The Best Interview Show You (Probably) Don’t Know About
First We Feast, an all-encompassing culinary Youtube channel, has over 2.6 million subscribers and over 300 million all-time views.
So there’s definitely a chance you’ve heard of Hot Ones, a weekly web series where celebrities are interviewed by host Sean Evans while eating an increasingly hot plate of chicken wings.
Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum between ‘you’ve seen every episode of Hot Ones’ or ‘you’ve never hard of it before,’ it’s important that we praise the show for its triune spirit reflected in being highly entertaining, uniquely informative , and unquestionably successful (in terms of views) — despite airing only on Youtube.
Entertainment
Hot Ones just started its 5th season on Youtube about a month ago — surpassing its 100th episode in the process.
While I’m not familiar with the actual origin story of the show, I’ve gone back to the early episodes and learned that even from the start the show was reeling in major celebrities — famous rappers, athletes, actors and comedians.
The D.J. Khaled episode, in which Khaled “quit” after eating just three hot wings (with the most mild sauces), from season one (October, 2015) still gets harkened back to in-jest — referenced as a hilariously low bar for celebrities to surpass.
Aside from Khaled — a big get in his own right — Hot Ones has fed and interviewed top tier comedians like Key & Peele and Kevin Hart, all-star athletes like Rob Gronkowski and Kevin Durant, social media mogul Gary Vaynerchuk and Youtube sensation Casey Neistat. The impressive list goes on and on…
I don’t think I’ve ever watched a Hot Ones episode and not at the very least been entertained.
It will always be inherently fascinating to listen to your favorite celebrities or cultural icons talk about or give their opinions on, well, anything. (I’m still crossing my fingers for a Nick Offerman appearance.)
Watching these icons cry or lose their minds because a chicken wing is so unbearably hot is next level entertainment. Something you don’t get to see often enough.
Informative
My friend who recommended I check out Hot Ones boasted about how much you can learn by watching, giving credit to a format that for an interview show had never been attempted prior.
Such an innovative format has absolutely generated unique results (making it very successful, which we’ll get to in a moment).
I believe there are two reasons for why this ingenious format gets such informative results, delivering unique insight from celebs:
(1) An Everyman Activity —
Eating chicken wings is as humble, blue-collar, and relatable as it gets.
It’s much more casual than any of these late night shows — Kimmel, Fallon, Myers — where celebrities show up in suit and tie, or dresses, because of the more formal or dignified nature of the show.
(2) Hot Food As Social Lubricant? —
Similarly, such a simple-yeoman activity as chowing down on wings causes celebrities to let their guards down. And even more than that, the show proves that eating unbelievably hot food has this ability to make people act differently.
As celebrities progress farther on Hot Ones, into dangerous sauce and scoville territory, you will notice a change in their behavior. From calculated celebrity to just a regular person trying to chug milk so the pain of a sauce called “Mega Death” will go away.
What you find watching Hot Ones is something that must have a more scientific or psychological explanation. I wish I knew myself.
All I can really say and attest to is the apparent nature of celebrities opening-up and responding to host Sean Evans’ questions with incredible candor, due seemingly to scorching wings being shoved into their mouths.
The show culminates to the celebrity, who makes it through all ten hot wings, being able to briefly promote anything they want — be it a new movie, stand-up special, or belief or cause they feel especially passionate about.
Gary Vaynerchuk offers amazing nuggets of wisdom through whatever platform he’s speaking from; nonetheless, it’s worth noting that his Hot Ones interview to me is the most fascinating and informative, particularly in the realm of personal growth and life success.
Successful
Hot Ones episodes clearly garner lots of attention. Single — 20–25 minute — episodes generate around a million Youtube views, with more high-profile celebrity interviews getting upwards of eight million views.
There’s no question that Hot Ones and the First We Feast Youtube channel have achieved a winning formula.
Still, I’m honestly surprised by the amount of times I’ve mentioned Hot Ones to someone to which they respond that they’ve never heard of it. Perhaps that’s just a result of probing my micro-demographic — people who may not spend a lot of time watching shows on Youtube, but rather are watching live TV or scripted shows on Netflix.
At any rate, if you have any interest in food or hearing what celebrities have to say, then there’s no doubt that you’ll enjoy Hot Ones.
It’ll entertain you; it’ll inform you — at least one, but hopefully both.
