Introduction

Guy’s Grocery Games (often nicknamed Triple G) is an American reality-based cooking television game show hosted by Guy Fieri on Food Network.

Outline (Series)

Each episode features four chefs competing in a three-round elimination contest, cooking food with ingredients found in a supermarket grocery store (“Flavourtown Market”) as Fieri poses unusual challenges to them. The winning chef of the episode can collect up to $20,000 in a shopping spree bonus round. The show often features chefs from Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, another show hosted by Fieri. The show Dessert Games was a short-lived spin-off.

Outline (Episode)

To celebrate America and the people who have served it, Guy Fieri invites four chef veterans from different branches of the military to compete in two summer-themed games. And for the first time ever, it is all done in front of a live audience made entirely of veterans. First, the chefs have to make a summer seafood feast using what they can fit into a shockingly small mini-cooler. Then, the chef-vets will have to elevate a summer classic dish as decided by a game of Corn Hole. Only one chef will be crowned winner of GGG’s salute to summer and earn a $20,000 payday.

Production

Season 1 was shot inside of an actual grocery store, Field’s Market, in West Hills, Los Angeles. For Season 2, the market was built in a 15,500 square foot warehouse in Santa Rosa, California. It was built over two weeks and stocked with over $700,000 of food. After each episode, the perishable items were donated to local food banks and scraps are donated to farmers.

The casting process to get on the show is described as “surprisingly streamlined” with potential contestants conducting a Skype interview and submitting photos of their best dishes. Once chosen, a member of production will arrange travel plans and bring the contestant to California. Each episode takes up to 12 hours to shoot, with a large portion of that time devoted to off-screen interviews. Chefs must be 18 years or older to compete on the show.

Episode Format

The set is laid out in the manner of a typical supermarket, whose 10 aisles are stocked with a wide range of foods that include fresh produce, meat/poultry, and frozen items. Each chef has his/her own station for preparing and cooking food. Three judges officiate in each episode, introduced by Fieri during the first round.

In each round, Fieri assigns a dish (usually a general type such as “a fried feast” or “an upscale dinner”) and issues one or more challenges that the chefs must fulfil. Challenge types include games or random drawings to determine ingredients that must be used, items or aisles being declared off-limits, and an upper limit on the total number/price/weight of ingredients. In the absence of any pertinent restrictions imposed by Fieri, the chefs have 30 minutes to collect their ingredients in one trip, using a standard shopping cart, and prepare/plate their dishes. They must cook and plate four servings (one for each judge and one “beauty plate”) before time runs out. At the end of each round, the judges taste and evaluate the dishes and select one chef to be “checked out,” or eliminated from the game with no winnings. On occasion, the chefs compete through only two rounds instead of the usual three and/or face two eliminations at the end of a single round.

The last remaining chef advances to the bonus round, Guy’s Shopping Spree, for a chance to win up to $20,000 in two minutes. Two different formats have been employed:

• Seasons 1-11: The chef must retrieve one named item from each of the market’s 10 aisles, receiving $2,000 for each item placed in the shopping cart.
• Season 12 to Present: Fieri reads five clues, each of which can be answered with a particular item, and the chef receives $4,000 for each item placed in the cart.

On occasion, such as during tournaments or specially themed episodes, Guy’s Shopping Spree is not played and Fieri awards the full $20,000 to the winner.

Production & Filming Details

• Presenter(s):
  • Guy Fieri.
• Director(s):
• Producer(s):
  • Guy Fieri … executive producer.
  • Brian Lando … executive producer.
  • Francesco Giuseppe Pace … executive producer.
  • Devon Williams … producer.
  • Bryan Johnson … producer.
  • Sam Perotti …. producer.
• Writer(s):
• Music:
• Cinematography:
• Editor(s):
• Production:
  • Knuckle Sandwich.
• Distributor(s):
  • Food Network.
• Release Date: 27 June 2018.
• Running Time: 60 minutes (with adverts).
• Rating: TV-G.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

Video Link(s)