Like big-box stores, local government, and Blockbuster, food media is finally getting the workplace sitcom treatment. A new show called Taste, which will explore the inner workings of a fictional Bay Area food magazine striving to modernize, is now in development at NBC and Universal, Deadline announced last week.
According to Deadline, the show will center on an established magazine editor — to be played by Modern Family’s Julie Bowen — who finds herself forced to work with a young TikTok chef following her magazine’s acquisition. The stodgy food-media old guard meets the FYP-savvy firebrands: We can presume that heads will butt.
It’s not the first time Hollywood has eyed the food-media world. Reports circulated in 2021 that Max was developing a series called Enjoy Your Meal — the premise of which closely resembled the meltdown at Bon Appétit in 2020. Nearly five years later, whether that show will hit screens anytime soon remains to be seen. Similar food-media settings have formed the backdrop from other recent works of fiction, like the books Chef’s Kiss by TJ Alexander (set in a test kitchen) and Love from Scratch by Kaitlyn Hill (set on a cooking channel).
Magazine journalists have long been a fiction cliche. The Daily Beast asked just this year: “Why Were 2000s Rom-Coms So Obsessed With Magazine Girlies?” With the average person probably more clued into food content (not to mention, the endless glut of drama behind the bylines) than ever, it’s no surprise that the public’s interest has shifted even more specifically to food media. Viewers were captivated by The Devil Wears Prada, but it remains to be seen whether they’ll bring the same fervor to the devil who dines at The French Laundry.
