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ShowsChoppedSeason 20
Aired spring–fall 2014 · Food Network · two seasons overlapped at once

Season 20

Thirteen episodes run from March into late November 2014, the longest span yet — overlapping Season 18 through mid-May and all of Season 19 through early June, then running solo the rest of the year.

Premiered
Mar 18, 2014
Food Network · March into November 2014
Episodes
13
13 episodes, overlapping two prior seasons at once
Format
4 chefs · 3 rounds · full 13-episode run
appetizer, entrée, dessert — standard format, a double overlap
Cast size
4 players
four competing chefs per episode, same all-new-hour format as always
Host
Ted Allen
Ted Allen, twentieth season at the helm
On this page6 sections
  1. 01The take
  2. 02The shape of the season
  3. 03Where it sits in the canon
  4. 04What to watch for
  5. 05Adjacent in the canon
  6. 06In this canon
01The take

Two seasons overlap at once.

Season 20 is the first season in this stretch to overlap two others at once, not just one. Two months where three seasons are technically airing together, then a long solo stretch into the fall — the format's release calendar getting genuinely busy.
02The shape of the season

A rhythm worth tracking.

Thirteen episodes run from March into late November 2014, the longest span in the stretch so far — overlapping Season 18 through mid-May and the whole of Season 19 through early June, then running solo into the fall. The format itself doesn't notice the crowded calendar: locked basket, three rounds, Ted Allen hosting, unchanged. It's the first season here to tangle with two others at once.

03Where it sits in the canon

The #25 slot.

Slot #25 of 36 in the Chopped Editor's Canon. Season 20 marks the point where a single overlapping neighbor becomes two. It shares its opening months with Season 18, still finishing up, and then overlaps the whole of Season 19 as that season runs its own course, before settling into a long solo stretch through the fall. That's a step up in scheduling density from anything Seasons 17 through 19 carry alone, even though each of those seasons' individual overlaps ran plenty deep. The format doesn't care — the locked basket, three rounds, and Ted Allen's hosting run exactly as designed across all thirteen episodes. But a canon tracking how crowded the release calendar gets has to mark this as a step down from a one-season tangle.

No spoilers. Every page is reviewed before it goes live.
04What to watch for

4 moments, no spoilers.

  • Every episode · a genuinely busy calendar

    Season 20 overlaps Season 18 through mid-May and the whole of Season 19 through early June, the first double overlap in this stretch. Watch it as the release calendar's busiest point yet.

  • Basket reveal · unbothered by the tangle

    The four-ingredient basket runs exactly as it has since Season 4, whatever else is airing at the same time. Watch the reveal for that same steady constraint.

  • Judges' table · full strength, calendar aside

    The rotating panel's critique doesn't thin out just because three seasons happen to share a release window. Watch the judges argue with the same specificity as ever.

  • Season close · a long solo stretch into fall

    Season 20 closes out in late November, after months running alone once Season 19 wraps. Watch this run as the longest single season of the stretch so far.

06In this canon

Its Editor's Canon entry.

Chopped — Season 20 — tiered.tv