Talk:Frozen meal/Archive 1

Origin of the name
I know that I read in a newspaper obituary that the name "TV Dinner" came from the fact that the original metal trays bore a rounded rectangular shape similar to that of old CRT picture tubes. However, I can't find that article again and no other online articles seem to corroborate it. So I've taken it out along with Sfdan's inline comment about it. Comments are better on the talk page, not inline with the article, btw. - Rlw (Talk) 23:29, August 21, 2005 (UTC)
 * Rlw, as far as I know, that came from Swanson's Dinners, who were the first to create so called "TV Dinners". I've only read about it once, in one of Uncle John's Bathroom Readers. I don't know which one, as I don't have access to it now. Hope I helped. Kareeser 00:37, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

Removed from Health section
I removed the following from the Health section, as it is a "comment" and doesn't fit in with other sources of informtion:

"'It's creator found out the hard way, Gerry Thomas died of cancer at age 83.'"

While Gerry Thomas did die at that age, it is widely reported that he never himself ate TV dinners. Therefore bad logic to blame his death on something he didn't eat. Or perhaps, he died of cancer because he invented the TV dinner? Sfdan 21:52, 27 August 2005 (UTC)


 * Plus, he lived to be 83, which is longer than the average lifespan of an American male. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.232.175.28 (talk) 06:57, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

"Microwave Meal" merge w/ TV Dinner
Somebody put up a suggestion that the article "Microwave meal" be merged with "TV Dinner".

Just starting the discussion: I believe they're one and the same, and should be merged. Kareeser 00:40, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

OPPOSE - My co-workers and I were just discussing this and the TV dinner is distinct - in the sense that it CAN'T be placed in the microwave because of its metallic construction. This might be a dated concept, but let's maintain the integrity of this historic icon. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.16.201.77 (talk • contribs)
 * Not everybody who cooks a microwave dinner uses it to eat at the TV. Whether people from other cultures etc. do it; other people don't. De facto. --213.122.14.95 14:01, 28 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Merge It's not the fact that it's called TV dinner since it's eaten in front of TV; The inventor actually had stated that, had he created it today, he may name it somethign else; he was using it to denote the age (eg atmoinc age, for example). Microwavable meals and TV dinner beside means the same thing anyway, though microwavable meals is more appropriate.
 * Merge same thing. -- getcrunk   juice  contribs 19:33, 21 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Merge In actual use there is no practical distinction between the two. For that matter, how many TV dinner companies actually label their product with the phrase 'TV dinner' anymore? 66.215.85.177 01:55, 23 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Merge Synonymous, though I ususally use the term "Frozen Food" -- Deadfones 21:27, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Oppose TV Dinner should be kept but the article should be limited to the historic TV Dinner product (which is a significant product). The microwave meal should be renamed "Frozen Dinner" or similar (mith a redirect from Microwave Meal) and deal with the general frozen meal concept (of which the TV Dinner is only one specific product).  SFDan 05:30, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Oppose ^This man speaks the truth. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Misstoffu (talk • contribs)
 * Merge. Some of the people opposed seem to be opposing it for slightly incorrect reasons. Older "TV" dinners were packaged in metal containers, but say, the current "Hungry Man" TV dinner packages it in a plastic holder (the article even includes this picture, and even states Modern day frozen dinners tend to come in microwave-safe containers.). Historically it was, but the evolution of the concept should include both the original and current designs. TV dinners were not called TV dinners because they had to be eaten infront of the TV, they were (in part) because many people do, but it is not a requirement. The two are synonymous. Radagast83 22:59, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Nutrition, Gerry Thomas
This entry needs to be edited re: Gerry Thomas and nutritional information. I don't actually know the percentages of meals produced with nutritionally sound vs. nutritionally unsound ingredients, but there is a major market for such products as 'Healthy Choisce,' or 'Lean Cuisine,' 'Spa Cuisine,' etc. TV dinners or microwave meals. Anecdotally, at least, check the freezer section at the market. In a lot of places, these healthier versions sell more than the traditional grease-and-two-starch versions. Such products are sometimes high in sodium but otherwise may be nutritionally better than some home-cooked meals. Does anyone know the statistics on this?

Also, this entry must be edited wrt Gerry Thomas. His original obituaries named him as the inventor of the TV dinner but later publications contradicted this, stating that Mr Thomas had claimed the title of inventor without any actual verification and in some instances with direct evidence to the contrary.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.215.85.177 (talk • contribs) 02:00, 23 January 2006

Social meaning
Tv dinner can also understood as a concept of having food without paying attention to what you are eating. It means in some case that when you are tired, or rushed you just sit in front of TV and have something to eat, no matter what you are eating, just filling up the body and refreshing your mind.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Mtraldi (talk • contribs) 18:44, 10 February 2006

TV image packaging
Concerning this caption for the first image: "Early three-compartment TV Dinner with TV image packaging." I don't see any TV image, but the pictures very small and perhaps my modern eyes don't recognize a "TV image" of the 1950s. Can anybody point out a tv image? SnappingTurtle 15:33, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

The entire front panel of the packaging looks like an old 1950s television set with an image of the TV dinner and text within the screen. See for example to "get the picture"  (Oops!  Did I really say that?) --SFDan 16:01, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Merge complete
I went ahead and merged microwave meal into this article. Becuase of that, there might be some inconsistent usage of "TV dinner" vs. "microwave meal". Personally I prefer "frozen dinner" as the best generic name, but renaming the article is a different issue. Tocharianne 05:04, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

TV Dinner != TV dinner
This article confuses TV Dinner (a product) with TV dinner (or frozen dinner). For example, "TV Dinner (also called frozen dinner, microwave meal or ready meal) is a prepackaged, frozen meal which usually comes in a flat cardboard box.". The lead talks about frozen dinners and suggests the article talks about frozen dinners in general. When you read the rest of the article, it primarily focuses on Swanson's product, TV Dinner.

I would suggest TV Dinner (brand) or is about the Swanson product and TV dinner talk about frozen dinners in general. Since TV Dinner is no longer made, most people searching for TV Dinner will be those wanting information on frozen dinners. -- Ash Lux ( talk 19:23, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

"Frozen"?
"Ready meal" - the name most used in the UK ("TV dinner" is known of, but not used colloquially) - is a redirect to this page. Big problem there is that a good proportion of ready meals in the UK are not sold as frozen, but rather just chilled. Most can be frozen by the consumer when they get them home, but not all can then be cooked from frozen, and have to be defrosted first. This seems to be an important distinction, bearing in mind the emphatic qualification of "frozen" on this page. Nick Cooper 09:02, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I have added a couple of paragraphs specifically about UK ready meals and included "chilled" in the general introduction Jud 19:35, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

I dont follow...
"...packaged in a single-compartment tray used at the time for airline food service. Each item was placed in its own compartment..." Seems self-contradictory- one compartment or multiple?

Exactly what I thought.138.163.0.42 22:47, 12 July 2007 (UTC)


 * I changed it to say multi-compartment since the picture on Swanson's webpage shows four. (For some reason the picture link is broken on their webpage, but an archived version shows the picture here.) Tocharianne 01:17, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

Why salt & fat
"'The freezing process tends to degrade the taste of food[citation needed], and the meals are thus heavily processed with extra salt and fat to compensate'"

Millions of people today make good quality frozen food without the use of lots of salt & fat, so the above is not the reason why. Tabby (talk) 13:58, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Microwaveable
The article says that "The original TV Dinner came in an aluminium tray and was heated in an oven. Most frozen food trays are now made of microwaveable material, usually plastic.", and a think this should be changed. Someone could get the impression that aluminium is not "microwaveable" material. One can certainly microwave stuff in metallic trays, although they can become wery hot.--UltimateDestroyerOfWorlds (talk) 14:44, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * "Microwaveable" isn't really a word anyway; picking a better phrase would work. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 11:27, 8 October 2009 (UTC)