Man v. Food

Food fanatic Adam Richman, is the star of the show. Adam travels the country, in search of eateries, with some of the most mouth-watering cuisine. Adam has a lot of boyish charm, and an engaging sense of fun. Which no-doubt help fuel the amazing popularity, of this show.

The premise of this show, is that Adam accepts 'challenges' to see if he can finish either enormous portions of food, or food that is unbelievably spicy-hot. The catch is, Adam has to finish the food placed before him, within certain time limits-and he does. At least 90% of the time, anyhow.

For example, I've seen Adam put-away some incredibly daunting meals, such as a 72-ounce steak, complete with two side dishes And this was within one hour. Adam has always wolfed-down three dozen oysters, in under 30 minutes, devoured 16 hot dogs in 30 minutes, and blindingly-fiery-hot chicken wings, in 20 minutes.

When Adam says that he's 'just a guy with a serious appetite', he most definitely wasn't kidding! Adam is a big, burly got, but not morbidly obese, as you'd expect of somebody, who eats like Adam does for a living. He also seems to be in surprisingly good physical shape, when he runs around acting exuberant, before each food challenge.

I don't know how Adam can eat so much often greasy, fat-laden food, in one sitting. My guess, is that he starves himself, hours before each challenge. My only beef (no pun intended) with this show, is that the Travel Channnel shows too many re-runs of each episode. It would be nice, if they broadcast new episodes more often.

To me the chief appeal of this program, is that the public can pig-out vicariously, through watching Adam Richman devour so many huge, calorie-laden meals. Once, when he was gorging on a huge hot-fudge Sunday, he said'I know those of you who are watching, are jealous right now'. Most likely, he was right. Especially viewers who have to stick to their boring, taste-less, low-fat diets.

4 of 10 because that's how many seasons Adam had. They were all FANTASTIC! Adam is so personable, entertaining, funny and likable. Casey... sucks.

Adam was the heart and soul of the series. It's just an empty shell now.

This decade has been a bit of a disappointment in terms of television programs. After a decade of excellent cartoons, sitcoms, and dramas, the 2000s has been quite lackluster in terms of prime time. With few exceptions (My main one being ABC's LOST) out there, I've turned my attention to video games and especially movies for entertainment much more often. However, there's a television show out there that delivers some of the most entertaining television in recent memory. The Travel Channel has been on a roll lately with rising ratings and whatnot, but thanks to Man vs. Food, the Travel Channel and reality programming in general has reached new quality peaks.

Man vs. Food is easily, hands-down, the best new television show within the last two years. Well-edited, perfectly hosted, and with enough energy to generate Manhattan, this program is a wonderful breath of fresh air for television. While it isn't for weak stomachs, the content is family-friendly, well-paced, and thoroughly enjoyable. The host is entertaining, caring, lovable, and has a love for food that most of us can only dream of having.

The concept is nice and simple: Adam Richman travels the country in search of food challenges that could make your arteries clog just witnessing the carnage. To add to the mayhem, he also scours the city in search of the more popular and successful eateries in the area. Unlike Andrew Zimmern, Richman doesn't attempt to really gross out, he tires to expand your horizons as to what you eat and how you actually eat it. Man vs. Food focuses on quality as well as quantity. Richman has already on Season 1 introduced us to a dozen award-winning restaurants as well as over a dozen crazyinsane eating challenges. Along the way he interviews people, and also runs into celebrities from time to time—ranging from Gladys Knight to baseball star Kevin Youkilis. The spotlight is never hogged; Richman shares the camera with the scenery, the local folks, and of course the food.

The main appeal in Man vs. Food are the challenges in the end that pretty much prove that Americans are easily among the biggest lovers (and most creative crafters) of food in the entire world. The human versus food battles range from eating a 12-pound pizza to eating a 5-pound burger (plus 5 pounds of fries) to fighting a 7-pound breakfast burrito to even taking on spicy food so hot it can make people bleed. Adam Richman, despite his lack of competitive eating skills, rises to almost all the challenges and the results range from hilarious to gross to perhaps even uplifting. It's just much too easy to root for him to win them all. Plus, why go against someone that introduces you to slices of pizza larger than babies and donuts bigger than your face? Locations are scattered all over, never limited to any one type of food or one region of the country. He has traveled as far north as Seattle and Boston, and made his way all the way down to Atlanta, and all the way west to Los Angeles and San Jose. But have no fear, with so many lovely cities in the United States, I can guarantee that we won't find an end to all the pursuing challenges; his main enemies are time, and his health. The only drawback would be if your city has yet to be featured in the program. Give it time, at this rate, he'll be knocking on your door.

Bottom Line: The best new show on television, hands-down. The concept has been done before, but has never been done with such humor and bubbly energy. Adam Richman is the best host in all of Travel Channel, and remains one of the few modern shows I'm willing to watch multiple times. America is never seen in a negative light, as the subtle and hidden beauty of the diversity and creativity of the country sparkles throughout the all-too-short 30 minutes of the program. I wish this show all the success in the world, because it deserves it, and I'd hate to see another Arrested Development situation develop. Highly, highly recommend.

There are a lot of shows on television that travel to a variety of locations to show off the different foods that we can eat, but Man V. Food is far and away the best of the bunch. Host Adam Richman travels the country to find the great pig-out places all over our great land. He also tackles a food challenge in every city he visits, ranging from 15 dozen oysters in New Orleans, to a giant burger challenge in Boston, to the Don Juan Taco Challenge in Austin, Texas(You have to watch the reruns on the Travel Channel to view the winner). Sometimes the winner is man, sometimes the winner is food. No matter who reigns victorious it is still an extremely entertaining half hour, even if you are not a big fan of these types of show. What sets it apart from other shows in this category and other shows period, is the host, Adam Richman. First of all, I can say, Adam can eat. You can clearly see after watching a few episodes that he is also having a lot of fun in what I would classify as one of the top twenty jobs in the United States. He gets to travel, he gets to eat. What else can I say. Beyond that he is intelligent about food, he is extremely funny for someone who has just downed seven pounds of burger and fries, and the viewer even gets to learn a little food history. Beyond that, its just fun to sit on the couch and say "I can do that" or "There is no @#$*& way I could eat that." So if you want to watch the best show on TV right now, turn to the travel channel. And Adam, if you ever want to try the Carnivore Pizza Challenge again, Give me a call. Great show.

All those overly dramatic reviews just have to be written by health freaks. My God, get over it, it's a TV show, nobody is ever invited to follow him, or try it at home. people watch it over here in Ireland & the UK too, and we don't have such massive obesity problems. if your kids are so easily influenced by what they see on TV, switch it off!

I love watching the mounds of crap that these restaurants conjure up. BUT, it is true that he kisses ass a little, I've never once seen him say something was terrible or even just not great. Everything he eats is "Awesome" and it is the over Americanised exaggerating (like every challenge has a crowd of overly eager - possibly actors - behind him) that ruins it in the end.

Watch it on a full tum and you won't go hitting the fridge ;)