Upfronts 2012: Food Network, Cooking Channel to Launch 22New Series

Complete Coverage: Upfronts 2012

Cooking Channel and Food Network on Thursday announced their
2012 programming slates which combine for 22 new series and 35 returning shows
across both networks, headlined by projects with Bobby Flay, Margaret Cho, Mo
Rocca and Sandra Lee.

Food Network has 11 new primetimes series and four new
daytime series on tap for 2012. The primetime series include Meat Men, about a famous New York
butcher and meat purveyor business; Cupcake
Champions
, which pits 16 past Cupcake
Wars
winners against each other in a championship tournament; Invention Hunters, which searches for
the next great kitchen invention; Mystery
Diners
, about undercover operatives who place hidden cameras check in on
food service employees; and The New Anne
Burrell Project
, a competition series about interviewing to be an executive
chef.

Also on tap at Food Network are Bobby Flay's Opening Night, where the acclaimed chef/owner offers
expertise to first-time restaurateurs before their openings; Chopped: Grill Masters, where 16 grilling
professionals face off in a five-part tournament in the Arizona desert; $24 in 24 Hours, showing viewers how to
experience great food at a great price; Undercover
Critics
, where three Food Network personalities go undercover as restaurant
critics with hidden cameras; Sugar Dome,
where each week three teams of three artists compete to create food art; and Blind Dinner Party, hosted by comedian
Margaret Cho about seven strangers coming together for a meal.

Cooking Channel will premiere seven new primetime series in
2012: Roadtrip with G. Garvin,
exploring the best eats of the South; The
Culinary Adventures of Baron Ambrosia
, looking for culinary excellence in
less-traveled American cities; Eden Eats,
where each episode Eden Grinshpan takes only 24 hours to uncover the global
culinary scene in a new American city; Cheap
Bites
, a road trip to find the country's best food deals; Eat the Street, a tour of America's
great food streets; Man, Fire, Food,
featuring cooks who take fire and food to make delicious cuisine; and My Grandmother's Ravioli, following Mo
Rocca as he learns to cook from American grandparents.

Food Network's new daytime series are Sunny Travels, with Sunny Anderson traveling the country for the
best home-cooked recipes; a new project from Sandra Lee offering her cooking and entertaining tips; Home for Dinnerwith Jamie Deen, where Paula Deen's grandson cooks family dinners;
and the previously announced Trisha's
Southern Kitchen
.

Food Network will have new seasons of primetime series Chopped All-Stars, Food Network Star, Extreme
Chef
, The Great Food Truck Race, Halloween Wars and The Next Iron Chef: Redemption. Daytime series The Best Thing I Ever Made and The
Pioneer Woman
will also return.

Returning primetime series on Cooking Channel are Easy Chinese, Not My Mama's Meals, Nadia
G's Bitchin' Kitchen
, Symon's Suppers,
Unique Sweets and Extra Virgin. Renewed daytime series are
The Perfect Three, Kelsey's Essentials and Drop 5lbs With Good Housekeeping.