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I f sampling a locale's food isn't enjoyable enough, sharing the experience with your best friend can make it even better. Chef Sammy DeMarco (alias "Sammy D") is doing just that, taking road trips with longtime pal and movie director Frank Coraci ("The Wedding Singer"), in Travel Channel's new Tuesday series "Chow Masters." In back-to- back episodes on April 29, they sample macaroni and cheese in San Francisco and tacos in Austin, Texas, with the cook behind the version they judge to be the best of three receiving $10,000 and a Golden Skillet Award. "I grew up in a Sicilian-Italian family," boisterous cook and restaurateur DeMarco says, "so I was never a stranger to food. It was always around and part of my life, and coming through my career and working in some high-end places, I always found myself going downtown and eating casual food late at night." DeMarco eventually added some of those edibles to his own eateries in locales from Atlantic City, N.J., to Australia. "It wasn't re-creating the wheel," he says, "but food that people crave, and that really is comfort food ... the stuff after you're done doing something else. People relate to it." What became "Chow Masters" originally was pitched as a burger-centric program. "As we started filming, the show evolved," DeMarco reports. "With comfort food, there's so much more range. It's a wider opportunity to do more fun stuff." Having Coraci ("my best friend since childhood") along only has added to the fun for DeMarco. "All of sudden, he's in my world, and I'm in his. This is only good if you look over the table and say to someone, 'Hey, this is great, isn't it?' We did a lot of things together for the first time, so it's really exciting to be getting on the road and experiencing things with him 40 years after I met him." Chef SAMMY DEMARCO enjoys 'Chow'-ing down on Travel Channel •What are you currently reading? "I look at a lot of Dr. Oz's stuff, and I read a lot of motivational stuff that helps me focus on balancing my life. Chefs get wrapped up in what they do. I also listen to a lot of audiobooks; I travel tremendously, so on the plane, I just put those on." •What did you have for dinner last night? "We'd been out out for brunch, so we did simple gyros at home." •What is your next project? "I'm launching Ingredient Group, which is my own licensed food company (pertaining to) any food-related items. And I have an American dumpling concept that I'm looking to launch." •When was the last vacation you took – where and why? "It was in Delray (Beach, Fla.). We wrapped up shooting in Miami, and my mom spends the winters in Delray, so I shot down there and spent time with her." BY JAY BOBBIN BEST RADIO STATIONS ON TV WKRP ("WKRP in Cincinnati," CBS, 1978-82) Dr. Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap (Howard Hesseman, Tim Reid) were among the jockeys who spun the discs – and added their unique personalities to the on-air presentation of the music – in this Emmy-winning sitcom, which inspired a later "New WKRP in Cincinnati" spinoff in first-run syndication (1991-93). KLOW ("Hello, Larry," NBC, 1979-80) Divorced father Larry Alder (McLean Stevenson) kept listeners talking in Portland, Ore., often bringing his home situations into play during his exchanges with callers. KBBL ("The Simpsons," Fox, 1989-present) If the station's call letters suggest "babble," that's not entirely inappropriate, given much of what has gone out over the air to the denizens of Springfield in this iconic animated comedy. KBHR ("Northern Exposure," CBS, 1990-95) Chris Stevens (John Corbett) was the lifeline of the airwaves for the residents of Cicely, Alaska, often giving equal if not greater attention to the goings-on of the townsfolk as to the tunes he chose. KACL ("Frasier," NBC, 1993-2004) This Seattle station was home base for the psychiatrist (Kelsey Grammer) whose callers frequently had the voices of some very famous folks, from Carly Simon and Kevin Bacon to Mel Brooks and Art Garfunkel. WNYX ("NewsRadio," NBC, 1995-99) Bill McNeal (Phil Hartman) was one of the principal anchors for this New York station where behind-the-scenes mayhem abounded, despite the best efforts of news director Dave Nelson (Dave Foley) to keep things in check. WENN ("Remember WENN," AMC, 1996-98) The heyday of radio was recalled by this Pittsburgh station, which was a vital source of information for the area's populace during the era of World War II. WYBS ("Under the Dome," CBS, 2013-present) As if this station in Chester's Mill, Maine, wasn't important enough to those who lived there, it became that much more so once a mysterious, transparent dome lowered over the town and isolated it from the rest of the world. Phil Hartman of "NewsRadio" BY JAY BOBBIN "Under the Dome" Kelsey Grammer of "Frasier" 8 The Goshen News • TV Spotlight • April 28 - May 4, 2014

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