Chef Lim Seong-geun showing on “You Quiz on the Block”
/ Courtesy of tvN
The standing of cooks within the leisure business has shifted. As soon as restricted to showing as panelists or assistants to celebrities on cooking packages, they’ve now risen to take middle stage.
Following the current success of Netflix’s “Culinary Class Wars” and JTBC’s “Chef & My Fridge,” also called “Please Take Care of My Fridge,” broadcasters are scrambling to solid superstar cooks.
“Culinary Class Wars” went past a easy cooking survival present, constructing particular person narratives and worldviews for every chef. The “Black Spoon” versus “White Spoon” idea turned cooks into stars. “Chef & My Fridge” additional proved the profitable method by highlighting cooks’ improvisational abilities, aggressive dynamics and distinct characters.
Broadcasters have since jumped right into a fierce bidding conflict to solid cooks.
Channel A’s “The Chef and the Hunter” highlights cooks’ survival abilities and creativity as they forage for substances within the wild. In distinction, Wavve’s new cooking present units a special tone by combining religious follow with meals in a Buddhist temple setting. Even the speak present “You Quiz on the Block” has invited cooks as key company, spotlighting their life tales and philosophies.
This phenomenon marks a brand new pattern within the business. With mounting criticism that celebrity-centered casting has reached its limits, cooks are offering a much-needed refresh to the variability present panorama.
Cooks are seen as characters who possess each experience and a way of familiarity. On-line communities and social media gentle up with recipe evaluation and discussions of their leisure personas once they seem. Meals acts as a common topic that enables viewers to empathize with cooks, whereas their private narratives and philosophies win viewers’ hearts.
From the “strict artisan” to the “witty entertainer” or the “thinker chef,” every shows a definite character. This represents a transparent turning level from the normal celebrity-focused format.
Broadcasters are additionally getting artistic with how they make the most of these characters. It’s now not nearly casting somebody who cooks properly — it’s about chemistry. The pairing of Edward Lee and MMA fighter Choo Sung-hoon in “The Chef and the Hunter,” and the interplay between host Yoo Jae-suk and chef Lim Seong-geun on “You Quiz on the Block” are good examples of this dynamic casting.
Nonetheless, critics warn that focusing on a number of choose cooks might result in viewer fatigue. Manufacturing groups must give attention to human tales and differentiation.
This text from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Instances, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Instances.
