Farewell Francis: Dog who revolutionized YouTube cooking shows has died
LOS ANGELES -- No one knew the chef's name, but everyone knew her dog.
Francis, the 14-year-old co-host of the YouTube channel Cooking with Dog, died over the weekend.
The channel, which has 1.2 million subscribers, featured a human chef (whose name is never revealed) cooking Japanese dishes alongside Francis, who narrated the recipes in English.
You May Also Like
The cooking show, which has over 300 episodes, began almost a decade ago.
Francis had no background in film or television before starring in the web series.
In an interview with The Japan Times, the show's producer -- who asked to remain anonymous -- said the idea for the web series came after he spent several years working in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles.
“There are many cooking programs on TV and I just wanted to make our show look different and unique," he told the publication. "And also I don’t know any celebrities or famous people and I didn’t have a large budget."
However, he approached Chef, who he know was good at cooking and asked if she and Francis would be interested in doing a web series.
The first episode, uploaded in September of 2007, featured Chef and Francis cooking a popular Japanese dish: sukiyaki, topped with a raw egg.
Many fans mourned Francis' death on Twitter.
It's unclear if the series will continue without Francis. Mashable has reached out to a representative for comment.
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
