Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Well Done With Sebastian Maniscalco’ On Discovery+, An Amusing Look At How Foods And Drinks Get Made

You likely know Sebastian Maniscalco as an Italian-American comedian who loves to voice his opinions on people and food and Italian culture, and get very worked up physically while doing so. Is it any wonder that the Food Network and the folks at discovery+ would want to have him host a cooking show?

WELL DONE WITH SEBASTIAN MANISCALCO: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: The premiere episode, “Fish Out of Water,” features a cold opening sketch, “Story Time with Sebastian’s Dad,” only it’s not his dad, and Maniscalco interrupts the story to reveal what really happened (with photographic evidence) the first time his father took him fishing.
The Gist: The trailer also serves as an opening montage into how this popular arena comedian loves food but doesn’t consider himself a foodie, so get set for his everyman takes on how the foods and drinks we love get made and served.
In the first episode, Maniscalco explains that now that he’s a parent, he wants to learn how to catch, clean and cook a fish for his own kids. He invited his buddy, Dominick DiBartolomeo, along for their fishing expedition, as well as chef Michael Cimarusti. We get a brief glimpse of the boat and the crew, as well as Maniscalco’s trepidation. “It could be like Deadliest Catch out there?” “Not really,” replied the boat captain.
Nevertheless, our comedian host gets seasick and spends the bulk of the trip either in the bathroom or curled up in a ball in pain on the deck while his friends catch rockfish, whitefish and sculpin. Maniscalco offers only a little bit of commentary, to suggest that all of the future episodes take place on land only, and that “If I’d quit now, I would never hear the end of it from my father.” Back on land, however, Maniscalco also immediately fumbles the task of gutting the fish. “I didn’t pay attention,” he quips. “This is why I got Ds!”
Cut to Providence, Cimarusti’s two-star Michelin seafood joint in Los Angeles, where he walks Maniscalco through the preparation of the various fish in sauces with pasta.

We’re left with a few minutes at the end of the half-hour for the trio to eat and enjoy the feast that two of them had caught.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of?: This is the latest in a continuing run of new discovery+ series fronted by comedians. The platform already boasts Weekend Getaway with Michelle Buteau; Amy Schumer Learns to Cook: Uncensored; House Hunters: Comedians on Couches Unfiltered; Ron Funches hosting Chopped 420, Growing Belushi, and Rob Riggle: Global Investigator.
Memorable Dialogue: “I feel a special connection with the fish we’re about to eat, because we both spent about the same amount of time flopping around the deck of that boat”
Parting Shot: Maniscalco cues the credits from the dinner table.
Most Pilot-y Line: None.
Our Take: Maniscalco is heading back out on tour this fall and easily filling arenas (even in the pandemic!). He’s hot off of supporting roles in Green Book and The Irishman, and he wrote a best-selling memoir, Stay Hungry, which more than suggests he would not, in fact, be a fish out of water when it comes to anchoring a TV series about food.
Indeed, he proves himself quite adept in this format.
Whether he’s making of his friend, Dom, for eating dinner too fast for the cameras to catch it, or whether he’s eagerly making fun of himself for not delivering his own lines properly to camera, and not afraid to make himself look bad at any moment during a segment. Full disclosure: Upon watching the end credits, I saw that he has several comedians on his writing staff, and his head writer even once subletted a room in my apartment before he moved to Los Angeles.
With or without their help, Maniscalco is quick to find the funny in any of his interview segments. Even when there aren’t any other comedians around, such as the second episode, devoted to coffee, which features no friends as guests. The third episode, also available now upon the series premiere, features Chrissy Teigen (who tries to steal the chef and the spotlight from Maniscalco!) as well as cameos from the comedian’s wife and mother.
But as the pastry chef who shows him how to make a Baked Alaska said, it’s all quite “easy-peasy” going down.
Our Call: STREAM IT.

Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat for his own digital newspaper, The Comic’s Comic; before that, for actual newspapers. Based in NYC but will travel anywhere for the scoop: Ice cream or news. He also tweets @thecomicscomic and podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.

Watch Well Done with Sebastian Maniscalco on Discovery+