Dropout’s “Gastronauts” returns with an all new season that is out of this world. Host Jordan Myrick brings together comedy and cooking in the perfect combination. Three comedians pitch outlandish challenges for the professional chefs to push the boundaries of creativity and culinary expertise.

The first season featured beloved Dropout regulars as guest judges including Brennan Lee Mulligan, Izzy Roland, Ify Nwadiwe, Lily Du, Sam Reich, and more. Season two features more Dropout favorites including Ally Beardsley, Emily Axford, Katie Marovich, and Siobhan Thompson. Beyond Dropout regulars the season also includes the Try Guys, Smosh cast members, and famed Drag Queens will also join the panel of judges.

In an exclusive interview with Temple of Geek Myrick talked about the exciting new season. Myrick explained the casting process and her role as showrunner. She also discussed what she learned from the first season and why “food should be approachable.”

Jordan Myrick Steps Up As Showrunner Of Gastronauts Season 2

Temple of Geek: Jordan, “Gastronauts” is so good! I love season two premiere, so, so much!

Jordan Myrick:

Thank you. That’s so nice.

Temple of Geek: What did you learn from the first season that you were excited to bring into the second season?

Jordan Myrick:

That’s such a good question. The first season was such a blur because it was the first time Dropout had ever done a food thing and it was very wonderful. But also all of us just being like, oh, what does this actually take? So I think there’s a lot of boring behind the scenes technical stuff that I brought in, which was great, but not interesting to hear about. I’m also showrunning season two. Season one, I just creative produced, so that was really fun for me to get to be even more involved. I am biased, but I loved season one so much. I just kind of wanted more of everything we already had.

Temple of Geek: Rewatching the entire first season and then watching the premiere and I was like, I never thought Brennan’s ‘heavy’ would be the most tame prompt possible from any of the comedians.

Jordan Myrick:

Yes. Well, and it ended up really taking off. People were kind of obsessed with Brennan’s heaviest meal. I was like, no, this is the most boring thing that will ever happen on the show. All these people are unwell and want to do just scary things with food.

“The Chefs Were Scared” Of Paul F. Tompkins’ Challenge

Temple of Geek: Is there a prompt from season two that really stuck out to you and you’re still like, people are going to lose their minds when they see this?

Jordan Myrick:

There’s so many of them. Every single one is so bizarre and strange. I will say there’s one that incorporates a lot of abstract thinking from Paul F. Tompkins. That really threw me for a loop. A lot of the chefs were scared, but I think everyone ended up doing a really good job.

Temple of Geek: What’s the casting process for each episode? How do you choose which judges are going to be there? How do you guys pick which chefs you want to bring in?

Jordan Myrick:

First, we look at what comedians we want or could have in general. People who are bigger asks, like a Luenell, someone who’s super famous, lives fully outside of the Dropout universe of it all. So, you have some fun things like that. Where you’re like, do you think we could get Luenell? Probably not. And then we end up getting her, which is awesome. Obviously, we have Dropout people that we know and love that we want to incorporate. And then people just from the comedy world, the internet world. The Try Guys, I’ve done multiple things with them. It was so exciting to have them on, which is great.

We kind of look at how we can pair people up. So maybe people’s challenges, who would do well next to each other because they all feel very different. We want each episode to feel very diverse in terms of challenges. So we’ll look at all of these people have a challenge where it’s about the look of the dish. Also see who we think would have chemistry together in terms of guests, and then see who is comfortable doing what.

So once again, this year, because I think we probably will, every season that this show exists, we have a sexual challenge. So we ask the chefs, Hey, who’s comfortable doing this weird sexual food challenge? Some people are like, my kids are going to watch this, I can’t. Some people are like, I would love to do something nasty and pervy. So also we kind of go by stuff like that. If chefs mentioned that they’re great at things that are gluten-free and we have a gluten-free challenge, we might put that chef on that episode. And then boringly enough it comes down to just availability who we can get for when.

How Jordan Myrick’s Past Experiences Influence The Gastronauts Set

Temple of Geek: One of the things that I think really stands out about “Gastronauts” versus other cooking shows is just how positive it is. All of the chefs are excited for each other and high-fiving. Everyone’s there to have fun and work together, even if it is a competition. Why is it important for you to cultivate that energy onset and onscreen?

Jordan Myrick:

Well, first and foremost, I think food should be approachable and should be for everyone. I think food in a lot of ways can be very pretentious. And I think that applies to food TV as well. I want this to feel accessible. It doesn’t matter if you know about food, you don’t know about food, you like food, you hate food, whatever it is, you can come and enjoy this.

But I also think that both Hollywood and also the food industry have historically been extremely toxic. I worked in restaurants for so long, obviously I’ve done a million different things in the entertainment industry, and I want something that I’m kind of in charge of to feel good for everyone there. I think it ends up having a fun product to watch as the end result.

Temple of Geek: What’s the most fun about bringing in guests that maybe are very familiar with each other? Like you said, the Try Guys, you have Smosh this year. You’ve got some of the folks that are from the Intrepid Heroes of “Dimension 20” versus folks that maybe are not as familiar with each other, but are friends outside of working together.

Jordan Myrick:

All of them have their pros really, because the better they know each other, the better you can anticipate what each other are going to do. For example, I knew the episode with Raph, Raph was going to do and say a bunch of weird stuff. We all knew that Raph wasn’t really going to know what to do with food in a normal way. And we all are able to kind of be on the same page and make fun of him for that. Because me, Katie, Tao, and Raph have known each other for such a long time. Tao and I used to do improv together in New York in basement bars.

We’ve all known each other for so long, and that’s a really fun energy. But we also do another episode that’s John Gabriel, Lisa Gilroy and Luenell. It’s such a strange combo. I don’t necessarily think that if you saw those three people, you’d be like, oh, this is a perfect triad. But they’re all fun. They’re all wild, and they’re all down for anything. They have no clue what each other are going to do because they’re not that close. So there’s a lot of surprise in those episodes, which is really fun.

Gastronauts Champions Challenge In The Future?

Temple of Geek: Have you ever thought about having an episode with some of the champions coming back to see who’s the best of all of them? Because I love that it’s not just the chefs, but also the judges to get an award.

Jordan Myrick:

Yes, I would love to do that. I think that’s something that we want to feel like we have enough options that it feels fun and surprising of who are we going to bring back? And we’re getting there. So I’m like, I’m hoping maybe fingers crossed season three, season four. I would love to do something like that.

Temple of Geek: I love it. And then do we have any repeat judges coming back this season?

Jordan Myrick:

Only one, my fiance, Kendahl Landreth. That is because someone ended up not being able to make it the day of filming. It was the one day that she came to set and she was in my trailer eating a plate of barbecue. They were like, we need you to come be a judge. She was unshowered, not ready at all. But the hair and makeup team got her gussied up and she wore one of my outfits that I had brought, which is very convenient, because we are the same size. They threw her on set. But other than her, and that being accidental, all new judges this season.

Temple of Geek: I love it. I also love that you’re like, it’s an accident, not nepotism. Get that straight.

Jordan Myrick:

That’s what I want to be clear about. I think we even mentioned in the episode because I’m like, it’s a bad look. I get it. It’s the bad look to have the only repeat guest on season two be my fiance. But there is a reason for it. If Rekha had been in my trailer, it would’ve been Rekha thrown into that episode. So Kendahl’s not special, she was there.

Jordan Myrick’s Gastronauts Challenge Would Be Flavor Related

Temple of Geek: After having worked on this for two seasons now, do you know what your challenge would be to the chefs?

Jordan Myrick:

No. It’s like we’re getting further and further away from it. People keep suggesting things that I never even would have thought of. There are things that I would like to take from each thing. I know the one thing I would have to do, it would have to be a flavor challenge. It would have to be something that is all about flavor because I don’t care about the aesthetics of food as much. I don’t know something along the lines of that. I promise that one time I’ll have an answer for you.

Temple of Geek: Totally fair. One of the things I loved in season one was the Dino Nugget Terrariums. Did you end up having to work that into your actual life for Kendahl?

Jordan Myrick:

Kendahl has gotten a lot more demanding since the show has aired because she will reference things from Gastronauts. She’ll be like, oh, like this on Gastronauts. And I’m like, I am familiar with what you’re talking about. I’m not cooking on the show.

I think that’s one thing that people keep forgetting in general, including Kendahl. Don’t get me wrong, I’m good at cooking. I like cooking a lot, but I am by no means a chef. And I think because I now host and showrun a cooking show, people are like, and you are also a professional chef. I’m like, no, not at all. I’ve gotten invited to culinary cooking competition stuff, and I’m like, no, you don’t want that. Unless it’s all amateurs you don’t want that.

Temple of Geek: What were you excited to take to the next level now that you were the showrunner of the show in the second season?

Jordan Myrick:

I think that I was just excited to have more freedom. Not that I didn’t have freedom in season one. They let me do whatever I want, but I was scared personally. I was so nervous about messing things up or stepping on anyone’s toes or anything like that. I really didn’t have to worry about that as much this season because we got the feedback from season one and then also season two, we’re coming back, we’re all working together.

So I think I was able to just go kookier or go crazier and then also allow the same of the people that work on the show. Everyone is so talented, everyone can do so much. It’s unbelievable. There were moments when our lighting team was like, can we do this thing that we think would be cool? And I’m like, I don’t care. I know nothing about lighting. You are the experts in lighting, so I would love for you to do whatever you think is going to be awesome and excites you. So kind of being allowed to give people the yes on things is fun. I still don’t really know what I’m allowed to approve and not approve, but I’ll try to approve everything.

Could We See Jordan Myrick On More Game Changer?

Temple of Geek: I will say as a fellow white person, Katie’s challenge of the most bland food that also tastes good was both hilarious and kind of offensive in how accurate it was.

Jordan Myrick:

Absolutely. Well, Katie was like, is this offensive? And I was like, only to you and I, so it’s fine. We don’t have to worry about it. And that was one too where it ended up kind of just shaking out this way, but I was also happy that all of the other judges and all of the chefs were people of color. I was like, just go wild dunk on us as hard as you possibly can, we deserve it.

Temple of Geek: A hundred percent! It was that moment for me where I’m like, I’m kind of offended, but I’m Irish and we just boil everything until it’s terrible. So I can’t really stand on anything here.

Jordan Myrick:

Absolutely. Yeah. It’s like you want to be like, Hey, that’s rude, but is it rude if it’s true?

Temple of Geek: I also want to bring up, I loved the “Game Changer” episode where you were doing the commentary the entire time. I so hope we get more of that. It was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen just because it was them hearing you doing the commentary live as well.

Jordan Myrick:

That’s so nice. Wow. Well, let Sam Reich know, I’m not in charge of any of that, but I had a great time. This season I was on Game Changer twice and it was my first time ever being on the show. I was so nervous, but had a really good time. Once again, I’m biased, but I think they came out great. I’m ready to do more. So Sam, you know where I live.

Jordan Myrick Teases Hopes For Gastronauts Season 3

Temple of Geek: Hoping for season three, 100%. What would you hope to do in that season that you maybe haven’t done this season or any guests that you haven’t had the chance to bring in?

Jordan Myrick:

Well, Maria Bamford’s my favorite comedian, so I’m like any way in which I can do anything with her, I am just desperate to do so. I’m hoping if not this, I don’t know, maybe she sees this interview and just wants to hang out, but I think she would be great on Gastronauts. There are so many incredible comedians that are so funny that I would love to have.

I think just continuing to do really wild challenges and continuing to consult with my culinary team. They’re so incredible. I don’t even have an answer for you of what’s even possible. They’re constantly making things possible that I didn’t know we could do. Maybe more fire or maybe we fill a dunk tank with soup or something. I’m not sure what is allowed. Things that feel like I shouldn’t be allowed to do them, but I am. That’s my answer.

Temple of Geek: Can you talk to me a little bit about your culinary team and what they do from a behind the scenes perspective that we don’t know as an audience?

Jordan Myrick:

Wow. What don’t they do? Well, Courtney is the head of our culinary team and she is unbelievable. She’s actually about to release a cookbook with her best friend from growing up who is Captain Marvel, Brie Larson, which is crazy. So everyone should check that out when it comes out. She is so nice and so great. They run the chefs through everything, so they make sure they’re familiar with the set and with what we’re doing. Any information the chefs need they have. They make sure everything is prepped and stocked.

They do everything for glamor, so they make sure everything looks good. They consult on the challenges when we’re like, we have this idea of a challenge. Would something like this even be possible? I really think they’ve never told me no. I think they’re always like, yes, we’ll do it, and we’ll find a way to make it possible. They’re good vibes. They’re so fun, they’re so talented. They work on crazy cooking shows! So many of them work on “Top Chef” and all these other things. They’re so talented. On this season you’ll see them even more because there are a couple times that they have to hop on screen and it’s really wild and really exciting.

The premiere of “Gastronauts” second season is available on Dropout now. The complete first season is also available on Dropout.