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Getting Curious With Jonathan Van Ness is a spin-off of the Queer Eye star’s podcast where he asks questions about things and concepts and has experts let him know “what the deal is” with whatever he’s asking about. Instead of one guest, like on the podcast, JVN goes on location and enlists a number of experts to talk to him about the topic of each episode.
GETTING CURIOUS WITH JONATHAN VAN NESS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: In a New York apartment, a little animated mouse tells Jonathan Van Ness, “Rise and shine! Another day, another snack!”
The Gist: We decided to watch the episode where JVN asks “Why Do I Love Snacks So Much?”, and we were greeted with the bearded JVN downing lots of Entenmann’s mini powdered donuts, getting the powdered sugar all over his beard. Before he goes into the power of snack food over his brain, he decides to visit a factory where the donuts are made, and he literally looks like a kid in a candy store (wearing a beard net), cheering on the donuts as they’re baked then go down the conveyor belt to get their sugar or cinnamon coating.
Then he talks to a flavor chemist about how much our sense of smell contributes to our ability to taste and how scientists like her are always trying to maximize flavor in things like potato chips in order give the biggest bang for the buck. But what makes snacks, especially sugary ones, so addictive? A research neuroscientist shows JVN that sugar can have the same addictive effect on the brain as cocaine. In search of some less-sweet snacking alternatives, he goes to a company making cookies that are lower in sugar, use ingredients “with names you can pronounce” and sweetens their products with agave.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? For one reason or another, we kept getting Brainchild vibes while watching Getting Curious. But as far as adult shows are concerned, we have to think of explainers shows that have hosts with big personalities. Hence: The World According To Jeff Goldblum.
Our Take: We really wonder if we learned anything new watching that snack episode of Getting Curious With Jonathan Van Ness. All we really remember is JVN with powdered sugar on his beard and him floating through the Entenmann’s factory like he was in his own version of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.
That’s the attraction to shows like this, isn’t it? It’s not as much about what the show says, it’s about how it’s presented. JVN has been a force of nature through the six seasons of the rebooted Queer Eye and is the show’s breakout star for a reason. Always ready to just be his enthusiastic self no matter where he is, watching him react to things — either lighthearted or serious — is what is the “killer app” of Getting Curious.
What actual information you get out of a particular episode really depends on what you actually know about the topic. It’s not like he goes in-depth on anything; we know that our sense of smell helps us taste things, and that sugar is addictive. But seeing him find out about those things goes a long way to making episodes of the show entertaining, as do mini-sketches like when he and his buddy Antoni Porowski do a very dragified version of the I Love Lucy candy scene.
Sex and Skin: None, unless you somehow find JVN’s affection for donuts to be naughty.
Parting Shot: During the credits, the Entenmann’s worker asks JVN to guess how much sugar is in one of their factory silos, and JVN somehow nails it.
Sleeper Star: Cait Raft voices “Jonathan Van Mouse”, and the mouse may be the most entertaining part of each episode.
Most Pilot-y Line: We wonder what the people in the Entenmann’s factory were thinking when JVN was running around while they were trying to do their jobs. Is working with celebrities part of their union contract?
Our Call: STREAM IT. You might not learn much that’s new while watching Getting Curious With Jonathan Van Ness, but you’ll spend an entertaining half hour watching the ever-funny JVN get his questions answered.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
