Food Network Orders New Series Family Food Showdown and Locks New Multi-Series Deal with Valerie Bertinelli

Food Network has ordered to series, Family Food Showdown, a unique, family-centric culinary competition with Valerie Bertinelli as host, it was announced today by Courtney White, General Manager and Executive Vice President, Programming, Food Network and HGTV.  Family Food Showdown pits one family against another in a fast-paced, action-packed culinary competition that unfolds over three rounds of cooking challenges in which earned advantages, team strategy and family dynamics up the ante in the final round of the contest.  Each episode culminates with a $10,000 grand prize awarded to the winning family that must first endure twists, turns and the unpredictable but always entertaining aspect of family members communicating, collaborating, and cooking on the clock in a high-stakes showdown. What could possibly go wrong?!  Production on the 13 hourlong episodes will begin in December with the series set to launch in 2019.

Along with the new series order, the network announced it has reached an agreement with Bertinelli which spans multiple projects in daytime and primetime including new episodes of fan-favorite Kids Baking Championship, plus new episodes with Valerie cooking and sharing entertaining tips and tricks, along with her role as host of the all-new Family Food Showdown.

“With Family Food Showdown we are excited to showcase talented families cooking and coming together in a creative, competitive series that will also spotlight the role of family dynamics in how these teams work together, for better or worse, in their bid for the prize and family pride,” said White. “Our viewers have come to enjoy Valerie’s warmth in the kitchen and her unique charm and mentorship with the next generation of bakers on Kids Baking Championship, and with this expanded presence on Food Network, fans can look forward to more to come.”

Valerie Bertinelli is a two-time Golden Globe Award-winning actress who first became famous for her role as Barbara on CBS’ long-running series One Day at a Time. Over the years, her career has expanded to include television personality, spokeswoman and New York Times Best Selling author of One Dish at a Time, Finding It and Finally Satisfying My Hunger for Life and Losing It and Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time, and most recently Valerie’s Home Cooking, named after her Emmy-nominated Food Network series. Bertinelli is also co-host of Food Network’s Kids Baking Championship and starred as Melanie Moretti in TV Land’s critically acclaimed sitcom Hot in Cleveland. In August 2012, Bertinelli received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers’ best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring, empowering and entertaining through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to nearly 100 million U.S. households and draws over 46 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine’s rate base has grown 13 times and is the No. 2 best-selling monthly magazine on the newsstand, with 13.5 million readers. Food Network is owned by Discovery, Inc., a global leader in real life entertainment whose portfolio also includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, TLC, Investigation Discovery, and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.