I do both also.
When I was a kid I watched a lot of the cooking programs on PBS but I also helped my mom in the kitchen. Of the shows I watched, I remember making a few things from The Frugal Gourmet. This back before you could get on the Internet and download the recipe
so it was hard to make things seen on tv.
One reason I like Good Eats so much is that Alton often does inspire me to try something. He gives me the knowledge and confidence to make things I normally wouldn't think of trying. I remember making my first angel food cake after watching Good Eats and I was impressed with myself because I had tried to make something else with egg whites years before and totally messed it up. Now I know what I did wrong--thanks to Alton
When I was a kid I also started my cookbook collection and now a have a huge amount of them. The odd thing, I have very few cookbooks from celebrity/tv chefs. I have all 4 of Alton's books, the FN all-start cookbook (because Alton is in it), 1 by Emeril, 1 by the Frugal Gourmet and Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
The recipes I've tried from Alton's cookbooks are spot on!