'Quest For The Golden Hot Dog' Is 60Frames' Entry Into Competitive Eating

Every now and then something comes along on the web, that’s really exciting. It’s got all the right elements to go viral — an interesting subculture: check; hot chicks: check; and really, really funny: check. I’m gonna go ahead and say it, I’m darn excited about wieners. That’s right, wieners. Well, not just wieners, but a new web series from 60Frames focusing on the world of competitive eating.

Watching the well-produced trailer (above), and the bonus clip (below) that have so-far been leaked to YouTube, I’d say The Quest for the Golden Hot Dog has all the right elements — hot chicks, wiener eaters, and a veritable who’s who of the LA-indie comedy scene. The world of competitive eating also seems so ripe for parody-fodder it’s hard to believe Will Ferrell and Adam McKay haven’t already capitalized on the idea.

Luckily for web fans, Upright Citizen’s Brigade comedian and The Quest for the Golden Hot Dog creator, Michael Busch, convinced 60Frames to bring the idea to the small screen. Busch told us about the birth of the idea, “I first thought it’d be fun to do a competitive eating show when I read an article about how Kobayashi (a competitive eating champion, and well-known member of The International Federation of Competitive Eating) couldn’t compete because of a jaw injury and was ashamed. I thought it was

funny how serious these people took shoving hot dogs in their mouths.”

Busch seems to have embraced the stereotypes of the strange creatures who take the eating world so darn seriously. In the trailer, the competitors are introduced as they all ram hot dogs. There’s the novice rookie played by Jeff Sloniker. There’s the Asian natural (likely a nod to Kobayashi himself), but played by a woman, Micki Ann Maddox. Armen Weitzman plays the role of the sitting legacy. Jeff Davis is the Hungry, Hungry Hipster And Demorge Brown is the Black Bomber, and he’s well, black.

Of the series Busch had little to say, cleverly leaving us wanting more before the series comes out next week. (I’m sitting on the edge of my desk chair.) “There will be lots of greasy hot dogs shoved into funny people’s funny mouths,” he hinted. “Also, Matt Besser’s character, The Baron, is evil.”

Busch was equally clever in avoiding questions about the show’s process. The budget was, “under 10 million dollars,” according to Busch. And working with 60Frames was, “kind of like working with my mom, except they didn’t ask if I’m dating anyone every time I called.”

60Frames will debut the series next week with a minimum 4-episode run.