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The longest run yet, almost entirely shared.
Season 31 doubles down on runtime — twenty episodes, the most the format has ever put out at once, plus a four-part Beat Bobby Flay tournament folded in. It also shares nearly its whole calendar with Season 30, airing at the same time almost start to finish.
A rhythm worth tracking.
Twenty episodes make Season 31 the longest run the format has aired, weaving a four-part Chopped: Beat Bobby Flay tournament through the standard hours. For nearly the whole of its run, Season 31 shares the calendar with Season 30's own back half — two seasons airing concurrently for more than two months. The mystery basket, three-round elimination, and Ted Allen's hosting all hold steady underneath both the extra length and the crowded calendar.
The #23 slot.
Slot #23 of 36 in the Chopped Editor's Canon. Season 31 is a genuine tug-of-war between two forces this canon weighs against each other. On one hand, it's the longest season the format has ever produced, with a crossover tournament block that gives it real structural interest. On the other, that entire twenty-episode run shares almost all of its calendar with Season 30, a deeper single-season overlap than anything in the cleaner bands above it. The tournament content and the extra length keep it from sinking to the bottom of the overlap group, landing it just ahead of Season 19's near-total single-season nest — but the sheer completeness of the entanglement, not just its presence, is what keeps this season out of the cleaner tiers entirely.
5 moments, no spoilers.
- Every episode · a record-length season
Season 31 runs twenty episodes, the most the format has ever produced in a single season. Watch it as the format's biggest swing at runtime yet.
- Beat Bobby Flay · a crossover tournament
A four-part tournament folds a familiar guest chef into the standard elimination structure. Watch how the crossover format bends the usual mystery-basket premise without breaking it.
- Every episode · concurrent with Season 30
Season 31 shares almost its entire run with Season 30's back half, the two seasons airing side by side for over two months. Watch this as the deepest single-season overlap the format has produced.
- Judges' table · sharp across twenty episodes
The rotating panel's critique doesn't dilute across the format's longest season yet. Watch the judges argue with the same precision at episode twenty as at episode one.
- Season close · December 2016
Season 31 closes out in late December 2016, just over a week after Season 30 wraps. Watch this run as the format's longest and most tangled season to date.