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Adam Richman

Food Fighters Scores A Split Decision

by Michael Tyminski

Adam Richman (Source: NBC)
Adam Richman (Source: NBC)

Food Fighters: Tuesdays at 8 Eastern on NBC

The competition genre has seemingly been on it’s last legs for a while as the genre (Voice aside) has struggled to produce new hits. The end result is that reality hours for the most part have been down across the board, except at the peacock, whose newfound respectability (unfortunately, much to my chagrin, I can’t put quotation marks around respectability anymore) has a summer schedule jam-packed with as much unscripted TV as possible (Last Comic Standing, America’s Got Talent, and American Ninja Warrior being just some of NBC’s recent summer offerings). They add to this stable of competition television with Tuesday offering Food Fighters.

Food Fighters, at it’s core is like Bobby Flay’s Throwdown on steroids. One contestant, with their signature dishes (everyone’s got one – they typically get busted out for dinner parties and the like) must take on not one celebrity chef, but five whom attempt to knock the contestant off their culinary pedestal. The show stars Adam Richman (of misguided thinspiration scandal fame as well as Man vs. Food) as the host, while the celebrity chef pool features a mixture of familiar Food Network stars (Duff Goldman, Cat Cora), brand ambassadors (Lorena Garcia), and new faces (Jet Tila, G. Garvin, Elizabeth Falkner).

The first thing I noticed while watching Food Fighters was the grandiosity. The kitchen area is two tiered and sweeping, the show doesn’t spare it’s prize budget (you’re looking at a $100,000 top prize that seems attainable, but at the same time it’s tough to walk away with less than $5,000 – $10,000). While a lot of cooking shows have tried to give this sort of vibe in the past – this show is truly the closest an American company has gotten to copying Kitchen Stadium from the Japanese Iron Chef, with it’s decadent two tier kitchen, tons of lights and almost game show like appearance.

This grandiosity, thankfully, extends out to the chefs, who play up generally affable villains in the pro-wrestling mold. This include Kevin Belton, a Cajun chef with a knack for witty banter and playing to the crowd, and Marcel Vigneron, a former Top Chef competitor who has a knack for unorthodox cooking methods. It’s Garcia, however, who steals the show by putting on balancing act unlike any other with some impressive knife work and nimbly sashaying around Richman when he gets in the way during a mid showdown interview. Surprisingly subdued amidst the largeness of this show is Richman himself, who despite operating as host, commentator, and interviewer manages to fill a background role without taking the spotlight away from the competitors.

Of course, none of this grandiosity means a thing without a sound format, and Food Fighters comes through in that regard. Seeing how it’s ultimately the battle between home cook and celebrity chef, the show relies on two key twists to balance the tables. First and foremost, in a twist taken from Throwdown, the judges are average citizens, who are put to a blind taste test. Secondly, however, is the strategic element of Food Fighters, where the home chef picks which chef challenges which recipe, meaning that seafood experts could be forced to bake, while Italian cuisine maestros can be pushed into making tacos.

There are, however, a few mild quibbles. First and foremost, the five course setup gets slightly monotonous at points, even if the timers were often incredibly short (all of the battles ran between 15 and 25 minutes in length). The judging segments also seemed fairly weak, with the judges often restating the obvious, which makes some of the decisions feel downright puzzling when Richman announces them. Finally, the show only bothers to promote the end-bosses of any given show, which is a true shame, since it slightly misleads it’s audience.

The Final Verdict: It doesn’t necessarily add a ton to a genre that’s pretty well played out (both food competitions and competition style network shows), but Food Fighters won me over by coming way closer to the pinnacle of the genre than most of the cooking shows out there and generally sidestepping most of the melodramatics and ridiculous gimmicks that are a staple of the format. It’s downfall, however comes in it’s high variance, like many game shows, there will be some curbstomp level showdowns (one chef used egg roll wrap for his tacos because he “couldn’t find the tortillas” and got soundly whumped 5-0) to go with some truly amazing battles (Garcia’s showdown in particular, even the result is a headscratcher). Check it out if you get the chance, even if it’s the sort of show that will likely work better catching the odd battle or two on Hulu.

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, OPINION, REVIEWS, TELEVISION Tagged With: Adam Richman, Food Fighters, Lorena Garcia, NBC, TV reviews

It’s Fandemonium Out There!

by Michael Tyminski

Adam Richman, Star of Fandemonium (Source: Travel Channel)
Adam Richman, Star of Fandemonium (Source: Travel Channel)
Adam Richman, Star of Fandemonium (Source: Travel Channel)

Adam Richman’s Fandemonium: Sundays at 10 p.m. Eastern on Travel Channel

Five years ago, we were introduced to Adam Richman, a mere mortal who went forth and attempted to take on our nation’s most treasured eating challenges in Man vs. Food. In that time, we have clearly seen that despite the fact that it ultimately ends in our gullets, food still wins an alarmingly high amount of the time. That show ended not because of slipping ratings but because of Richman’s retirement from competitive eating and the inevitable toll such a show has to take on one’s health. But fear not, as Richman is back to show the world more waistline-obliterating culinary delights on his newest series: Adam Richman’s Fandemonium.

Fandemonium follows Richman as he travels around the country spending time with some of America’s most prestigious tailgating fan bases. This entails not only football events, but also NASCAR races, the Kentucky Derby, and even arctic sled races. It is here that he gets to eat considerably healthier portions of the best tailgating has to offer while bringing his own takes on pre-game meals in return. Along the way, we learn more about these events and why they attract legions of dedicated fans every year.

Our premiere episode has Adam exploring the super fans of the Daytona 500. Richman begins by looking at the high end trailers on the man-made Lake Lloyd. Here, people pay $3,000 to park their high end RV’s (the two shown each have an estimated cost in the high-six to low-seven digits). From there, he moves to the considerably cheaper (and trashier) Tent City and you can tell the vibe is very different. In tent city, he encounters an all-food replica of the track with over $300 in groceries. He also checks out some of the finest barbecue in Tent City, including a roast pork shoulder that has been three days in the works. Finally, we sample some of the nightlife out in the tents, including drunk wheelbarrow racing and an infield discotheque.

So, does this show do justice to the notions of food, fun, and community? Well, it’s safe to say that the show is extremely similar to it’s predecessor. Adam’s wild eyed enthusiasm and gameness for anything are a perfect match for the show, as it really allows for Richman to show off a “man of the people” persona. That persona is essential for making Fandemonium work, as it truly feels like an insider’s guide to tailgating as opposed to the more academic travel shows you might see on public television. It’s also nice to see Richman’s personal culinary trappings, including a cool hybrid of pulled pork and waffles that he gives as a thank you (in the brief end of every show) to the people who let him in to their world for a little while.

The Final Verdict: Adam Richman’s Fandemonium is an interesting take on the foodie tour sort of show that Travel Channel has become known for in recent years. It’s also the best showcase for Richman yet, as his willingness to join in on the craziness (an episode in Florida has him flying around in a mud buggy without a seat belt at the insistence of the owner, and his dance at the end of the Daytona episode is hysterical) truly sells the tailgater street-cred of the show. While the show runs up against some stiff competition (notably The Newsroom), it’s completely worth checking out, regardless of your interest in the subject that week.

Filed Under: BREAKING NEWS, ENTERTAINMENT, OPINION, REVIEWS, TELEVISION Tagged With: Adam Richman, Fandemonium, Travel Channel, TV reviews

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