One of humanity's greatest passions is food, which not only serves as necessary sustenance but also a way to increase our dopamine levels through our taste buds. And TV has definitely reflected that, with Adam Richman front and center of a handful of series focused on the culinary world. His latest, Travel Channel's Secret Eats, isn't exactly a new show, since it originally aired last year under the name Man Finds Food, though you might not remember it airing. Why the name change? Here's Richman's explanation.
[Man Finds Food] did [air], it just got postponed. Yeah, it's been aired as Man Finds Food. They just re-titled it because they thought it was a more accurate depiction of what you were going to be getting on the show. The Man Finds Food seems a little vague if the story is about really telling you what there is. It did air, it just wasn't really publicized all that much.
That definitely makes some sense, because the title Man Finds Food basically just describes any travel-based food show that isn't hosted by a woman. (Sadly, few are.) For Secret Eats, Adam Richman trekked all around the globe to find and sample off-the-menu items at both famed restaurants and others you might not hear about anywhere else. Off-the-menu items aren't exactly secret at places like In-n-Out, where they actively promote their own less-hyped creations, but non-chain eateries can sometimes keep their most interesting meals outside of customer's conscious minds.
So yeah, the name change definitely makes sense from that perspective. But then there's the fact that Man Finds Food's planned premiere in July 2014 was marred by Adam Richman getting into a social media fracas over the hashtag "#thinspirational," leading to the host dropping a C-bomb and implying that someone else should go and kill themselves. Travel Channel yanked the show off the schedule at the time for an indefinite delay, eventually airing it in April 2015 with far less marketing than the first attempt.
There's definitely potential for Travel Channel execs to have attached a negative connotation with the title Man Finds Food after all that, ultimately leading to a name change while still sticking with the same subject matter. And Secret Eats, while not a showstopper of a title itself, nails the concept down and (so far) isn't sullied by anyone's bad behavior in the past.
Richman did talk to Uproxx a bit about that whole ordeal, calling it a very dark point. But he has apparently learned his lesson from it, and will likely not get into any other beefs with random Internet users. (No guarantees if Anthony Bourdain keeps making noise though.)
Secret Eats airs back-to-back episodes Monday nights on Travel Channel.
