Former Atlanta resident Ty Pennington is returning to TV this fall as host of TNT's first cooking competition show "On the Menu," debuting October 3.
In each episode, home cooks are challenged to make a signature dish for a restaurant chain, stadium concession stand or other American food business. They will work with professional chefs from concept to execution. Winning dishes will land on the menus of those chains the very next day. Emeril Lagasse will be chief judge.
Pennington is best known for his stint on TLC's "Trading Spaces" when he was based in Atlanta and lived for a time in Grant Park. He left more than a decade ago for Los Angeles and spent many years hosting ABC's successful "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," which ran until 2012. He was part of a short-lived ABC talk show called "The Revolution."
Mark Burnett, who has created successful shows such as "The Bible," "The Voice" and "Survivor," is an executive producer of "On the Menu." (His previous reality show effort with TNT "Wedding Day" in 2009 was a bust.)
TNT has been far more successful with its scripted offerings than its non-scripted shows. Its most popular reality program to date has been "Cold Justice," which debuted last fall and was renewed for a second season, but its numbers are nowhere near those of shows such as "Falling Skies," "The Last Ship" and "Rizzoli & Isles."
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