Everything the Internet Subjected Guy Fieri to in 2016

In case there was any doubt that this was a weird year

by Dana Hatic@DanaHatic Dec 29, 2016, 10:10am EST

While Guy Fieri is perfectly capable of making headlines all on his own, this year, the internet took it upon itself to push the frosted-hair chef’s quirks to a whole new level, churning out a handful of things that cannot be unseen. The oddest of the bunch include photoshopped pictures of the TV chef and a NSFW story about him and Ted Cruz. Now for the full effect, here’s a look back at our collective Fieri-filled year.

Dad Fieri

In August, the internet had a grand time imagining Guy Fieri as an average American dad. For a moment, consider that Fieri is, in fact, both American and a dad, but his wrap-around sunglasses, bowling shirts, and that shockingly bright hair (not to mention his enduring presence on television) make him not-quite-average. That’s where Photoshop comes in: take away the bleached blonde and the two-toned goatee, and you’re left with a completely innocuous and perfectly generic Dad Fieri.

Mad Max: Fieri Road

Early in the year someone reworked the opening segment of Fieri’s long-running Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. The original features the chef in his classic red car, but the new version shows him rolling with movie characters in Mad Max: Fury Road. The truly bizarre mashup of scenes from the movie is overlaid with Fieri’s voice, and it’s hard to say which is more unsettling: the frosted tips or the dystopian future.

It Hurts

Sometime over the summer someone made a montage of Guy Fieri eating to a soundtrack of Nine Inch Nails’s “Hurt.” Here’s the one set to Johnny Cash’s version.

Think Pieces

This year food media thought long and hard about Guy Fieri. Some writers admitted to really liking what he stands for and his show. Even the New Yorker got in on it. Others maintain that he’s a successful brand... and not much else.

Mannequin Challenge

Ever one to stay up with the trends, Fieri produced his own version of the Mannequin Challenge, bringing in the crew behind Guy’s Grocery Games to help out. While most Mannequin Challenge videos that flooded the internet were short, usually less than a minute long, the Donkey Sauce creator decided to (as usual) take things to the next level. His challenge is nearly four minutes long, snaking through the whole set of Triple G and landing on Fieri, who (of course) breaks form.

Fieri and Cruz: A Love Story

The internet’s pièce de résistance this year was a magical Guy Fieri love story. Two writers produced some fanfiction about the TV chef and failed presidential candidate Ted Cruz. The egregiously unnecessary and yet hilarious story steps out of reality to take some digs at the most cringe-worthy things about each man.

Despite all of this, Fieri is not one to balk at social commentary or criticism: earlier this year, he insisted he likes his bleached hair “the way it is” and assured fans he’s totally fine with being a go-to Halloween costume. If anything is certain in this world, it’s that Fieri’s not going anywhere, which means the punchlines aren’t either.

• All Guy Fieri Coverage on Eater [E]
• All Year in Eater Coverage [E]