| abstract | - The Next Food Network Star (later called Food Network Star) is a long running reality series that awards the winner his or her own series on the Food Network.
- A reality show launched by the Food Network (who else?) in 2005, The Next Food Network Star pits a number of potential celebrity chefs against each other in a variety of challenges to test their skill at cooking and interacting with people-- both in person and through the camera. In the first two seasons, eight entrants were considered (with one team of two appearing in the first season, for a total of nine participants), but the number of entrants has since been increased to twelve and then to fifteen for the current season. Contestants are eliminated every week until two or three finalists remain, who go on to star in a pilot that is screened during the season finale. The winner's pilot (or something similar to it) goes on to become an actual show on the network, although the staying power of this show and its star has varied greatly from season to season. The format for judging and selecting a winner has changed over the years, as viewers were given the chance to vote for the winner in earlier seasons, but they are now selected exclusively by the panel of judges. Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson, two Food Network executives, have been the core members of the judging panel since the beginning of its use. In the third season, a different guest judge would appear every week to assist them. Since the fourth season, the judging panel has consistently been Tuschman, Fogelson, and Bobby Flay, a chef who stars in Throwdown and Iron Chef America, among other shows. Giada De Laurentiis was added to the panel for the current season. The challenges in the show serve to both test and develop abilities that will be most useful for the contestant who will ultimately appear on their own show. A "Camera Challenge" is included every week, and requires each contestant to describe their food on-camera in an engaging way, within a set period of time. Usually, the particpants have also prepared the food they are presenting, so their dish is also judged as part of this challenge. This segment is the lead-in to the "Star Challenge" which is a more intense challenge that requires the contestants to work under pressure. Examples of these challenges include creating a dish with a specific theme for VIPs, preparing multiple dishes in a limited time (sometimes for the purpose of catering an event with hundreds of guests) or participating in some other test of skill inspired by another Food Network show. Several well-established stars of other Food Network shows have appeared on The Next Food Network Star, not only to serve as guest judges (as previously mentioned), but also to present the star challenges. This includes Rachael Ray; one of her appearances was during season four, where she told the contestants that their next challenge would be a live demonstration on her show. Also, in the season five finale, Alton Brown (of Good Eats fame) actually directed and helped produce the pilots for both of the finalists. The show was renamed simply "Food Network Star" for season 7. The winners of The Next Food Network Star from each season are:
* Season One - Dan Smith & Steve McDonagh. A gay couple and the only two-person team to appear on the show so far, the two appeared in a show originally called Party Line with Dan and Steve, which was later changed to Party Line with the Hearty Boys. The show focused on food meant to be served while entertaining guests, with 32 episodes were produced in total. In 2006, Food Network decided not to renew the series and Smith & McDonagh have yet to star in another show on the network.
* Season Two - Guy Fieri. To date, Fieri has been the most successful TV personality to have come out of The Next Food Network Star. In addition to his first show, Guy's Big Bite, which was produced after he won the competition, he has also starred in Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Guy Off the Hook, Minute To Win It (on NBC) and he co-hosted Ultimate Recipe Showdown with Marc Summers. He also makes frequent guest appearances on other Food Network shows, including later seasons of Next Food Network Star.
* Season Three - Amy Finley. Although she was originally eliminated in the week before the season finale, it was discovered in the days before the final episode that one of the two finalists, Joshua Adam "JAG" Garcia, had lied about his culinary training and military service. Finley was allowed to advance to the final in his place; however her show, The Gourmet Next Door, was short-lived. Only six episodes were produced and Finley herself declined to continue with the show.
* Season Four - Aaron McCargo, Jr. The fourth season finale was unique because the judges did not eliminate any of the three contestants on the week before the finale. McCargo, Jr. beat Adam Gertler and Lisa Garza and went on to star in Big Daddy's House. In another unique development, runner-up Gertler has been tapped to star in two shows to date: Will Work for Food and Kid in a Candy Store, and it could be argued that Gertler has actually been more successful on the network than McCargo, Jr. Another notable runner-up is Kelsey Nixon, who got her own cooking show on Cooking Channel called Kelsey's Essentials. Considering that three contestants have gone on to have shows and that a fourth (Lisa Garza) now has her own line of clothing, one could argue that this may have been the most successful season in terms of finding a number of viable talents.
* Season Five - Melissa d'Arabian. Unlike other winners who received most of their culinary training from formal institutions or the restaurant business, d'Arabian's primary experience came from being a stay-at-home mom. Her show, Ten Dollar Dinners, was created with this background in mind and is aimed at families shopping for meals on a budget. However, many viewers felt that the runner up, Jeffrey Saad, was robbed because many people felt that his pilot was more interesting that Melissa's (although he did get a webseries based on his pilot). He later starred on his own show on Cooking Channel and made it to the dessert round in the finals of Chopped All-Stars.
* Season Six - Aarti Sequeira. The final episode of season six featured three finalists instead of two, but unlike season four, this was due to a change in format and not the result of the judges being unable to select someone to eliminate the previous week. Aarti was selected over fellow finalists Herb Mesa and Tom Pizzica to star in a show titled Aarti Party, which focuses on her specialty of making Indian cuisine more accessible to home chefs in the United States. Pizzica would later have his own show on Food Network, Outrageous Food.
* Season Seven - Jeff Mauro. His show, Sandwich King, will "make a sandwich for every meal, and make every meal into a sandwich".
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