• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, 7 hours ago

Two ex-footballers will live off the fat of the land in “Men v. Food,” a new take on the old “Man v. Food” series on Discovery Channel that celebrated the United States of Gluttony.

In the new show, which Discovery announced last week, the two football foodies will visit America’s biggest football cities in search of colossal comestibles that they will attempt to consume in competition with each other -- such as the wagon wheel-sized pizzas in the photo above. Mamma mia!

The two gargantuan gourmets who will star in “Men v. Food” are 17-year NFL veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick (above photo, left), who played quarterback on nine different teams, and 13-year veteran Vince Wilfork, renowned defensive tackle who played for the Patriots for 11 seasons.

“Going head-to-head in the ultimate eating competitions, the duo will tackle towering dishes and famous local eats in a battle for supreme bragging rights [and upset stomachs],” Discovery said in a press release (“upset stomachs” added by the TV Blog). 

No premiere date was provided, but Discovery says the show will premiere before the year is out. 

Cities that will be featured in the show will include Seattle, Kansas City, Boston and Buffalo.

The original “Man v. Food” aired from 2008 to 2012, hosted by Adam Richman, on Travel Channel. 

It then took a break and then was revived from 2017 to 2019 on Cooking Channel, with Casey Webb as new host.

“Man v. Food” featured a single man (not surprisingly) who covered the nation in his quest to find restaurants with extra-large portions, the entirety of which he would attempt to eat himself.

These included a six-pound burrito in Las Vegas, a two-gallon ice cream sundae in San Francisco, and 15-dozen oysters (180 total) in New Orleans.

One famous “Man v. Food” encounter involved a 72-ounce steak (with baked potato, shrimp cocktail, salad and a roll) in a Texas restaurant that challenged then-host Richman to consume this meal in under an hour (including the salad).

“Few series have left a mark on pop culture quite like ‘Man v. Food,’ and we’re excited to introduce a supersized new format that raises the stakes in every way,” said Joseph Boyle, head of content for Discovery, in a prepared statement.

His contention that “Man v. Food” left a mark on pop culture is debatable. But the show was definitely a big part of a Gluttony TV craze that came to prominence in the 2010s.

In 2019, the TV Blog decried the trend, accusing the TV business of complicity in the nation’s obesity epidemic.

“Anyone with even a passing familiarity with the menu of food shows prevalent on basic cable today can understand how TV might be influencing a generation of food enthusiasts to eat whatever looks good, with nary a moment’s thought given to the health consequences,” said the TV Blog.

The Gluttony TV trend has its roots in the freewheeling televised eating contests of the early ’00s, seen mostly on Fox.

But it really gained steam (and weight) years later. For the TV Blog, the trend hit its zenith with a show called “Fresh, Fried & Crispy.”

Premiering on Netflix in 2021, “FF&C” featured a man who traveled the country gorging on regional deep-fried foods -- including pork chops, rice balls and Oreos.

“A new Netflix food show raises the love of deep-fried foods to a whole new fetishistic level, and in the process, reignites concerns about the way in which TV helps to promote unhealthy habits and lifestyles,” wrote the TV Blog.

And now, Gluttony TV is back. But in the present day, we have a suite of obesity medications that we did not have before. Game on!