I don't want to start the whole watt burner vs wood burner thing but if I was going to tell my brother in law what smoker to buy I would recommend electric. He is a set and forget kind of guy, if he adds the wood chips or dust then he can pull of good BBQ. Alton did say that he preferred wood, but you have to remember who watches his shows. I am sure a pastry chef would have trouble with his cookies but I learn a lot from him when he does something I am not familiar with. I liked his charcoal grill to smoker conversion.
I don't brine butts but if I remember there are people on this forum that do, only problem I had was he implied it was a requirement.
I wouldn't call how he cooked the butt as BBQ, I would call it baked pork shoulder, something I truly enjoy when I am too lazy to get the smoker started.
All in all I like him, just like I appreciate some of the other chefs. When I watch people on TV cook Cajun or Creole food I often just shake my head and smile. They do things that are just wrong but at least they are getting non-cooking people interested in the craft. Maybe someone that watched the program or watches any of the other BBQ programs we criticize will become interested enough to join the forum and learn something.
Don't take anything on TV too serious. Their audience is different then ours. As long as it is safe