The Chinese OTT platform Tencent Video has sparked controversy by producing and airing a variety show similar in format to Netflix's 'Culinary Class Wars.'
'Culinary Class Wars' is a large-scale cooking survival program where the best celebrity chef, 'Baek Su-jeo,' is challenged by the unknown 'Heuk Su-jeo' chefs, who are the best in skills but have not received recognition. The innovative concept of overturning classes with just taste, along with judges like Paik Jong-won, Anh Sung-jae, Choi Hyun-seok, Edward Kwon, Jeong Ji-seon, and Choi Gang-rok, garnered enthusiastic responses.
Season 1, released in December 2024, recorded the number one spot for three consecutive weeks in Netflix's global top 10 (non-English TV category), establishing itself as the representative hit variety show of 2024. Production for Season 2 is currently underway.
In the meantime, a variety program that recently started airing in China, '一封神 (Yifan Fengshen),' is generating controversy for being too similar in composition to 'Culinary Class Wars.' The program, which means 'becoming a god with one meal,' was first unveiled on the Chinese OTT platform Tencent Video on the 17th.
The program claims to show respect and affection for Chinese cuisine, featuring 100 chefs who compete with fire, knives, and pots. However, there are criticisms that many elements such as the competition structure, set design, cooking missions, judging methods, and the composition of the citizen evaluation panel and celebrity judges are strikingly similar to 'Culinary Class Wars.'
In particular, the 1:1 structure of 'Heuk Pyung' chefs and 'Baek Pyung' chefs, the team battles held at arbitrarily opened restaurants, and the cooking evaluations involving the citizen evaluation panel have nearly identical main formats, leading to accusations of plagiarism even among Chinese local viewers.
Some Chinese netizens have reacted via Weibo, saying, "The sets are the same, and the method of progression is identical," and questioning whether everything has been stolen.
In relation to this, Netflix stated to OSEN, "We have not sold the format rights for that program," and added, "The response going forward is under internal discussion."
Meanwhile, Netflix's original variety show 'Culinary Class Wars Season 2' is set to be released in the second half of this year.
[OSEN]