Drinking Made Easy

Drinking Made Easy
Format Travel Show, Alcohol-Related Customs
Starring Zane Lamprey
Country of origin  United States
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 36 (List of episodes)
Production
Editor(s) Travis Ford
Eric Grabowski
Running time Approx. 30m
Broadcast
Original channel HDNet
Picture format 1080i (HDTV)
Original run October 6, 2010 – present
External links
Website

Drinking Made Easy is a pub-crawl television series which premiered in 2010[1] and airs on HDNet in the United States. Comedian Zane Lamprey hosts a humorous bus trip around the United States, exploring the local drinking culture of various cities in the country. In each episode, Lamprey samples popular or original cocktails and beers from bars and breweries in the area.

Season two premiered with an hour long episode on October 5, 2011[2] on HDNet.

Contents

Format

Each episode begins with an overview of the highlights of the episode. Throughout the show Zane and his friend Steve McKenna visit popular bars, breweries, and distilleries where they sample different offerings from the establishments. At bars, Zane is typically behind the bar interviewing the bartender, as well as making cocktails with the help of the bartender. At some point during the episode, McKenna (and sometimes Lamprey) will engage in an eating challenge where he attempts to eat a large portion of a signature dish from a restaurant in the area. Sometimes McKenna is trying to set a record at the restaurant, othertimes he and Zane are racing to finish first or eat the most.

Another segment found only in season one is an interview lead by Marc Ryan. He typically visits a brewery or distillery on his own, and tries to learn the history and story of the business, as well as sample what they produce.

Zane and Steve hold a competition in each episode called the "Six Six-Pack Challenge" where Lamprey and McKenna face off in some sort of game and bet each other six six-packs on the outcome. The games are usually inspired by the location of the episode or the bars they visit.

Cast

Drinking game rules

The show also doubles as a drinking game, introduced after the first commercial break in each episode. The rules are as follows:

  1. The first person to see Pleepleus in a shot can make someone else drink.
  2. The first person to notice a continuity error can make someone else drink.
  3. Whenever Zane and Steve compete during the show, pick a side. If you lose, you drink.
  4. When Zane burps, the last person to make the “Good Burp” sign (putting your thumb to your forehead) has to drink.
  5. When Marc touches someone the first person to say "touché" can to make someone else drink.

Eating Challenges (Only in Season 1)

In each episode Zane challenges Steve to an eating contest. This usually involves Steve trying to finish a restaurant's specialty or Zane racing Steve to eat the most of a certain food. The eating challenges were discontinued after the first season. Zane said the reason for this was because he had always won them which made it unfair for Steve.

Episode Location Challenge Result
S01E01 Phoenix Steve has to eat a 5 pounds of Tater Tots in an hour at Chuey's Mini Bar. Not clear
S01E02 Sante Fe Steve takes the Fireman's 10 LB Burrito Challenge: a burrito with 10 eggs, 2 lbs potatoes, 0.5 lbs bacon, 0.5 lbs sausage, 0.5 lbs pork, 0.5 lbs beans, 0.5 lbs red chili, 0.5 lbs green chili, 0.5 lbs cheese, and 3 tortillas at Cecilia's Cafe. Fail
S01E03 Austin Steve tries to break the restaurant record of 9 breakfast burritos at Juan in a Million. Fail (6.5 burritos)
S01E04 Dallas Steve has to eat 10 lbs chicken fried steak with 5 lbs of potatoes at the Cowtown Diner. Fail
S01E05 New Orleans Steve and Zane race to see who can eat 100 Cajun spiced crawfish first at Tony Moran's. Zane (100-79)
S01E06 Florida Steve has to eat the "Kitchen Sink" (4 heaping scoops of ice cream, covered in multiple syrups, whipped cream, bananas, nuts, and maraschino cherries) at Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor. Fail
S01E07 Atlanta Steve tries to break the restaurant record of 14 peach cobblers at Gladys Knight & Ron Winans Chicken & Waffles Fail (9 peach cobblers)
S01E08 Virginia Steve tries to eat eight Stupid Wings at Caliente. Fail
S01E09 Philadelphia No eating challenge. -
S01E10 New York Zane tries to eat 30 oysters and drink a pint of Guinness in two minutes at Tracks. Success (1:05)
S01E11 Boston Steve tries to eat two quarts of Clam Chowder. Success
S01E12 Chicago Steve and Zane race to finish a deep dish pizza at Giordano's. Zane
S01E13 Milwaukee Steve and Zane challenge each other to eat the most scorpions at Bad Genie. Zane
S01E14 St. Louis Steve and Zane race to eat the most fried ravioli in twenty minutes at Blueberry Hill. Zane (26-22)
S01E15 Kansas City Steve, Wes and Zane race to eat three BAR-B-Q Sundaes (6 oz pork, 5 oz coleslaw, 6.5 oz beans) at B-B's. Zane
S01E16 Denver Steve, Wes, and Tabor (owner) race to eat the most rocky mountain oysters in ten minutes at the Wood Cellar Bar and Grill. Tabor
S01E17 Salt Lake City Steve and Zane race to eat the most Jello cups in ten minutes. Zane
S01E18 Boise Steve and Zane race to eat the most french fries in ten minutes at Donnie Mac's Trailer Park Cuisine. Zane
S01E19 Portland Steve and Zane race to eat the most hazelnut butter and marian berry sandwiches in two minutes. Zane
S01E20 Napa Steve and Zane race to eat the most stuffed grape leaves. Zane
S01E21 San Francisco Steve and Zane race to eat a sourdough bread bowl and cup of New England Clam Chowder. Zane
S01E22 Las Vegas Steve paired with Ryan (from the restaurant) race against Zane to eat the most fried Oreos in one minute at Aces and Ales. Zane
S01E23 San Diego Steve and Zane race to each the most fish tacos in ten minutes at Pacific Beach Shore Club. Zane
S01E24 Los Angeles No eating challenge. -

Six Six-Pack Challenges

In each episode Zane and Steve challenge each other to a contest. The winner gets six six-packs. Marc always chooses a side before the game begins.

Season 1

Episode Location Challenge Winner
S01E01 Phoenix Miniature golf. Zane
S01E02 Sante Fe Keg foot (keg walking). Steve
S01E03 Austin Billiards. Steve
S01E04 Dallas Field goal kicking. Zane
S01E05 New Orleans First to finish a frozen drink. Zane
S01E06 Florida Golf ball driving for distance. Zane
S01E07 Atlanta Keg throwing. Zane
S01E08 Virginia Bar shuffleboard. Zane
S01E09 Philadelphia Race up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Zane
S01E10 New York Beer checkers. Steve
S01E11 Boston Batting cage. Zane
S01E12 Chicago Go kart racing. Steve
S01E13 Milwaukee Bowling. Zane
S01E14 St. Louis Darts. Steve
S01E15 Kansas City Beer pong. Zane
S01E16 Denver Hockey shoot out. Steve
S01E17 Salt Lake City Alpine sled racing. Zane
S01E18 Boise Sack race. Zane
S01E19 Portland Washoos. Zane
S01E20 Napa Bocce. Steve
S01E21 San Francisco Backwards keg roll racing. Steve
S01E22 Las Vegas Blackjack. Steve
S01E23 San Diego Gold fish racing. Steve
S01E24 Los Angeles No challenge -
Wins: Zane: 13, Steve: 10

Season 2

In season two, the challenge was changed to simply the "Six Pack Challenge".

Episode Location Challenge Winner
S02E01 Maui Bike race down mountain. Zane
S02E02 Kauai While snorkeling, 1st to take a picture of Hawaii's state fish Zane
S02E03 Monterey Golfing. Zane
S02E04 Key West Oyster shucking speed contest Zane
S02E05 Miami Play Jai-Alai Zane
S02E06 Tampa Sea-doo race Zane
S02E07 St. Augustine Atlatl (Seminole spear) hay-bale target practice Steve
S02E08 Savannah Fencing match Zane
S02E09 Washington D.C. Target practice at a gun range Zane
S02E10 Baltimore Lacrosse Steve
S02E11 Newport, RI Tennis
S02E12 Cape Cod Sextapalon Steve
S02E13 Portland, ME The Wife Carry Zane
S02E14 Memphis
Wins: Zane: 9, Steve: 3

Season Two

Taping is currently underway for season two of Drinking Made Easy.[3] As of 10 June 2011, 13 episodes had been taped[4] and the season is expected to premiere in the fall of 2011.[5] The list of potential cities is:

Awards and Recognition

Award Ceremony Year Category Nominee Result Source
The People's Telly Awards 2011 TV Program / Segments Drinking Made Easy Nominated [6]
The Tasty Awards 2011 Best Drink or Beverage Program: Television Won [7]
The Tasty Awards 2011 Best Comedy Series Nominated

External links

References

  1. ^ "Internet Movie Database". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1699208/episodes. 
  2. ^ "Drinking Made Easy Twitter Feed". http://twitter.com/#!/drinkingmadeasy/status/108942517013188608. 
  3. ^ "DME SEASON TWO!". http://www.drinkingmadeeasy.com/2011/01/dme-season-two.html. 
  4. ^ "DME Facebook Post". http://www.facebook.com/drinkingmadeeasy/posts/232378600108945. 
  5. ^ "HDNet Twitter Post". http://twitter.com/#!/HDNet/status/80663197945823233. 
  6. ^ "The People's Telly Awards". http://www.youtube.com/tellyawards?x=qx9xn-nLnTw. 
  7. ^ "2nd Annual TASTY Awards". http://www.tastetv.com/awards/index.html.