When it comes to food competition shows, there are no original ideas. A show like Food Fighters has to be judge based on it’s execution, which is good if you can stomach Adam Richman.

Food Fighters takes the big kitchen feel of Iron Chef America and combines it with Throwdown/Beat Bobby Flay‘s underdog versus master chef formula. It’s derivative, but works well because it’s different enough. Unlike past shows, Food Fighters has the home chef compete against 5 different chefs with 5 different dishes. Each chef is worth a different dollar amount, ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 with the possibility to double all winnings at the end. After the chef is announced, the contestant gets to choose which one of the remaining dishes will be made this round. At the beginning, it leads to interesting combinations like a seafood chef attempting a mango tart. Toward the end, you get a Latin chef making fish and quinoa, which would have been boring if Lorena Garcia wasn’t a firecracker.

As for Adam Richman (let’s ignore his Tweet that told someone to kill themselves), he’s captain obvious. No one needs to be told that toothpicks make egg rolls stay together in the fryer. Also, it’s clear he’s trying to make “let’s go to the Dinner Party” a catch phrase. The Dinner Party is the name given to the judging group of 5 non-professional foodies. Adam has to throw to them somehow, but saying that 5 times a show gets annoying. They’re judges. We know they’re judges. Just call them what they are. Food Fighters would be better without him, especially since when he does say something useful it sounds rushed.

Food Fighters‘ downfall will be that the professional chefs don’t want the home chef to lose. The professional chefs already have reputations that aren’t going to be damaged by losing to a passionate home chef. However, the home chefs can really use the money. At times, it looks like the chefs are purposely throwing the match or the Dinner Party chooses the dish that looks more homemade. When everyone is rooting for the same person, including their competitor, the suspense is gone. This show would work better with two home chefs competing to knock each other out. The winner of the first round moves on to the second round and so on.

NBC hasn’t had any luck with food competition shows in the past. Food Fighters is not going to change that. The show would be at home airing on Food Network, but on the Peacock Network the production values feel too high for a relatively basic concept. This is Beat Bobby Flay on steroids, not the zany circus that is America’s Got Talent.