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Did Hot Ones lose its fire when it became just another stop on every overexposed celebrity’s publicity tour? Would it be less “tacky” if fewer of those A-listers were cartoon characters?

The meteoric rise of First We Feast’s flagship talk show Hot Ones is one of those internet success stories that other aspiring food influencers and celebrity interrogators will study for decades to come. Inspired by the since-canceled website-turned-u.K.-talk show Popworld, First We Feast founder Chris Schonberger and host Sean Evans debuted their food, drink and pop-culture-focused online magazine’s unique spin on the internet interview show in 2015 as they subjected rappers and athletes to the increasingly spicy Wings of Death challenge while Evans grilled the guests on their wildest Instagram posts and their funniest locker room stories.

Thanks in equal parts to the show’s unique conceit and Evans’ immense aptitude for interviewing, Hot Ones...

On Thursday, September 5, Good Morning America welcomes Sean Evans, host of Hot Ones, and Joe Gatto, star of Impractical Jokers and author of Where’s Bearry? Sean Evans, an American YouTuber, will be discussing his popular show Hot Ones, which he co-created with Chris Schonberger. Hot Ones features Evans interviewing celebrities as they eat increasingly […]

Good Morning America: Sean Evans, Joe Gatto...

According to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, it’s time for the Television Academy to award an Emmy to a digital-native creator. Mohan may be right, but that recognition won’t happen this year. The YouTube-based shows that submitted for the Emmys — including Amelia Dimoldenberg‘s Chicken Shop Date, Sean Evans‘ Hot Ones, and Rhett & Link‘s Good Mythical Morning — all failed to score nominations.

Hot Ones was submitted in the Outstanding Talk Series category, while Chicken Shop Date and Good Mythical Morning vied for consideration in the Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series category. The former of those categories is filled with late-night favorites like The Daily Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live, and the short-form nominees include The Eric Andre Show and AppleTV+’s Carpool Karaoke series.

Chris Schonberger, the General Manager of Hot Ones distributor First We Feast, took the snub in stride. “The only problem I...

There was a lot of buzz that John Mulaney was expected to gatecrash the late-night Emmy race but it was not to be.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show, Late Night with Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel Live! will fight it out in the Outstanding Talk Series category.

These four competed last year alongside The Problem with Jon Stewart, although the host of the latter is now one of the hosts of The Daily Show after his Apple series was canceled.

John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s In LA did not make the cut.

This comes after the category nabbed four nomination spots in June, a surprise to many in the late-night world after 14 shows were submitted. Last year, there were five nominations.

Hot Ones, the online chicken talk show hosted by Sean Evans, was one of the other outside bets for a nomination. The show, which was created by Chris Schonberger,...

The Emmy race just got a bit more spicy.

Three popular YouTube web series have found their content creators taking a chance on themselves, which could significantly impact the Emmy race in some categories. The spicy chicken wing interview series “Hot Ones,” hosted by Sean Evans, has successfully petitioned to be included in the outstanding talk series category. It will compete against late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert.

Created by Chris Schonberger and produced by First We Feast, “Hot Ones” has garnered over three billion views since its debut in 2015. With three seasons airing per calendar year, seasons 21-23, totaling 36 episodes, all fall within the Emmy eligibility window from June 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024. The show has featured celebrity guests like John Mulaney, Sydney Sweeney and Jamie Dornan, and has scored massive viewership on episodes with Jennifer Lawrence (15 million), Conan O’Brien (9.5 million), Stephen Curry (8.2 million) and *Nsync (6.7 million). Its...

Eleven minutes into the latest episode of Hot Ones with Barry Keoghan, the actor still has high hopes — even after the hot wings he’s eating has forced him to take his shirt off. “I think I’m going to make it to the end,” he says, putting a wing down, while puckering his mouth a little. But as the “Scoville Level” heat index increases, his optimism burns up. Within two minutes of his boast, he’s breathing fire.

Nevertheless, Keoghan musters some insightful answers during the interview, discussing Dunkirk,...

Hot Ones is celebrating a round-number milestone with a special promotion. YouTube’s spiciest interview series is linking up with Grubhub to deliver its wings and sauces to New York City residents.

The promotion includes multiple menu items, including six-piece and 12-piece wing orders. Chicken and vegetarian sandwiches are also available. The Hot Ones foodstuffs come covered in the show’s signature sauces, including its “Los Calientes Rojo” and “The Classic Chili Maple” varieties.

According to Grubhub, the Hot Ones menu is available “across select locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.” It’s not the first time the Complex Networks show has expanded into the realm of food delivery. Last year, the Hot Ones team joined forces with a New York City institution — Shake Shack — to debut a red-hot line of menu items.

The latest Hot Ones promotion is more than just a taste test of internet-famous sauces. It’s...

Sean Evans has consumed approximately 3,000 chicken wings on camera as the host of “Hot Ones,” the viral series that subjects A-list actors, hip hop stars, comedians and other notable figures to unbearably spicy sauces in a traditional talk show format.

The show, produced by Complex’s First We Feast label, has become a go-to on the celebrity promotional circuit – as mandatory and beneficial as a ride in James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke. Thursday marks the series’ 300th episode (it features comic John Mulaney challenging his gastrointestinal fortitude) and represents a milestone for a digital project with cable access amenities and a game show hook.

Chris Schonberger, creator of “Hot Ones,” marvels at how far the series has come. The title has 8.6 million followers across social platforms and has racked 385 million views on TikTok so far this year. On its native platform YouTube, the “Hot Ones” channel counts 91.9 million views in...

Next month, BuzzFeed‘s Tasty and First We Feast (the food magazine/YouTube channel that produces culinary series like Hot Ones) will host the inaugural Eat Your Feed Fest.

The fest—held as part of self-dubbed “festival of the future” ComplexCon—will feature 25 Long Beach-area eateries serving their own top dishes plus dishes created exclusively for the event, Eater reports.

“We are really excited about this idea of ‘Eat the show,'” Chris Schonberger, First We Feast’s general manager, told Eater. “Everything you’re seeing on your TikTok from Tasty and their creators, to everything you’re watching on YouTube from First We Feast’s various shows, there’s an opportunity for you to eat those foods and engage with the people who make them.”

Creators like Nicole Russell, Joe Sasto, Gideon General, Jasmine Pak, Owen Han, Ellen Marie Bennett, George Motz, Twaydabae, Toni Chapman, and Jeri Mobley, from shows like Tacos Con Todo,...

TruTV has set premiere dates for the sophomore run of its firefighter comedy Tacoma Fd along with a pair of new series: Hot Ones: The Game Show and It’s Personal with Amy Hoggart.

Tacoma Fd returns at 10 p.m. Thursday, March 26; docu-style comedy series It’s Personal launches at 10 p.m. Wednesday, February 26, and Hot Ones gets in the game at 10 p.m. Tuesday, February 18; and All were announced during its panel today at the TCA winter press tour.

Watch trailers for Tacoma Fd and It’s Personal below.

Created by and starring Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme of the Super Troopers movie franchise, Tacoma Fd is a half-hour comedy set in a firehouse in one of America’s rainiest cities. Light on blazes that need extinguishing, these firefighters keep themselves entertained with creative competitions, friendly first responder rivalries and no shortage of bizarre emergency calls. Chief Terry...

TruTV has given a 20-episode series order to Hot Ones: The Game Show, based on Complex Networks’ hugely popular web talk series, with Sean Evans as host. Additionally, the network has licensed episodes of the original digital series, created and produced by Complex Networks’ First We Feast. The series, featuring A-list celebrities became a phenomenon with more than a billion views over its 10 seasons. Hot Ones: The Game Show, produced by Diga Studios, goes into production later this fall with a premiere date planned for early next year.

Hot Ones: The Game Show will air on truTV as part of a Hot Ones hour each week, with one episode of the game show followed by one episode of the original First We Feast digital talk show, also hosted by Evans.

In each half-hour episode of Hot Ones: The Game Show, two teams of two face three rounds, banking as much...

Grab a glass of milk, because “Hot Ones” is warming up for its own competition series on TruTV. Sean Evans, longtime host of the popular web series, is on board to continue bringing the heat — but this time, contestants will enter the “Pepperdome” to compete for a $25,000 cash prize.

“Hot Ones: The Game Show” will air during an hour-long block on TruTV each week that starts with an episode of the new series and ends with an episode of the original web show, which TruTV has licensed the rights to run. The half-hour series has been given a 20 episode order, with plans to go into production later this fall for an early 2020 premiere date.

The web series, known for sitting celebrities down to eat hot-sauce-slathered chicken wings of increasing spiciness while answering interview questions, was created and produced by Complex Networks’ brand First We Feast. It has been running for...