Top Cooks

As I've been surfing my favorite foodie blogs, I keep seeing the same names again and again: Tyler Florence, Ina - the Barefoot Contessa and a few others. I feel a little bit behind in the who's who in cooking. I haven't had cable for about 6 years now so I don't get to see the Food Network and TLC like I used to.
The first chef that I ever watched with rapid adoration was Emeril *bam!*. I loved his show and learned a lot about flavoring from him (no such thing as too much garlic - I agree) - of course a lot of his tips were not great for the arteries :o)
I know my favorite cookbook authors Janet and Greta Podleski have their own show now, which I would love to see - but they amuse me just with their cookbooks.
So in my online travels who would you reccommend I check out? Why them? Is it style? Is it their food? What appeals to you about them?