the last 7 years. It’s about food, humor, travel and underlying it all — a delightful, genuinely sweet love of life. Phil Rosenthal created “Everybody Loves Raymond,” one of the best shows ever — authentic yet humorous entertainment. No preaching, no politics. Just fun. And authenticity, which is not the same as preaching.
Same with Somebody Feed Phil. Until this season. The episode on dining in Amsterdam: At the end of the show, we got a mini Father Knows Best lecture on how the Dutch “welcome all immigrants of all races, a lesson some of us could learn in America.” Oh, gee, thanks for that, Phil. Do we get to counterargue? That rational people embrace immigration, but legal immigration, not open borders, where rapists, terrorists, housekeepers and construction workers are treated as morally equivalent? Oh, what’s the use. Hollywood is hopeless. They’re rich, they’re not very smart outside of their chosen fields, and they pay no price for their ignorance. They think as a pack, which is not thinking at all.
It’s like someone urinating on your birthday cake. I will continue to watch the show (for now), because I have enjoyed it so much. But it won’t be the same.