Fox is bringing back the post-Super Bowl series lead-out, and turning to chef Gordon Ramsay to help do it. The network plans to premiere the second season of Ramsay’s “Next Level Chef” right after Super Bowl LVII on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023.
In announcing the time slot, Fox Entertainment chairman Charlie Collier called it “the most powerful launch pad in entertainment.”
Last year, NBC became the first network in decades to not schedule a series program behind the big game, instead opting to return to its coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics.
When Fox previously aired the Super Bowl, in 2020, the network ran the Season 2 premiere of “The Masked Singer.” Other recent Super Bowl lead-out programs for Fox have included the premiere of “24: Legacy” (2017), the episode of “New Girl” featuring Prince (2014) and an episode of “Glee” (2011).
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“We looked very closely at the Super Bowl and also NFC championship and how they’re useful as launching pads and awareness,” said Fox EVP, Program Planning & Content Strategy Dan Harrison. “Putting an alternative show there and not using a new show is the most productive way to use that platform and grow a young asset.”
“Next Level Chef” was the first series to come out of Studio Ramsay Global, the recently launched production venture formed by Gordon Ramsay and Fox Entertainment. Premiering in January 2022, “Next Level Chef” was the top-rated season debut in adults 18-49, the network said, and is also the No. 3 most-streamed Fox unscripted debut ever, drawing 4.1 million viewers across Hulu and Fox Now.
“Next Level Chef” features contestants on the three-story stage with different levels of kitchens on each floor. Chefs Nyesha Arrington and Richard Blais join Ramsay in judging line cooks, home chefs, social media stars, food truck owners and others who compete. Ramsay, Lisa Edwards and Matt Cahoon serve as executive producers.
“We saw such great promise in that show, and hope to build on and improve on that in Season 2,” said Rob Wade, President, Alternative Entertainment & Specials, Fox Entertainment.
Meanwhile, Fox also announced the latest series from the Studio Ramsay Global: “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars” is a search for “the most exciting and innovative new food & drink entrepreneurs.” In this case, he’s looking to invest in the show’s winner and their food concept.
According to the show’s logline: “But to win Ramsay’s support, it will take more than just a great idea. As he pushes contestants to their limits through a series of relentless challenges, they’ll have to prove they possess the raw ingredients required to succeed – drive, dedication, creativity, passion and talent. Being the last entrepreneur standing will earn the winner a life-changing reward. They just need to survive Gordon Ramsay — the only angel investor.”
“Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars” comes from Studio Ramsay Global and Fox Alternative Entertainment; Ramsay serves as executive producer, Lisa Edwards serves as executive producer and Danny Schrader serves as executive producer and showrunner.
“It has always been incredibly important to me to support and foster the endeavors of the next generation of extraordinary culinary talent,” said Ramsay. “’Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars’ challenges me to do exactly that, all while raising the stakes with my own investment and a whole new level of mentorship and challenge, pushing those with the skills and drive to make it all the way to the top. The future of our food industry has never been more exciting, and I can’t wait for audiences to follow our search across the country as we unearth some of the most entrepreneurial talent out there.”
Added Wade: “Launching a culinary business is challenging enough. Building it into a successful enterprise is an entirely different animal. Gordon has accomplished both many times over,” said Wade. “One of the world’s elite chefs and the embodiment of a true entrepreneur, he will tap into his deep well of culinary skills, acute business acumen and ability to take risks in this new series to challenge, mentor and inspire our contestants to bring out their best and find his next protégé. Fueled by the momentum of ‘Next Level Chef,’ ‘Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars’ is the perfect show to next come out of the gate as we continue to grow Studio Ramsay Global together.”
As part of the Ramsay announcement, Fox Entertainment also revealed that its streaming platform, Tubi, will launch a Gordon Ramsay FAST channel.