If you’ve opened any form of social media this week, you’ve probably seen the heartbreaking video of Tiny Chef receiving the devastating news that his cooking show, “The Tiny Chef Show,” was canceled at Nickelodeon after three seasons — a casualty of the upcoming Paramount-Skydance merger according to its creators.
The stop-motion video, which sees Chef try to compose himself before sobbing on his bed, quickly went viral, tallying up 428k views on TikTok and 240k views on YouTube as of this writing since Tuesday.
For Rachel Larsen and Ozlem “Ozi” Akturk, who created “The Tiny Chef Show” alongside Adam Reid, crafting the viral video felt authentic to Chef. “We always try to play Chef’s life really authentically and this was a big moment — this was his dream show,” Larsen told TheWrap in a Thursday interview. “He always wanted to be a cooking show host, and I think to not show how that would affect him isn’t right.”
“This is what Chef wanted for so many years, and suddenly it was a short journey,” Akturk added. “Sharing that with the audience was important.”
The video was also a lifeline for Chef, whose beginning first started on social media before premiering “The Tiny Chef Show” on Nickelodeon in 2022. Nickelodeon notified the team about a month ago, according to Larsen, giving them a chance to produce the video.
“When that call came through, we were like, ‘OK, it’s go time,’ because for us to have a future and survive, we need money,” Larsen said, adding the team was hopeful that fans would come to their aid to help “at least keep Chef on social media.”
While Larsen noted the team was hoping to catch a portion of the fan base with the video, it ended up reaching a “different stratosphere” entirely. “We didn’t expect that kind of attention, but we’re really happy with that,” Akturk said. “The messages fans are just sharing … it’s just amazing.”
“He’s getting the attention we feel like he deserves,” Larsen said. “Having fans see that and empathize with him and just resonate with him, I think the way we do too, it’s nice — it feels very connecting, and I think that’s probably why we do this, is to connect with people.”
@thetinychefshow SOS Cheffers, please go to the link our bio to learn how you can help us keep Chef on social media. Tiny chefs cooking show has officially been cancelled (very unexpected) and without the support of a major network we need crowd funding to keep cookin’ over here. Yesh this es weal! We want to thank @nickelodeon for giving Chef two blamazing seasons and all the besties he made there. Chef wouldn’t want anyone to blame his friends over there, he’s just deeply sad he doesn’t get to continue hosting a show he adores. Please let cheffy know how much he means to you in the comments he’s really feelin this one.
♬ original sound – Thetinychefshow
“The Tiny Chef Show” got caught in the crosshairs of the merger between Paramount Global — which owns Nickelodeon — and Skydance, with Larsen noting the show’s future had been on hold as the merger gets finalized. (The deal was expected to close in the first half of 2o25 but is awaiting approval from the FCC, which is being held up by President Donald Trump’s $20 billion legal battle with Paramount and CBS).
“Our contract with them was up in July, and I think they probably were just like, ‘This isn’t going to get resolved before then, so we’re just going to let you guys go now,’” Larsen said. “It was a courteous thing to do — not make us wait til the end of the contract.”
Below, Larsen and Akturk tell TheWrap about their next steps, if they can survive independently and how fans can help, even if they can’t donate. Spokespeople for Nickelodeon did not respond to request for comment.
TheWrap: With the Paramount merger, what would need to happen for the show to get back on Nickelodeon?
Larsen: I don’t know. It’s all speculation, but I think the merger would have to happen, and then the people in charge of the properties would have to go, “We want this back.” But I think that’s just going to take a long time, and I think honestly, it was a courtesy to let us go, because I think they saw how long all of this was taking. We were just literally sitting for a year waiting for an answer.
The perception of your property when you’re connected to a company like Nickelodeon is that you are swimming in money, and it couldn’t be further from the truth, and it’s hard to communicate that with fans, it just feels like a lie.
What are your next plans? Do you plan to shop the show around? Or return to posting on social media and YouTube solely?
Akturk: We’re going to keep doing what we love to do on social media and make it accessible to everyone. And at the moment, we’re focusing on growing our YouTube channel, because we neglected it a bit. We’re going to try to create longer clips, but it just takes so much time and YouTube needs longer format, like eight minutes or something.
Larsen: Everything’s so moment by moment. We just got this news, so we just need money to get through the next couple of months and really figure out, what’s the bigger plan … what does chef want to do? We’re open with the right partner. It’s more about people who see it correctly than anything else, really having partners that see it and see his potential and get it and don’t try to box him in or put too many restrictions on it, and him and us. We’re open to anything. We’re taking each step a little more slowly. We don’t want to be back in that situation … just the threat of being canceled again. It just took a lot out of us, and it was very hard to do the show and keep the socials alive, and we were depleted completely.
What’s the viability of making this independent? Can it survive independently or do you need a studio backer?
Larsen: It depends how much we want to do. If we stay on socials, there’s a path where we grow the YouTube that could be potentially monetized, and the more revenue that comes in, the longer videos we can make.
In terms of the cooking show he had, that would require an investor to come in, or another studio to come in, because it’s really expensive the way it is. For now, we just want to see where are we going to land with the crowdfunding and I know brands are interested, so looking at mixing and matching, to be able to cover our little team and go from there. It’s a lot of overhead, and trying to build enough cash flow to make that work is tricky.
You also had some big celebrity fans who have been guest stars, including Kristen Bell and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Have you reached out for their support?
Larsen: Kristen’s part of our company, Dunshire Productions, with Morgan Sackett. They’ve guided us through so much. They’re like our fairy godparents. We talk consistently with them about what we could do next.
Akturk: They have been super supportive. Behind the curtain, they’re doing so much what they can do with their time schedule.
What are ways that fans can help if they can’t donate?
Akturk: Sharing on YouTube with friends, family, just getting the word out, so we can grow the social media accounts. Having more eyes on it, that helps us and helps us in getting brands deals.
Larsen: The comments, emails and DMs of people just saying how much Chef means to them, that literally fuels us. It fuels the engine that can make this, that it resonates with people, and it makes them feel good. People with speech impediments, people with autism [who have reached out], that means the world to us. Having a community feels so good.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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