Updated: 10/10/2025 21:44:11
Breaking Bread
Tony Shalhoub: Breaking Bread is a six-part, host-led CNN Original docuseries (premiering fall 2025) in which actor Tony Shalhoub travels internationally to explore bread’s techniques, cultural meanings, and role in memory and shared meals. Produced by Lionsgate Alternative Television’s Blackfin label in partnership with CNN Originals, the series visits diverse locales and breads to illuminate human connection through food.
Audience intent and thematic goals
Framed as a celebration of connection, the series aims to illuminate common ground across cultures by showing how the act of breaking bread fosters shared humanity. [1]
Context within CNN Originals' slate
Breaking Bread joins CNN’s personality-driven culinary and travel documentaries—extending the network’s lineage that includes Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown and Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy. [2]
Creative origins and personal ties
The concept is credited in part to a family member (a nephew) and was developed with Shalhoub’s collaborators; Shalhoub’s food connections and restaurant investments inform the show’s perspective. [3]
Distribution, platforms and timing
The series is slated to premiere in fall 2025 across CNN platforms and will be available via the CNN Original Hub on Max, discovery+, CNN Originals FAST channel and pay-TV outlets, with Lionsgate handling international distribution. [4]
Examples of breads and episodes
Episodes sample a range of breads such as sourdough pizza, cassava‑flour breads, focaccia and baguettes, using specific breads to frame regional stories and techniques. [5]
Host and on-screen perspective
Tony Shalhoub, an Emmy-, Golden Globe- and Tony-winning actor, serves as a curious, non‑expert guide who draws on family food roots and New York restaurant ties to connect with cooks and communities. [6]
Key creative team and showrunner
Executive producers include Tony Shalhoub, Tamara Weiss, Lionsgate’s Geno McDermott, Igal Svet and Sun de Graaf, and CNN’s Amy Entelis and Lyle Gamm; Dara Horenblas is credited as showrunner and executive producer. [7]
Planned locales
Filming spans international cities and regions—public materials cite destinations from Brazil to Tokyo—showcasing global bread traditions and local meal rituals. [8]
Press details and contacts
Press release dated May 14, 2025; CNN Original Series press contacts listed include Jordan.Overstreet@cnn.com and Sophie.Tran@cnn.com for media inquiries. [9]
Primary themes — bread as culture and memory
The series treats bread as a culinary, cultural and mnemonic object—exploring how recipes, rituals and shared loaves link to family memory, identity and place. [10]
Production companies and label
Produced by Lionsgate Alternative Television from its Blackfin label in partnership with CNN Originals; Lionsgate will handle international distribution. [11]
Series overview and format
A six-part, host-driven food-and-travel documentary that uses bread as a narrative thread to combine culinary technique, local history and personal storytelling; episodes focus on bread varieties and the rituals around them. [12]
References:
[1] https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2025/05/14/cnn-original-series-releases-first-look-and-introduces-tony-shalhoub-breaking-bread/
[2] https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/cnn-tony-shalhoub-breaking-bread-tv-documentary-series-1236396983
[3] https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/cnn-tony-shalhoub-breaking-bread-tv-documentary-series-1236396983
[4] https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2025/05/14/cnn-original-series-releases-first-look-and-introduces-tony-shalhoub-breaking-bread/
[5] https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/cnn-tony-shalhoub-breaking-bread-tv-documentary-series-1236396983
[6] https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2025/05/14/cnn-original-series-releases-first-look-and-introduces-tony-shalhoub-breaking-bread/
[7] https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2025/05/14/cnn-original-series-releases-first-look-and-introduces-tony-shalhoub-breaking-bread/
[8] https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2025/05/14/cnn-original-series-releases-first-look-and-introduces-tony-shalhoub-breaking-bread/
[9] https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2025/05/14/cnn-original-series-releases-first-look-and-introduces-tony-shalhoub-breaking-bread/
[10] https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/cnn-tony-shalhoub-breaking-bread-tv-documentary-series-1236396983
Additional Sources:
13. CNN Press Room — Tony Shalhoub: Breaking Bread (press release, May 14, 2025) [https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2025/05/14/cnn-original-series-releases-first-look-and-introduces-tony-shalhoub-breaking-bread/]
14. Variety — Tony Shalhoub: Breaking Bread (feature) [https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/cnn-tony-shalhoub-breaking-bread-tv-documentary-series-1236396983]