Hungry Games

Host Richard Blais takes on ice cream in the premiere of this series. Included: the Pavlovian power of the jingle that blares from ice-cream trucks; creating an additive new flavor with chef Sam Mason; examining how expectations play into cravings.

Richard Blais explores how much people are willing to pay for the perfect pizza pie. Also: the role of smell when it comes to toppings.

Host Richard Blais learns some interesting facts bout burgers, including what makes the ultimate one. Other topics include: juiciness; and the menu item that gets people to order more fries.

Richard Blais explores the all-American diner. Included: a secret language that can help improve memory; the perfect menu size; the great breakfast syrup debate.

Richard Blais gets the lowdown on bar food, investigating how rooting for a winning sports team might be good for your diet, testing out how far people will go for free food and putting the myths about spicy food fixes to the test by cooking up some seriously spicy wings with Chef Dale Talde.

Richard Blais aims to smoke out the secrets of why we crave barbecue, setting up an experiment to see just how much that smoky smell can get us hungry, the psychological reason why mom's home-cooked food tastes the best and what it takes to create the perfect barbecue sauce that hits each of your fives primary tastes, making your brain crave more.