Beat Bobby Flay: What happens to the series now?

It was earlier this month when word broke that Chef Bobby Flay and his television home of almost three decades, Food Network, had decided to part ways. It was reported Flay wanted around $100 million to remain and the network concluded that was too much and are going forward without their most recognizable personality.

While the foodie community still seem to be picking up their collective jaw over the bombshell, Food Network for their part are already moving on. They announced earlier this week that a new series would be launching this December that may sound very familiar to Beat Bobby Flay fans.

The new series is called Throwdown with Michael Symon and it is obviously meant to be a replacement for the popular Beat Bobby Flay. Throwdown features Symon, who happens to be a good friend of Flay’s, doing battle with chefs to see who can cook the challenger’s signature dish the best. The results will be determined by a blind-judging process to keep things fair.

Does that format sound familiar awfully familiar to anyone else?

Will fans ever see new episodes of Beat Bobby Flay again?

The only apparent difference is that Symon will be going on the road, doing culinary battle on the opponents home turf and neither will know the other chef is coming. But other then that small wrinkle, Throwdown with Michael Symon might as well be called Beat Bobby Flay Light.

Of course that leaves the question of what will happen to Beat Bobby Flay. Have viewers seen the last of the series on Food Network? Will Chef Flay ever do battle again to the cheers of his adoring fans? Unfortunately, in the short term the answer to both those question is probably yes.

It isn’t known exactly who owns what when it comes to the Beat Bobby Flay format or even the name. One would have to assume that Food Network is going to stop airing the series, at least temporarily as the try to build up the audience for Throwdown with Michael Symon. However, if we had to guess, we would think that the series will still be available to stream on Discovery Plus.

As for if we will ever see new episodes, that will be determined by where Flay decides to hang his television hat in the future. If he ends up on one of the other streaming services, you can be sure a revamped and renamed version of Beat Bobby Flay will appear at some point.

The format is just too popular to let languish and not do something with it. Watching Flay battle other chefs is ridiculously entertaining and it would be a shame to see it come to an end just because the iconic chef left Food Network.

What do you think Guilty Eaters? Do you have high hopes for Throwdown with Michael Symon? Or are you going to stay true to Bobby Flay? Leave a comment below and let us know or join the conversation on our Facebook and Twitter pages.