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The man behind such shows as No Kitchen Required and Beat The House is set to run unscripted at Spike TV. Chachi Senior has been named Svp Original Series at the cable net, having run Shine Group’s Ardaban since its 2012 launch. He will oversee Spike’s nonscripted development team, reporting to Evp Original Series Sharon Levy. "Chachi is a respected veteran in this industry, with a proven track record of leading talented teams to success," Levy said in announcing the…...

Zodiak Americas has formed a partnership with Cleve Keller and Dave Noll of Keller/Noll, the format creators behind such shows as Hgtv’s Beat The House and TLC’s The One That Got Away. The duo, who will relocate to New York, will concentrate on creating new unscripted formats for Zodiak to co-produce stateside and distribute abroad through Zodiak Rights. The deal will fund specific development resources for Keller/Noll and provide them access to Zodiak’s local teams in more than 20 countries. In addition, Zodiak Americas has promoted Mike Gamson from Chief Creative Officer to CEO of Zodiak New York. Keller/Noll will work closely with Gamson going forward. Recently, Keller and Noll respectively served as the Chief Development Officer and Chief Creative Officer for Ardaban, a subsidiary of Shine America, where they created Beat The House and The One That Got Away. The duo have sold formats...

Anthony Bourdain may have his acerbic appeal, but it may be BBC America's "No Kitchen Required" that brings out the best of food's role in the mixing of cultures.

Tuesday, Sept. 18, the series features chefs Michael Psilakis, Madison Cowan and Kayne Raymond as they visit Koh Lanta, Thailand, where they make the best effort they can to assimilate to the Uraklavoy culture.

At the time of this interview, Psilakis had just finished shooting this episode and was still both moved and blown away by the experience.

"I just came back from -- I guess the 'squid hunt,' we would call it," he tells Zap2it. "Then at the same time, I was able to fish with just a line -- no rod and reel -- just a line in the ocean, and got some fish. Then we went to this unbelievable market -- a Thai market that was...

In two decades of working in film and television, I had never participated in a reality show, although I can see the appeal of them and the addiction that some shows inspire. However, all of that changed early this year when I was approached to help a BBC America show get on the Mescalero Apache reservation in New Mexico to shoot an episode of their new and highly anticipated show, No Kitchen Required, a mixture of Survivor meets Amazing Race meets Chopped.

Three masters of the culinary arts -- Chef Michael Psilakis, Chef Kayne Raymond, and Chef Madison Cowan, who was the overall winner of the Chopped series -- travel to ten exotic locations around the world, meeting the indigenous people of the land. They must hunt and prepare a meal using the traditions of the local people. The catch is, they have no kitchen. They are cooking the tribal way.

Admittedly, I’ve been getting a little bored of the typical foodie programming. I’ve seen every diner, every drive-in, every dive. I’ve been Chopped, watched chefs battled over who was most Iron, and seen others battle to be Tops. And I’ve tuned in for more socially awkward Ina Garten parties than I care to admit. (Also, I clearly need to get a life.)

But just when I thought I’d possibly reached my food TV peak, BBC America introduced a new series called No Kitchen Required that combines the traditional food competition format with challenging locales. In the first episode,...

It has to be one of the more compelling cooking competition series to have arrived in a while.

BBC America's "No Kitchen Required," premiering Tuesday, April 3, takes three experienced and notable chefs out of their usual elements and throws them in far and remote corners of the world to cook for the indigenous people, using local ingredients, know-how and tools. New York's Michael Psilakis joins "Chopped" winner Madison Cowan and New Zealand chef Kayne Raymond for this series that's part culinary competition and part "Around the World in 80 Days," as they find themselves cooking for and connecting with the native peoples in locations including Thailand, Belize, Fiji, New Zealand and Dominica.

Psilakis finds the challenge of the series invigorating and inspiring. "If you're a cook, it really forces you to think outside of the box, because how many people cook this way, unless you're on a camping trip?...

The brownstone was unassuming, to say the least: dim-lit from the outside, it gave no indication of the party gearing up inside. But a second glance at the invitation confirmed this was, indeed, the address for NY Bite Club's latest underground supper event.

Inside, the scene was more animated; food bloggers and photographers from all over New York City chatted in small groups. Many seemed to know each other -- some from prior Bite Club events, others from a community of self-professed 'foodies' who relish documenting every morsel they savor, every cocktail they sip.

But this was not just another Bite Club event. The BBC co-hosted this particular dinner Saturday night to help launch its latest cooking show, "No Kitchen Required."

If "Survivor" and "Top Chef" had a lovechild, it would look like "No Kitchen Required." The show -- which premieres Tuesday, April 3 on BBC America -- drops three chefs in remote locations like Belize,...

Shine America launched a new division called Ardaban on Monday with a focus on entertainment programming.  The company will create and develop show formats for both the U.S. and the global marketplace, Shine said. "Formats" is an industry term for a show like "America's Got Talent," that can be easily replicated and exported to other countries.  Chachi Senior will serve as Ardaban's chief executive officer. Senior was formerly co-president of Notional, where he oversaw such shows as "Chopped," "Momentum," "Winsanity!" and the forthcoming "No Kitchen Required." Shine America will produce and distribute Ardaban's products.  Shine has...

BBC America A scene from “No Kitchen Required”

To capture the remote locales in BBC America’s first original series “No Kitchen Required,” executive producer and director Chachi Senior looked to the stylistic vision of film directors Terrence Malick and Ridley Scott. He used long lenses and short depth of field, shooting the series much like a baseball game or a Nascar race. Over 90 percent of his camera crew came from feature films, a decision that landed many serendipitous moments on film.

BBC America just released the first promo for its latest original series, No Kitchen Required. Three chefs are pitted against one another in remote locales, where they're challenged to cook native cuisine. The competitors are forced to hunt and gather their own ingredients. The first look from the network reveals that they have to do it all with just a knife. No Kitchen's 10-episode freshman run stars New York restaurateur Michael Psilakis, Chopped champ Madison Cowan and New Zealand chef Kayne Raymond, with BBC’s Shini Somara serving as host. Although the series comes from the creators of Chopped, that

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Survivor meets Top Chef by way of The Amazing Race in BBC America's brand new (and quite honestly, awesome-sounding) series, No Kitchen Required, premiering Tuesday, March 20 at 10/9c.

The 10-episode series takes three chefs — New York eatery maven Michael Psilakis, New Zealand's Kayne Raymond, and Chopped Grand Champion's Madison Cowan — and drops them into wild, around-the-world locales without so much as a pepper mill, to compete against one another by collecting, catching or just plain killing indigenous ingredients and preparing a dish to be judged by the locals. Among the areas set for the first season are spots in Thailand, Fiji, the Louisiana Bayou and Belize. We can already hear Gordon Ramsay raging at not thinking of this idea first.

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BBC America has greenlighted new adventure cooking competition series No Kitchen Required. The 10-episode original series, which will premiere in Spring 2012, sees three chefs — New York restaurateur Michael Psilakis, Chopped Grand Champion chef Madison Cowan and New Zealand chef Kayne Raymond — being dropped into a remote location where each must work with the locals to hunt, forage and collect ingredients to create a locally-inspired meal that will be judged by the community. The series will be hosted by British presenter Shini Somara (BBC’s One Show). No Kitchen Required will be produced by Notional, an Iac company, with Kevin Greene and Notional’s Chachi Senior and Dave Noll serving as executive producers. It joins BBC America’s slate of original programming, which includes the new comedy panel show Would You Rather…? with Graham Norton, a Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! special, a series of specials featuring Chris Hardwick as The Nerdist,...