Celebrity Cooks

Celebrity Cooks was a Canadian cooking show independently produced by Initiative Productions and aired on CBC Television from 1975 to 1979 and on Global from 1980 to 1984. It was syndicated throughout Canada and the United States from 1980 to 1989. It was hosted by Bruno Gerussi who introduced various celebrities who chatted with them while preparing dishes for the audience. As such, it was considered a hybrid between a cooking show and a talk show. Despite a shoestring budget, the show was a high quality product. It was criticized for its apparent inability to get more than strictly minor celebrities for the show, although it was still a highly rated program at the time. The show was taped in Vancouver, British Columbia, concurrently with Gerrussi's starring role in The Beachcombers which was also filmed in the vicinity. Due to his visibility on Celebrity Cooks, Gerrussi became the pitchman for one of the first brands of microwave ovens to be sold for home use in Canada. Among the guests who appeared on the show was a pre-stardom David Letterman. According to the book TV North, guests were paid between $196 CAD and $350 CAD. American performers were paid more to offset the cost of higher travel expenses.