Dean & Jean Make a Cooking Show serves up third season

Dean Rainey and Nuchjana ‘Jean’ Guntong are excited to be back for Season 3 of Dean & Jean Make a Cooking Show.

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Filming has been completed for the third season, slated to air this April for subscribers to Bell Fibe TV1.

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“It’s a streaming service, so you can watch them any time,” Rainey said. “Bell actually wanted them short, 10-12 minutes each, because they are really for viewing on the go. People who are commuting want that bite-size content.”

A former broadcast creator with CNN, National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, and Fox Movies, with a background in standup comedy and improv, Rainey is the show’s writer, producer, and one half of the title characters as a TV producer.

“I have a production company, so I produce the whole show. My director is from Toronto, a long, long-time friend in the industry. Some crew is from Toronto, about 50 per cent, and about 50 per cent locally.”

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Guntong, who operates the Try Thai Tonight catering business, which serves Norfolk County, Hamilton and Ancaster, Brantford, and sometimes Woodstock, is also a Thai chef on the show.

Growing up, Rainey says she was a singer and performer in Thailand, and has done some modeling.

“But this was a huge jump for her. The No. 1 thing she just has to have is the confidence to do it. And she’s got that. She’s got a lot of confidence to jump in there and do it. She doesn’t let English as a second language get in the way at all.”

“It’s not easy but it’s fun for me,” said Guntong. “I love it. I love to do some fun stuff.”

Originally from Waterford, Rainey moved to Hong Kong to work in television for 10 years. That’s where he puts Jean. Married, they moved back to Canada and Rainey had plans to base in Toronto, but Jean wanted to live in Norfolk.

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“We’ve been in Norfolk County ever since 2012,” said Rainey.

Filming of the “heightened reality show” took place in their Delhi backyard.

“It’s kind of an experimental show because we’re real-life husband and wife, and she is really Thai, not just playing a Thai person,” said Rainey.

The show idea developed from another conventional cooking show they were producing.

“A real straightforward show – we’re standing at the table and we’re cooking. We’re teaching you how to cook Thai food. Then we started to see that… wow, there’s really a lot of craziness going on behind the scenes, as my wife and I and our crew try to put this show together.”

They made a test behind the scenes episode and pitched it to Bell Canada. It got the green light and in three years, renewing each year, it has evolved from straight-up cooking to what they describe as ‘craziness.’

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“Each season gets a little bit more creative, absurd. The drama, the comedy ticks higher.”

In Season 3, dream/fantasy sequences were added where they can go off script. Two episodes were filmed at Church Out Serving’s Riversyde 83 in Simcoe.

Also new this year, Toronto-based online Asian grocer Haisue.ca was added to the team as a sponsor.

“It’s a real advertiser, but we really fit them into the story,” said Rainey, who used his ad sales background to satirize in-show sponsorship, poking fun at what is in good taste for advertising.

“They don’t just have a bumper at the front that says, ‘this episode is brought to you by…’ They are actually a storyline.”

“We’re delighted to be part of Dean & Jean, as it’s such a natural fit for us to support a program highlighting healthy, fresh Asian food,” said Haisue.ca co-founder and CFO Hany Audeh in a media release. “I may have been a little nervous to appear onscreen at first, but the fun we’ve had filming the show has gone beyond any of our expectations.”

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Haisue.ca is also a startup, Rainey noted.

“It’s a wonderful match because while Dean & Jean has a lot of drama and excitement, the heart of our show is an authentic Thai cooking show where Canadians learn to cook Thai meals at home,” said Rainey. “So Haisue.ca is the ideal partner because they make it easy for anyone to purchase Asian ingredients and have them delivered anywhere across Canada. Once we realized that our Haisue.ca sponsorship could be part of the on-screen drama, we had so much fun exploring this new angle.

“Their focus is on rural people who want to order Asian goods. If you’re in the city, you can go to the Asian grocery store. But if you’re out here in Norfolk, it’s not easy.”

“Everything we do at Haisue is focused on one important value, and that’s family,” said Audeh. “We love that Dean & Jean is a show were they have disagreements and misunderstandings as we all do in our own families, but at the end of the day, they’re making family a priority and they’re connecting over healthy meals. The imperfection is what makes it perfect.”

Bell Fibe TV1 is available in select Ontario and Quebec communities. Viewers can also catch up on Season 1 and 2 on Bell Fibe TV1 On Demand or the Bell Fibe App.

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