Man v. Food | |
---|---|
Genre | Food Reality |
Presented by | Adam Richman |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 4 |
No. of episodes | 85 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Matt Sharp Will Edward Powell |
Producer(s) | Dan Adler (series) Alison Mouledoux (series) Colin Gilroy (story) Bonnie Biggs (story) Dave "Paco" Abraham (story) Claudia Castillo (story) Aaron Schoonhoven (story) Joshua C. Diaz (story) Jillian Horgan (field) Josh Abraham (coordinating producer) Emily Graham (ap) Andria Ortega (production coordinator) Dan Kornfeld (field) Chris Stearns (ap) Alvin Chan (pa) |
Cinematography | Peter Fackler Scott Sans |
Editor(s) | Scott Besselle Bobby Munster Josh Baron Caton Clark Liam Lawyer Keith Krimbel Max Heller |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 21 minutes |
Production company(s) | Sharp Entertainment |
Release | |
Original network | Travel Channel |
Original release | December 3, 2008 | – April 11, 2012
External links | |
Website |
Man v. Food is an American food reality television series. It premiered on December 3, 2008 on the Travel Channel. The program is hosted by actor and food enthusiast Adam Richman. In each episode, Richman explores the "big food" offerings of a different American city before facing off against a pre-existing eating challenge at a local restaurant. The program airs in syndication at various times during the week.
Series host Adam Richman grew up in Brooklyn, New York, completed his undergraduate degree in International Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and earned a master's degree from the Yale School of Drama. A self-educated food "fanatic", since 1995 he has kept a travel journal including each of the restaurants he visited and what he learned from the trip. Although described as "a bit on the husky side", to maintain his health while indulging for the show, Richman exercises twice a day while he's on the road. When the schedule permits, he does not eat the day before a challenge and he tries to stay "crazy hydrated" by drinking lots of water or club soda and forgoing coffee or soft drinks. After taping for a challenge is complete, Richman spends an hour or so on a treadmill, telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "Being sedentary is incredibly uncomfortable. Despite the fact that the first 10 minutes or 15 minutes on the treadmill might suck, it actually does alleviate a lot of pressure, and you feel better."
In Man v. Food, Adam Richman travels across the United States to explore the culture and unique "big food" of one city in each episode. In some episodes, Richman takes on food challenges involving very hot and spicy (or piquant) foods (such as foods spiced with habanero peppers), and also large quantities of food, such as a 5-pound-sandwich challenge. He finds places in each city to indulge his appetite and visits local landmarks. Richman interacts with local restaurateurs as they demonstrate the making of a house specialty or element of local cuisine. He gives a brief insight to the local community by talking to patrons at the establishments and asking about the most-talked about orders. The show emphasizes quality as well as quantity—a number of the locations in season one are Zagat-rated, while others have received honors from Esquire magazine as home of "The Best Sandwiches in America". Over the course of the series, his personal record was 37–22 (win-loss) in his food challenges. Combined with the team events in season four, the overall record stands at 48 wins for "Man" and 38 wins for "Food".