“I've never been a TV person really, because I've always worked,” says Matty Matheson, the restaurateur-chef who hosts the cooking show Just a Dash (the latest season of which is streaming on Netflix now) and who stars and executive-produces FX’s hit series The Bear. “Straight out of college, I was working in restaurants and stuff, where it wasn't really part of my thing, even on my days off. I was always outside.”
These days, Matheson is able to watch a bit more television in his free time. We asked him to share some of the TV projects that help define him.
Matheson hosts Netflix's cooking show, Just a Dash
My favorite shows as a child: Cartoons
I grew up religious, and we didn't really watch a lot of television during the week. We weren't allowed to watch Married with Children or The Simpsons, so I was watching Saturday morning cartoons. Astro Boy was always my favorite. I loved Mighty Mouse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe. I'm 44, so I'm a full-blown ‘80s kind of kid. It’s funny, I [recently] bought the original G.I. Joe animated series, and I still think G.I. Joe the movie is one of the greatest movies ever made.
That was my world growing up. Also, my dad was a Trekkie. The Next Generation — the Jean-Luc Picard era — that was something we watched. I remember Stargate was a TV show we loved. Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman — we watched that. If I close my eyes and think of my parents and what we watched, it'd be Star Trek and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.
The last thing I watched: Mare of Easttown
A scene from Mare of Easttown
What a TV show! It knocked me on my ass. That show made me feel cozy. I think it's because I'm from a small border town, and the way that Brad Inglesby writes people — I don't know, I just gravitate towards that.
Culinary shows that inspired me: Cooking with Yan, Pasquale's Kitchen Express, The Barefoot Contessa
Cooking with Yan was something I thought was great. And then there was this cook in the ‘90s, an Italian guy who was Canadian — he was always drinking wine. Oh, Pasquale! [Reads from Google] “Known as the singing chef, popular in the '80s and '90s.” Dude, this guy was killing it. He was always drinking wine and always singing opera.
And then Ina [Garten]. My mom was always watching Ina. We loved The Barefoot Contessa. My wife's family loves Barefoot, too, so we're a Barefoot household.
My comfort TV shows: Veep, Arrested Development
I like watching comedy shows, because I think I need laughter. Veep, I think, has the best writing. It's so fast, it's so funny, it’s just everything. You can keep watching it and find new bits, new things. That entire ensemble is legendary to me. Arrested Development also — anytime it's on, I love listening to Ron Howard describe the most dysfunctional family ever.
The TV I love that may surprise people: Dramas
I think it'd be surprising that — and this isn't a diss — I was never really into alt-comedy stuff. I'm way more into dramatic television. I'm way more Hamnet than Just a Dash, I feel. Even though my happy place is watching Veep or Arrested Development, I feel like I would much rather watch drama. Truly, I just love watching a nobody-winning, everyone-losing, sad-sack TV series.
The TV I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never seen: Baby Reindeer
I was on the go, hearing all this stuff, and I saw them [win] at the Emmys. I sound like a crazy person talking like this, but you see all these people winning for these shows, and you're like, “Oh, I haven't seen that.” I'm like, “I haven't seen anything. I don't even watch The Bear. I don't know, man."
But Baby Reindeer was a thing, because it was so big, Everyone was talking about this thing. Adolescence had that thing, too. I did watch Adolescence, actually. I’d never be anywhere longer than three or four days, unless I was shooting The Bear, when I'm actually on set in a place and not going anywhere for a couple months. Any other time, I'm moving around so much, it's very hard for me to watch a TV show. I don't want to start it, because I'm never going to finish it. I'm just on the go.
I've never seen The Wire. I watched the first episode of Pluribus. I think I've seen the first episode of Breaking Bad twice. Definitely have not watched an entire season of The Sopranos. I think because I was raised the way I was raised, TV and just watching stuff in general is a thing where I'm like, “Nah, I'm an outside cat.”
Just a Dash is streaming now on Netflix.
