After Netflix 's 'Cannabis'-themed sitcom, Disjointed , was suddenly cancelled, the streaming service needed to find a replacement to fill the leaf-shaped hole that had been created. With the ever-increasing prevalence of marijuana in pop culture, finding a good show should be as easy as counting to 3. Luckily, the streaming service was actually able to find a different kind of entertainment involving cannabis: this time it was a competitive cooking show, which arrived on Netflix in June.
Haute Cuisine
The show, aptly titled High in the Kitchen , debuted on June 22. It's hosted by comedian and popular YouTuber Josh Leyva , known for his wide array of wacky characters, viral sketches and bizarre challenges. He also appeared in the films Laid in America and Dance Camp , both released in 2016.
Alongside Leyva we find comedian and famous cannabis activist Ngaio Bealum , as the show's main “culinary cannabis expert”. Beaulm was the original host of the Cannabis Planet series and published the non-profit West Coast Cannabis Magazine . He also writes a weekly column in the Sacramento News & Review , where he answers readers' questions about cannabis and the laws surrounding it.
As for the format of the show, the new-age cooking program sees 10 chefs compete with each other to find out who can invent the most creative and best-tasting dish for the four celebrities placed as judges. The only condition? All recipes are supposed to get you high. This presumably means that chefs must also be skilled in the art of decarboxylation and THC extraction, to ensure their dishes are both delicious and potent.
On top of that, the show is prohibited to anyone under 18 (you know, for the weed thing). If the show turns out to be a cannabis-infused version of classic competitive cooking shows, like Gordon Ramsey's Hell's Kitchen , or the famous Cutthroat Kitchen , we'll see some good things.
However, if all the participants are as high as the judges think, we should expect at least some tantrums.
When we say 'being cooked'.