Parents' Guide to

Chopped Next Gen

By Martin Brown, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Gen Z cooking competition has diverse cast, blood, swearing.

TV Discovery+ Game Shows 2021
Chopped Next Gen Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

  • Chopped Next Gen TV Show: Scene #1, Host Liza Koshy
  • Chopped Next Gen TV Show: Scene #2, Chilis on the grill
  • Chopped Next Gen TV Show: Scene #3, Koshy with the judges

Community Reviews

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age 5+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Camari P.
Camari P. Parent of 7 and 10-year-old
January 7, 2023
age 5+

Makes you miss the original chopped.

Everything seems rather unauthentic in comparison to the original. Chefs seem more concerned with being a “Relevant personality” rather than a chef that makes great food. Judges come across like they’re nervously doing their job as a judge, rather than just being themselves, like on the original chopped. It seems the plain aspect of chef creativity, is overshadowed by an undertone focus on being “Woke,” from a cultural lens, rather a culinary perspective. But I guess this is the way it is now. Harder to be yourself, when in a day and age, it takes much longer to figure out who you really are.
becjohn
becjohn Adult
May 28, 2021
age 5+

Boring

There is no excitement like the original, and it is too scripted. Also, it is set up way easier than the actual chopped kitchen, these chefs have unbelievable stations (way easier), where as the chopped kitchen is small and limited. Love the judges though! It is boring for a cooking competition. I will stick with original.
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

On each episode of CHOPPED NEXT GEN, four up-and-coming chefs compete to win $10,000. Each of the competitors has been chosen for their innovative or forward-thinking cooking. The competition consists of three rounds: an appetizer, entree, and dessert, each of which need to be made using four surprise ingredients, which could be anything from radishes to cotton candy pickles. A panel of guest judges decides which of the dishes are most and least successful, and one chef is eliminated from the competion after each round until one winner is left standing.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (2):
Kids say: Not yet rated

It's always thrilling to watch a chef scramble to make an appetizer using cotton candy pickles, beef tongue, and focaccia; the trouble here is the steady letdown after seeing the mystery ingredients. Any good episode of Chopped Next Gen is dependant on so many things going right: It needs compelling contestants who take risks and make stunning cuisine, which the judges react to in a fun and illuminating way. That just doesn't happen often enough to make Chopped and all its spinoffs anything more than comfort television. Instead it feels like a diminished version of other cooking competitions. It lacks the suspense of Iron Chefs creating ambitious meals in real time, doesn't spend enough time with contestants to really give viewers anyone to root for, and, on Chopped Next Gen specifically, doesn't go deep enough into what is innovative or exciting enough about the cuisine to make it feel truly next gen.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about innovation. Why is the show called "Next Gen"? How does it highlight innovation or forward-thinking? What are some examples of "next gen" food on the show?

  • Who were you rooting for? Why? What made that chef's cuisine unique and interesting? How did they do in the competition? Why did they succeed or not succeed?

  • What obstacles came up for the contestants during the competition? How did they deal with them? Which chefs were successful despite things going wrong? What can you learn from them?

TV Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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