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Remembering "Cookin' Cheap"

M

mleach

For some reason the other night this TV show popped into my mind. Cookin Cheap ( to those who don't know ) was a TV show that aired on a number of stations back in the 80s & 90's that was based out of Roanoke's WBRA-TV. Very funny show hosted by Laban Johnson and Larry Bly. The show was quite popular, even among those who weren't into cooking. I believe this was the only show out of Virginia that was seen in markets well outside the commonwealth such as Denver for example.

Anybody else remember this show?

A few things about Cookin' Cheap....

How many stations carried this show? Was it only seen on PBS stations? For some reason I seem to recall there were a handful of markets where this show aired on commercial stations.

I know Larry Bly is still around ( I believe he currently works or the Roanoke Times & World News ) and that Laban Johnson died in 1999. How did he die? Other than the fact that he died, not much is out there online as far as his death goes.

I was in Roanoke a few months back visiting fiends who live there and even they aren't sure how the man died even though they told me some rather strange stories ( well rumors actually ) about Johnson's private life which I can't of course repeat here. They did tell me however that neither Johnson or Bly were professional chefs and did the show strictly for laughs.

Somewhat surprised clips of this show hasn't found their way on to You Tube yet.
 
It's interesting that you should bring that up. Last spring, I had the pleasure of taking a tour of Blue Ridge Public TV's studio. The show has not been recorded in years, however, behind the curtain still remains the microwave and oven used in the show. Brought back a lot of memories. As the story was told to me, all of the folks were ready to record, yet Laban was mysteriously not there. After calling his home, two folks went to his home and found him. I can't remember the cause of death, but it certainly was a sad story. My mother and I used to watch the program on WCVE on Saturdays just after the Frugal Gourmet. Long time ago.....
 
By the time the show aired (early 90's ???) I was already out of Virginia, but remember catching shows either on Chicago Public TV or when I came home to visit. I remember Bly from his early days at WROV. Laben was the drama teacher/coach at Patrick Henry High school, but always found ways to make it to the local media. I think he also had a few roles at the old Mill Mountain Playhouse before it burned. My last apartment in Roanoke was on the edge of Old Southwest and Laben and his partner had the house behind the fence. I remember a few interesting sounding parties. (The young lady across the wall was louder :))

Anyway I found this interesting link to an interview by Bly about Cookin Cheap.....

http://www.roanoke.com/columnists/hart/wb/xp-9332
 
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