Man v. Food is back, now with two ex-NFL players
Discovery's Men v. Food sends Ryan Fitzpatrick and Vince Wilfork to a different NFL city each week to eat local food and take on challenges.
The show that made restaurant challenges a TV genre is coming back with a new format and two hosts. Men v. Food is set for Discovery Channel, starring former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and former defensive lineman Vince Wilfork.
Each week the pair will land in a different NFL city, look for local favorites and oversized food challenges, and then go head to head in eating competitions.
Who's hosting
Fitzpatrick played 17 NFL seasons for nine teams and now works as a football analyst. Wilfork is a two-time Super Bowl champion who spent 11 of his 13 seasons with the New England Patriots. Wilfork is no stranger to food TV. He co-hosted Food Network's NFL Tailgate Takedown.
The series is produced by Sharp Entertainment, part of Sony Pictures Television Nonfiction. Sharp also made the original Man v. Food.
The original
Man v. Food ran on Travel Channel from 2008 to 2012 with Adam Richman as host, then returned on Cooking Channel from 2017 to 2019 with Casey Webb. Its best-known episodes, like the 72-ounce steak at the Big Texan in Amarillo, turned restaurant challenges into road-trip destinations. Many of today's YouTube challenge creators say they grew up watching it.
As of mid-October the new series was listed in pre-production, with Boston and Buffalo among its locations. A premiere date has not been announced. We'll post it on the Eatletes schedule when it is.
Why it matters: network TV backing the challenge format again is good news for the restaurants that run challenges, and for every creator who does them.