Dan Levy is Bringing Brunch to TV with Heartwarming Competition Show

Dan Levy has been keeping busy in a post-Schitt’s Creek entertainment landscape, but he’s still got time for brunch.

The multi-hyphenate entertainer and creator is bringing a new reality series to HBO Max based on the gayest of all mealtimes. The Big Brunch was first announced late last year, and described as a competition show allowing chefs to show off their skills as they attempt to redefine brunch and win life-changing prize money.

In a new preview from Entertainment Weekly, Levy talks about leaning into the humanity of it all, rather than turning the show into yet another cut-throat cooking competition.

“I’m drawn inherently to things that are well intentioned,” he said while singing the praises of The Great British Baking Show. “I found it to be this revolutionary idea, the fact that you can put people together in a ‘competitive situation’ and it’s not about a competition between each other. It’s about a competition between a baker and their own potential.”

But just because Levy sought out “10 good people” for his show rather than focusing solely on talent or who might provide the most drama on-screen doesn’t mean that the competition won’t still be a spirited battle of skills — the winner walks away with $300,000, after all.

Levy himself will both host the show and judge the kitchen creations, with chefs Sohla El-Waylly and restauranteur Will Guidara joining him in the latter. And they seem to be on the same page with Levy’s vision for a well-intentioned show that leaves everyone feeling good at the end of the day.

“If our role is to help them grow, you need to criticize,” Guidara said. “But it can be constructive criticism [as opposed to] destructive criticism. Investing in people is also just as entertaining, and can actually be quite heartwarming. And isn’t that a choice we’d rather make?”

Taking a Schitt’s Creek-style approach to a brunch competition show seems like the perfect next move for Levy, as well as being an opportunity for one lucky to chef to take that prize money and hopefully invest in their own future.

The Big Brunch will drop its first three episodes on November 10th, with three more hitting HBO Max on November 17th before the final two become available to stream November 24th.

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