What are ABC, NBC, and CBS all doing?

They’re following Cable TV channels into the cooking show business.

That is, they’ve done it before — without much success — and now they’re trying it again.

ABC is leading the pack with Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, in which Jamie tries to improve the unhealthiest town in America. It presses beyond the Reality TV Food genre: the only competition in this show is Jamie’s competing with himself. He has to convince the citizens of Huntington, WV to change their ways. Conceptually, this is a healthy twist, adding an element real drama through personal challenge.

NBC is jumping in with a Bobby Flay vehicle, called America’s Next Great Restaurant, a competition reality show to create a chain restaurant. Bobby, along with others will invest their own money in the winner’s concept. The show’s producers are currently interviewing possible contestants.

CBS is lining up Beat the Chefs, another Reality TV show in which amateur chefs compete against professionals as both make the amateur’s signature dish. If the amateur wins, they bag bucks.

What is the common theme – besides Food?

They may all be about the threat of Failure.

Jamie Oliver may fail to improve the health of the citizens of Huntington, WV. Bobby Flay and his show can fail to pick a winning idea or team for a chain restaurant. And either the chef or the amateurs will fail in each episode of Beat the Chefs.

They’re all about competition — and that’s what network television is all about, too.