The expansive world of cooking shows is no stranger to gimmicks and out-there recipes – but this WA-made show from 1982 stands out for being both strange and utterly low-key.

In these excerpts from Not Another Cooking Show, Lis Smyth and Peter Chaplin value whimsical chats over glasses of wine as much as eating. They provide the barest explanations of the recipes, too busy giggling or cracking jokes about what happens if you ‘cross spaghetti with a python’. The colourful and strange dishes shown don't look particularly appetising, nor edible. But there's a nostalgic air to the ‘80s home cooking spread: apricot tartlets, coffee buns and trifecta fillets. Viewers hoping for written recipes for dishes like ‘sort-of-Italian’ spaghetti were directed to write to the show and receive them by mail.

Shot in the confines of a suburban kitchen and dining room, Smyth and Chaplin's silly banter gives the show a delightful hangout feel – mirroring the real experience of everyday cooking with friends. Their slapdash approach in the kitchen only adds to this. Who can't relate to throwing a whirlwind of ingredients into the pot and hoping it tastes decent?

The mostly mundane atmosphere features some bizarre quirks, such as a pianist called Terry playing the electronic keyboard over the Sunday lunch, and Smyth forgetting which camera she should be speaking to. Pre-dating the world of TikTok recipes and amateur YouTube cooks, Not Another Cooking Show offers an early look at a casual, fun, improvisational food entertainment format.