Food Network & Cooking Channel Announce 2012 Programming Line-Up

Food Network and Cooking Channel look to again satiate the audiences' appetite, showcasing a 2012 line-up of returning favorites and new programming faces and formats, including -- 22 new series and 35 returning shows across both networks, as announced today by Brooke Johnson, President, Food Network & Cooking Channel.

COOKING CHANNEL

NEW SERIES PRIMETIME:

Roadtrip with G. Garvin
Series Premiere: Tuesday May 29th at 9pmET/6pmPT
Acclaimed cookbook author, host and larger-than-life personality, Chef Gerry Garvin, aka 'G.', takes viewers on a tour of his native South, to explore the best eats this part of the country has to offer. Travelling to Atlanta and Houston, North Carolina, South Carolina and more, G. visits a different city each episode to discover the hidden gems and the people behind the magic. From traditional ethnic food and urban farms to BBQ pit masters extraordinaire, G.Garvin leaves no stones unturned in his quest to find the hottest, most delicious spots in the country.

The Culinary Adventures of Baron Ambrosia
Series Premiere: Friday, June 1st at 10pmET/7pmPT
Baron Ambrosia,the self-proclaimed 'Culinary Ambassador to the Bronx', uses his eccentric cinematic persona to take culinary consciousness to a whole new level. His discerning palate and passion for flavor leads him beyond his backyard, discovering America's unsung heroes of culinary excellence in cities-less-traveled including: Baltimore, Md.; Bridgeport, Conn.; Brighton Beach, Brooklyn; Bethlehem, Pa. Along the way, the Baron finds himself tangled in stories of mystery, comedy and intrigue.

Eden Eats
Series Premiere: August 2012
Eden Grinshpan is a world traveler and culinary adventurer on a mission to eat around the world without using a passport. In each episode, Eden travels to a new American city taking only 24 hours to uncover the global culinary scene. She discovers authentic recipes and incredible stories from the locals who make up the backbone of every city and come together to create some of the most delicious food in the world. Eden makes stops in Baltimore, Charlotte, N.C., Honolulu, Nashville, Tenn., Phoenix, San Diego, Salt Lake City and Tampa, Fla. In every city, Eden's journey will lead to a mouthwatering adventure, but there is no telling who she'll meet or what she'll eat with only a day to conquer the culinary diversity of each city.

Cheap Bites
Series Premiere: August 2012
New York City chef and outspoken food writer, Eddie Huang, takes viewers on a road trip to find America's best food deals. Each week, Eddie tackles a new food category and uncovers the best eats at the best price. Irreverent, candid and up for anything, Eddie's journey will be a funny and surprising guide the best cheap bites. From free pizza in New York to 25-cent donuts in Memphis, Tenn., Eddie shows viewers the cheapest eats around.

Eat the Street
Series Premiere: September 2012
Every city has one - a single street where block after block, restaurant after restaurant, meal after meal, you can experience a magical, mouthwatering tour through cultures and cuisines of every conceivable variety. Join Cooking Channel's own Chuck Hughes as he takes a tour of America's great food streets, tasting his way through cities and learning about the people and history that have made these flavors special.

Man, Fire, Food
Series Premiere: September 2012
Roger Mooking (Everyday Exotic, Heat Seekers) explores cooking at its most basic as he features the cooks who take the fundamental formula of fire and food to make delicious culinary creations. Along the way, he samples fire-cooked favorites from local joints on backroads and byways from coast to coast.

My Grandmother's Ravioli
Series Premiere: FALL 2012
Mo Rocca is a foodie who doesn't know how to cook, so he's set out to learn from the masters: America's Grandmothers and Grandfathers. Join Mo as he visits these warm (and very patient) grandparents in their kitchens to learn treasured recipes, hear their stories and ultimately cook for their families.

RETURNING SERIES PRIMETIME:

Easy Chinese
Season Two Premiere: Saturday, June 2nd at 8:30pmET/5:30pmPT
In season two of Easy Chinese, Ching-He Huang is out to find both the traditional and unexpected as she explores New York and Los Angeles in search of mouth-watering Chinese inspiration. Through the culturally diverse neighborhoods on each coast, Ching shows viewers what authentic Chinese food is, how to find it, and how to easily make it at home.

Not My Mama's Meals
Season Two Premiere: August 2012
Bobby Deen takes his mother'srecipes and transforms her Southern comfort food into lighter, leaner, yet still delicious dishes. Each week, Bobby recreates one of his Mama's famous meals with healthy substitutes that cut down on calories and fat, but still deliver on taste.

Nadia G's Bitchin' Kitchen
Season Three Premiere: September 2012
Cooking Channel returns to the wildly popular world of Culinary It-Girl Nadia G with a third season of the comedy-cooking show Nadia G's Bitchin' Kitchen. Just as skilled in strutting in stilettos as wielding a meat cleaver, Nadia brings her savvy chef know-how and rock star attitude to the series while sharing recipes and cooking tips for both beginner and seasoned at-home cooks.

Symon's Suppers
Season Two Premiere: September 2012
Chef Michael Symon cooks with soul. Growing up in a Greek and Sicilian family, the Cleveland native creates boldly flavored, deeply satisfying dishes at his restaurants and with Symon's Suppers, Michael shares his favorite recipes and culinary stories, while cooking alongside his family and closest friends.

Unique Sweets
Season Three Premiere: October 2012
Unique Sweets is an insider's peek into innovative eateries across America that are creating the most unique and exciting desserts today. Each episode runs the gamut on the sweet spectrum: restaurants with revolutionary pastry chefs; candy shops inventing eye-popping confections; chocolate boutiques with wild artisanal flavors; and bakeries producing one-of-a-kind pastries, cakes and cookies in the middle of the night. Wherever there are gooey, crunchy, sticky and sweet treats that you won't find anywhere else, Unique Sweets goes there.

Extra Virgin
Season Three Premiere: Fall 2012
Actress Debi Mazar and her Tuscan-born husband Gabriele Corcos return for a third season of food, family and friends. Debi, a modern girl from Queens, and Gabriele, a food purist from the hills of Tuscany, invite viewers into their life and home kitchen in the original series - with hilarious and delicious results.

RETURNING SERIES DAYTIME:

The Perfect Three
Season Two Premiere: Saturday May 12th at 2:30pmET/11:30am PT
Cooking Channel and Food Network's favorite faces spotlight the perfect three dishes in 13 classic categories, from burgers and brownies to sandwiches and salads. As an added bonus, Kelsey Nixon (Kelsey's Essentials) shares her indispensable tips for mastering the recipe, and in each episode, the winner of the online recipe submission contest cooks with Kelsey, showing how to make his or her winning recipe that was voted as category favorite by fans.

Kelsey's Essentials
Season Four Premiere: Fall 2012
Kelsey Nixon inspires a new generation of food lovers with her fresh take on essential cooking basics. In her fourth season, she gives savvy tips on must-have pantry items, the latest gadgets and essential kitchen techniques like roasting, baking, and knife skills. Whether she is sharing unique entertaining tips and food gift ideas or classic yet sophisticated recipes for sauces, stews, and eggs, Kelsey is a master at using the basics to create dishes that are anything but ordinary. She targets the DIY home cook - breaking down the steps, teaching proper technique and making everyone feel comfortable in the kitchen.

Drop 5lbs With Good Housekeeping
Season Two Premiere: January 2013
In partnership with Good Housekeeping magazine, Drop 5 Lbs. is based on the magazine's popular Drop 5 Lbs. column. Packed with cooking and shopping tips, fat burning exercises, dining-out do's and don'ts, the show makes losing weight easy and manageable. Drop 5 Lbs. shows viewers that small changes give big results. We've done all of the legwork so you don't have to put a lot of effort into losing weight. Just pick the strategies that fit into your lifestyle, select the foods you enjoy and you'll be on your way. Whether viewers want to lose 5 pounds or 50 pounds, this show can help.

FOOD NETWORK

NEW SERIES PRIMETIME:

Meat Men
Series Premiere: Monday, April 9th at 11pm ET/PT
Famous New York butcher and meat purveyor Pat LaFrieda brings Food Network viewers inside the fascinating and compelling world of Meat Men. Running Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, a third-generation wholesale meat purveyor business, Pat, along with his cousin Mark Pastore, and his dad Pat Sr., supply more than 500 customers, including some of the most prestigious restaurants and bistros in New York City. Expanding from a small corner shop in New York City to a 35,000 square-feet facility in New Jersey, this growth comes with great pressure to maintain the high-quality product for which Pat has become known, and to manage the many hurdles that occur. Whether it's last-minute requests, creating custom blends and menus for new clients, or navigating the personalities of a work staff, Meat Men takes viewers on a high-'steaks' ride with a side of humor, served medium rare.

Cupcake Champions
Series Premiere: Sunday, May 13th at 8pm ET/PT
Cupcake Champions pits 16 of Cupcake Wars' best and most memorable winners against each other in a tournament to name the ultimate cupcake champ. The series features star-studded, themed events including Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, Glee, Madagascar 3, Pixar's Brave and a special Food Network Star-themed finale. These bakers are the best of the best, but only one can fend off the challenges and survive the war to win $50,000.

Invention Hunters
Series Premiere: Monday, May 14th at 9pm ET/PT
Steve Greenberg and Patrick Raymond are two "invention scouts", scouring America in search of the next great kitchen invention. In each episode, they come across three home inventors who each believe they have a million-dollar kitchen gadget. Steve and Patrick put the inventions to the test ensuring they work as promised and determine whether there is a market for the idea. They will then choose one invention to bring to buyers in the retail manufacturing world to convince them to buy it and make the inventor's dreams a reality.

Mystery Diners
Series Premiere: Friday, May 25th at 10pm ET/PT
What happens in the food world when a bad employee starts to take down an otherwise thriving establishment or when restaurant owners suspect someone of not doing their job appropriately? They call in the Mystery Diners. These undercover operatives go into restaurants, bars and food service establishments with hidden cameras to find out what's really going on when the boss isn't around.

The New Anne Burrell Project (Working Title)
Series Premiere: June 2012
When top restaurants are in need of an executive chef - the critical employee who can make or break a restaurant - they turn to Anne Burrell. Each week Anne puts four candidates through the toughest job interview of their lives - testing everything from their culinary mettle to business acumen. It all ends with the biggest test of all: running the restaurant. After a grueling "interview" process, only the chef who serves up the most profitable and delicious dinner service lands the dream job as the restaurant's new Executive Chef.

Bobby Flay's Opening Night (Working Title)
Series Premiere: July 2012
Bobby Flay, critically-acclaimed chef/owner of 14 restaurants, offers his expertise to first-time restaurateurs. Bobby arrives just in time, stepping in to save restaurants from opening without all the crucial elements in place, hoping to prevent an opening night-nightmare. Without Bobby's sage advice, the restaurants would have little chance to succeed, but with less than a week to opening the doors to customers, Bobby works with the restaurateurs to see their business start off on the right foot.

Chopped: Grill Masters
Series Premiere: Sunday, July 22nd at 10pm ET/PT
Fire it up! Food Network blows the roof off Chopped, traveling to the glorious Arizona desert for a breathtaking event. Sixteen grilling professionals face off in an old Western town in this captivating five-part tournament. The stage is set for the ultimate culinary feud, with astonishing mystery ingredients and tremendously talented competitors. Only four chefs can make it to the final fiery showdown, and when the dust clears, the greatest grilling pro of all will walk away with a $50,000 grand prize.

$24 in 24 Hours (Working Title)
Series Premiere: August 2012
Jeff Mauro (Sandwich King) takes an exciting journey through cities across America to show viewers how to experience great food at a great price spending only $24 in 24 hours.

Undercover Critics
Series Premiere: September 2012
In new series, Undercover Critics, Alex Guarnaschelli (Chopped), TRoy Johnson (Crave) and Simon Majumdar (Next Iron Chef) go undercover as restaurant critics armed with hidden cameras to unfold the good, the bad and the ugly of established restaurants. Then, they give the owners new life and a second chance to improve on their violations before the review is actually published. After visiting the restaurant, the Undercover Critics give an anonymous tip to the owner letting them know they visited, but won't write a review just yet. Instead, they give the owners a laundry list of things to fix, and the owners do whatever it takes to turn a bad review into a great one before it hits the press.

Sugar Dome
Series Premiere: October 2012
Welcome to the Sugar Dome, home to the most amazing food displays on earth. Each week, three teams comprised of three artists from different disciplines, battle it out to create never-seen-before, jaw-dropping masterpieces of food art. Renowned cake designers, chocolatiers, engineers, food carvers, window designers, candy makers and special effects experts will enter the Sugar Dome to determine who can create the most mind-blowing displays.

Blind Dinner Party
Series Premiere: October 2012
What happens when seven strangers - who come from completely different backgrounds, beliefs and views on everything - come together to break bread in the most dysfunctional family dinner imaginable? Comedian Margaret Cho headlines this bizarre social experiment to see if people from extremely disparate worlds can come together and find common ground through food.

NEW SERIES DAYTIME:

Trisha's Southern Kitchen
Series Premiere: Saturday April 14th at 10:30am ET/PT
Music superstar and best-selling cookbook author Trisha Yearwood brings her family-inspired recipes and food traditions to Food Network this spring, with the premiere of the new daytime series Trisha's Southern Kitchen. From preparing dishes from her childhood to planning a baby shower and family reunion barbecue, each themed show invites viewers into Trisha's kitchen for her favorite meals, nostalgic stories and visits from family and friends. The six-episode series offers Trisha's unique how-to tips and techniques for down-home dishes.

Home for Dinner with Jamie Deen
Series Premiere: Saturday, June 16th at 10:30am ET/PT
For Jamie Deen, it's all about food and family. As a husband, father, and cook, Jamie puts his personal and professional skills to the test to create great family dinners. Jamie always welcomes a helping hand, whether his son Jack joins to make dessert or Grandma Ginny (aka Paula Deen) comes over to help put the finishing touches on the meal. In the Deen family, there's nothing more fun that being Home for Dinner.

Sunny Travels (Working Title)
Series Premiere: July 2012
Sunny Anderson travels the country to discover the best home-cooked recipes she can find. From heirloom recipes for apple pie to undefeated family barbecue recipes, Sunny uncovers the secrets and the stories behind every dish.

The New Sandra Lee Project (Working Title)
Series Premiere: Fall 2012
Best known for her Semi-Homemade & Money Saving Meals, Sandra Lee will offer fans a new take on her cooking and entertaining tips.

RETURNING SERIES PRIMETIME

Chopped All-Stars
Season Two Premiere: Sunday, April 8th at 9pm ET/PT
Food Network's top-rated hit Chopped All-Stars returns for a second season filled with fan-favorite chefs, unexpected ingredients, and fierce competition for a $50,000 prize for charity. In each of the five themed episodes, hosted by Ted Allen, four specially selected chefs are challenged to create three masterful courses from ingredients in the mystery basket, ranging from beef tendon and crawfish, to black beans with queso fresco and chicken feet. Chopped All-Stars kicks off with Iron Chefs battling in the Chopped kitchen, followed by competitions between Food Network/Cooking Channel show hosts, Food Network Star finalists and Chopped judges. A rotating roster of top-notch judges will decide who gets "chopped" each week, leading up to a final showdown between the four episode winners, where the $50,000 grand prize to the winner's charity of choice will be awarded.

Food Network Star
Season Eight Premiere: Sunday, May 13th at 9pm ET/PT
Food Network Star returns to New York City with a revised format bringing returning favorites Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis from behind the judges table to square off with new regular Alton Brown in a three-way team competition to find the next Food Network Star. Bobby, Giada and Alton, all television producers in addition to being culinary superstars, lead the charge to find and develop the new talent, each picking a team of five finalists, who they will produce and mentor through the 'Star' experience to find one winner who possesses personality and culinary chops. In another fresh twist to the series, the viewing audience will vote before the finale to determine who will receive the ultimate prize: their own Food Network show, to be produced by their 'Star' team leader.

Extreme Chef
Season Two Premiere: August 2012
The new season of Extreme Chef plucks America's seven most fearless chefs out of their kitchens and drops them into the most extreme locations on Earth from the scorching deserts of California to exotic jungles on the other side of the world. With extremely limited supplies and ingredients, the chefs will have to flawlessly adapt as they face the most grueling and seemingly impossible culinary challenges ever devised to earn the title of Extreme Chef and a cash prize.

The Great Food Truck Race
Season Three Premiere: Sunday, August 19th at 9pm ET/PT
The Great Food Truck Race's third outing will have more drama, more twists, more strategy, but most of all, more dreams. Hosted again by Tyler Florence, this season's not a competition between current food truck operators - it's between people who desperately want to be. Eight teams of hopefuls will have their dream truck handed to them before they race from city to city trying to prove they have what it takes to own and operate a successful food truck, with the winning team will get to keep their truck and immediately launch their food empire.

Halloween Wars
Season Two Premiere: Sunday, October 7th at 9pm ET/PT
Food Network puts viewers in the Halloween spirit serving up a deliciously scary series, Halloween Wars, for a second season. The four episode competition places five teams - comprised of cake decorators, candy makers and pumpkin carvers- working in unison to create the ultimate Halloween-themed display. One team is eliminated each week, with the winner taking home $50,000.

The Next Iron Chef: Redemption
Season Five Premiere: Sunday, November 4th at 9pm ET/PT
This year on The Next Iron Chef, it's all about redemption. Ten previous Next Iron Chef competitors with something to prove, compete to become a member of the most elite and exclusive club the culinary world offers, securing his/her spot in Kitchen Stadium.

RETURNING SERIES DAYTIME

The Best Thing I Ever Made
Season Two Premiere: Sunday, April 8th at 11:30am ET/PT
Acclaimed chefs, cookbook authors and Food Network personalities - people who have spent their lives obsessing over food - reveal not only what they love to eat, but what they love to make. From personal family recipes to dishes off their own menus, these food experts share their secrets and show viewers how to cook their favorite dishes.

The Pioneer Woman
Season Three Premiere: Fall 2012
Award-winning blogger and best-selling cookbook author Ree Drummond brings her signature wit and down-home recipes to Food Network for a third season. Shot on location at her Oklahoma ranch, The Pioneer Woman serves up a slice of frontier life along with the "accidental country girl's" step-by-step recipes for creating wholesome, hearty family meals and elegant menus for entertaining.

SPECIALS

Hunger Hits Home
Saturday, April 14th at 8pm ET/PT
In the wealthiest nation in the world, one in five children live in the shadow of hunger. In Hunger Hits Home, audiences get a first-hand look at the crisis of childhood hunger in America through the eyes of the people on the frontlines of the battle - parents and children, anti-hunger activists, educators and politicians committed to eradicating the problem. Hunger Hits Home examines the causes, complications and misconceptions about childhood hunger in the United States and offers a glimpse at some of the innovative solutions being put into practice today. Narrated by Oscar(R)-winning actor and longtime anti-hunger activist Jeff Bridges, Hunger Hits Home is a heart-wrenching, yet empowering hour-long look at one of our nation's little-known emergencies.

Grilling Live!
Live Premiere: June 2nd at 12pm-2pm ET
Bobby Flay and Alton Brown get together with their Food Network friends to talk about all things grilling. In this two-hour, live-interactive show Food Network favorites answer viewers' toughest grilling and summer entertaining questions.

Thanksgiving Live!
Live Premiere: Saturday, November 18th at 12pm-2pm ET
The experts at Food Network come together to answer viewers toughest questions about holiday meal-making on Thanksgiving Live!, a two-hour, live-interactive show. They address the perennial holiday problems from dry turkey to lumpy gravy, as well as demonstrate helpful tips and delicious recipes.

FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers' best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring and empowering through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to more than 100 million U.S. households and averages more than 9.9 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine has tripled its rate base and delivers a circulation of 1.4 million. Headquartered in New York, Food Network has a growing international presence with programming in more than 150 countries, including 24 hour networks in Great Britain, India, Asia and Africa.

COOKING CHANNEL (www.cookingchanneltv.com) is an entertainment brand dedicated to today's passionate food lover. For food people, by food people, Cooking Channel is the answer to a growing hunger for more content devoted to food and cooking in every dimension from global cuisines to international travel, history and unconventional how-to's. 

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