'Beat Bobby Flay' Judges Include Giada De Laurentiis, Justin Warner, Scott Conant & More

Photo - Instagram

Back in August, a new Throwdown type show with Bobby Flay, called Beat Bobby Flay, aired a pilot episode on the Food Network.  Then in October, the show was picked up for a season and started the process of casting competitors to go against Bobby Flay.  For the pilot episode, Jeff Mauro and Alex Guarnaschelli were judges, and it was not known if they would be on every episode or just on the pilot.

The filming of Beat Bobby Flay happened this past week and by looking at social media, it appears there will be rotating judges for the show.  The photo to the right was on Katie Lee's Instagram and said "How does a girl get so lucky? Filming today w/ @bobbyflay and @conantnyc @foodnetwork"

Also, the below photo of Eden Grinshpan (from the Cooking Channel) and Justin Warner appeared on Eden's Instagram which said "Judging table with @eatfellowhumans #foodnetworklife #iloveit!"

Food Network's 20th Birthday Special Tonight

Food Network's Original Logo

Just a reminder that tonight at 9pm ET/PT is the Food Network 20th Birthday special that will celebrate the 20th year that the Food Network has been on-air.  The special is hosted by Mo Rocca, who is the host of My Grandmother's Ravioli on the Cooking Channel, and has appeared as a judge on Iron Chef America and as a guest on Best Thing I Ever Ate.

The special is an hour long and will take a look back at the early days of the network and interview chefs and personalities from the Food Network both past and present.  It will be interesting to see who/what they focus on, and if they cover Paula Deen at all during the special.  So tune tonight if you are interested to see the how the past 20 years of the Food Network will be summed up in just a one hour special.

Food Network Starting To Air Cooking Channel Shows

Some people may have noticed some shows being aired on the Food Network that have never been on or advertised before.  These aren't new shows, but are shows that have aired on the Cooking Channel.  For example, you may have seen Donut Showdown, which is pretty much Cupcake Wars, but with donuts.  The contestants on the show compete for $10,000 and more episodes will air tonight at 7pm ET.

Another Cooking Channel show, Save My Bakery is actually being aired in a primetime spot on Wednesday night at 8pm ET on the Food Network.  This show is a bakery makeover show that has Kerry Vincent making over struggling bakeries both inside and out.

Finally, on Friday, Mo Rocca's My Grandmother's Ravioli will have 8 episodes aired between 2pm and 6pm EST.  My Grandmother's Ravioli has already been on for a whole season, and its second season begins October 2nd on the Cooking Channel.

So for people that do not have both the Cooking Channel and Food Network, this gives you a chance to see some of the shows you're missing (or wouldn't watch).  I am not sure if they will start airing more shows from the Cooking Channel, but it will be something to keep an eye on.