Food Network will serve up several new reality shows -- including a cooking
show featuring rock stars Dweezil Zappa and Lisa Loeb -- as part of its fall
original-programming schedule.
Overall, the network will increase its programming budget by 58 percent to
cover the debut of 12 new series and 60 new specials, network executives
said
Among the reality series scheduled to premiere are Dweezil & Lisa,
a reality series bowing in the first quarter of 2004 featuring the cooking
experiences of Zappa and Loeb; Jamie's Kitchen, in which Food personality
Jamie Oliver trains unemployed kids to run a restaurant (October 2003); and
Into the Fire, a behind-the-scenes look at restaurant life (fall
2003).
Other new original shows on the network's docket include the spring/summer
premieres of food/lifestyle shows Boy Meets Grill and Roker on the
Road; Trivia Unwrapped, a question-and-answer show that tests
knowledge of pop-culture food; How to Boil Water, a how-to cooking show;
Lighten Up!, a lighthearted look at recipe renovations; and
Cookworks,focusing on the inner workings of a cooking school.
Skeins premiering in the fourth quarter and beyond include Mario in
America, based on the American travels of Italian chef Mario Batali; and
What America Eats, examining the dining habits of people around the
country.
