Netflix won’t have shows from Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, DIY, or Cooking Channel next year. Here’s a list of what will be gone soon.
Food Network
Camp Cutthroat’s “secret” filming location was used by this Fox show
At the start of the Cutthroat Kitchen spinoff Camp Cutthroat, Alton Brown, wearing a red beret and shorts, stood in front of the first three returning chefs. “You cutthroat veterans are some of the first outsiders to set feet inside those gates,” he told them. That was not quite true, because those gates previously belonged to… continue reading
The one good thing on the Shark Tank rip-off Food Fortunes
The Shark Tank knock-off that debuted earlier this month, Food Fortunes, is as weak as most Food Network reality shows are lately: an unoriginal idea that’s been weakly executed. I love food shows and I love Shark Tank, so I would have loved for this to be the best of both. Instead, you can see the lack of imagination all over… continue reading
Why Marc Summers hid leukemia for five years
Marc Summers, the host of Unwrapped and executive producer of Restaurant: Impossible, revealed yesterday that he’s been battling leukemia for the past five years. He said that now, “I’m in remission … and I’m ready to move on. The former Double Dare host discussed this on Philadelphia’s Preston and Steve radio show, surprising even one of the… continue reading
Guy Fieri’s horrifying SUV fight dismissed as “messing around”
Next Food Network Star winner, Guy vs. Rachael star, and Food Network personality Guy Fieri got in a horrifying fight Saturday with the person responsible for his hair. Cue the obvious jokes. The fight was filmed at the San Francisco International Airport by someone in another vehicle, and shows Guy’s hair stylist, Ariel Ramirez, is… continue reading
Proof Restaurant Stakeout uses actors to play servers
There isn’t really a need to prove that Food Network’s awful reality series Restaurant Stakeout is a fraud: it oozes inauthenticity in every frame, and people featured on the show have described how fake it is. But here is hard evidence of its fakeness: a casting notice “seeking male or female to play waiter at… continue reading
Double Dare host Marc Summers: now vacuuming on reality TV
The host of Nickelodeon’s original and awesome Double Dare, Marc Summers, now vacuums the set of a cable reality show. However, he’s also the executive producer of Restaurant Impossible, the Robert Irvine-hosted restaurant makeover show that broadcast its 50th episode last week with a quasi-behind-the-scenes and mostly recap episode. In that, Marc Summers revealed that,… continue reading
Next Iron Chef going all-stars; Chopped will leave its studio; Margaret Cho hosts dinner parties
Food Network announced a bunch of new and returning shows for the next year, including confirming changes to Food Network Star (the show is adding mentors and tribes) and revealing that season four of Next Iron Chef will be an all-star season, bringing back previous contestants of the same series. That makes sense, because its… continue reading
Food Network’s Restaurant Stakeout: as fake and staged as it seems
Food Nework’s latest reality show, Restaurant Stakeout, is anything but real, which is no surprise to anyone who has watched it. I have no idea why Food Network, which has some strong reality TV–Chopped, Next Food Network Star–actually airs crap like this show and Cupcake Wars. It’s embarrassing. Restaurant Stakeout takes the restaurant makeover show… continue reading
New competition series: Celebrity Cook-Off, Extreme Couponing All-Stars
Two new competition series will bring back people from other reality shows to compete: one pits couponers against one another, while lets D-list stars cook. In late December, TLC will debut Extreme Couponing All-Stars, on which 12 hoarders–I mean, couponers–will compete against each other. The challenge, TLC said in a press release, is to “buy… continue reading
Reviews of summer food competitions: Rocco’s Dinner Party, Extreme Chef, Chopped, more
Food competitions have multiplied across network and cable channels, and summer seems to be the time when they proliferate. While we wait for the return of Top Chef Just Desserts later this month, I thought I’d look at some new and returning food competition series and give them brief reviews. Let’s start with Hell’s Kitchen… continue reading
Great Food Truck Race’s second season playing out, and being spoiled, online
One of the reality TV surprises last summer was Food Network’s competition The Great Food Truck Race, which was a fun, fresh take on the road trip competition. The second season is currently being filmed, and because of the nature of food trucks and the necessity for the trucks to promote themselves, it’s playing out–and… continue reading
Chopped All-Stars ends strong, but why did Food Network give nothing to losing charities?
Chopped ended its five-episode all-star season last night, and although the winner received $50,000 for charity, the losers all got nothing–a really disappointing coda to a strong season. (Update: the network is giving an additional $50,000 to charity of the chef who gets the most votes in an online poll. More below.) The series has… continue reading
Ace of Cakes ending after 10 seasons
Food Network’s docudrama series Ace of Cakes will end following the conclusion of its 10th season, which debuts in January but has already been filmed. Duff Goldman announced that on Charm City Cake’s blog, saying that “[a]bout three weeks ago, we completed filming and wished a tearful goodbye to our beloved crew from Authentic Entertainment… continue reading
Chopped judge Amanda Freitag reveals judging secrets
The final semi-final round of Chopped‘s Champions season airs tonight, before the four winners face off for $50,000, the show’s biggest prize, next Tuesday. Over its life, the competition has really grown on me from my initial ambivalent impression, and while it used to be nice to have when Top Chef wasn’t on, I now… continue reading