All I have to say is that I want my own personal Ninja Dog -- now.
FOOD PARTY, the fantastical, food-centric IFC Original Comedy series created and hosted by Brooklyn fringe artist Thu Tran and her motley mix of unruly puppets, returns to IFC April 27, 2010 at 10:00 pm ET/PT. The comedy’s hallucinatory hijinks will be served in 20 all-new 15-minute episodes, two episodes airing back-to-back during IFC’s Tuesday night AUTOMAT programming block, followed by new episodes of DINNER WITH THE BAND.
The show the Los Angeles Times’ Robert Lloyd recently named one of the top 10 things on TV and “easily the most exciting thing I saw this year,” is best described as a psychedelic melding of Pee Wee’s Playhouse and Rachael Ray with a dash of J-Horror vibe. FOOD PARTY is shot on location in Brooklyn, NY in a handmade, technicolor cardboard kitchen, with each episode a new gastronomical misadventure.
In a surreal, live-action cartoon-like universe, Thu creates out-of-this-world delicacies with a cavalcade of puppets, humans, baked goods and vegetables. This season, Thu mixes it up with returning friends, The Devil, Perv Corn and Ice Cream Cone, and new friends, Randy Ranch, Egg Wizard and King of the Universe, among others.
And what’s special on the menu this season? Peanut Butter Jerry gets himself into another jam as Grape Jenny wants him all to her obsessive and sticky self; we are introduced to Ninja Dog, a kick-ass kitchen helper whose rapid-fire Ginsu skills would put the Iron Chef to shame; and when the amorous Monsieur Baguette breaks bread with Hamburger Bun, the soap opera affair leads to a fresh baked surprise.
FOOD PARTY’s humble origins began in Cleveland, where Thu and a group of fellow grads from the Cleveland Institute of Art rented an inexpensive studio and began working on a public-access-inspired cooking show with puppets. After posting two episodes online, Thu relocated to Brooklyn and expanded her artistic vision for the show. The series soon attracted an online audience and features in New York Magazine’s Grub Street section and the popular blog Gothamist led to more wide-spread attention. FOOD PARTY also won the “Outside of the Box” prize at the 2008 NY Television Festival, a new award given to the most innovative and genre-expanding pilot in competition.
