Five Guys crew chase $100,000 in Prime Video docuseries 'On The Line'
Eight Five Guys crew members are racing potatoes, cheese and dressings for a $100,000 top prize in a new series on Prime Video.
On The Line: The World Burger Games runs for five episodes and is streaming now. It puts kitchen staff at the centre, not managers or celebrity guests.
The show is a docuseries, meaning a non-fiction series that follows real people rather than actors. It tracks crew from local qualifying rounds through to the final championship, according to Variety. It was produced by Full Day Productions, a Words + Pictures company, in collaboration with Lost Tribe Creative. Collin Orcutt served as showrunner, meaning the executive in charge of day-to-day creative decisions.
The contest is known inside the company as the Five Guys Games. It began in 2013 as an idea from the Murrell family to celebrate the chain's crew. The family founded the business and still sits behind the brand. Five Guys now employs about 50,000 people, so the eight finalists came through a very large field.
This year's edition centred on those eight finalists. They faced three timed events drawn directly from kitchen work: the potato race, the cheese race and the dressing/QC race, with QC meaning quality control. Each task is inspired by skills used to get orders out quickly and correctly. Speed matters. Accuracy matters more.
The money is substantial for a workplace contest. First place paid $100,000 and second place paid $50,000. Every finalist took home at least $10,000, so no one left the final empty-handed.
Five Guys has sold burgers and fries since 1986, according to Five Guys. What started as a Washington, DC burger spot run by one family grew into a worldwide brand. Burgers are made to order, fries are hand-cut and toppings are prepared fresh each morning. The series builds its challenges around that organised, hands-on system.
For viewers, this means a familiar format with unfamiliar faces. There are heats, a final and a cash prize. The competitors do the same jobs on camera that they do on shift.
The launch was flagged for 16 October in posts from Five Guys on Facebook. All five episodes landed on Prime Video together. Audiences can watch the run from qualifiers to champion in one go.
