Corrado Mantoni is both host (until 1990) and author of the show. Among the other authors, his brother Riccardo Mantoni and Jacopo Rizza, who was a competition judge in the show between 1986 and 1990.
In the season 1992-1993 the show was moved to evening and thus renamed La cena è servita. It was broadcast no more on Canale 5, but on Rete 4, part of the same broadcasting company Fininvest. In the next season, due to poor ratings, the show was restored to the original format on midday.
The original idea of this show comes from Silvio Berlusconi, owner of Canale 5 and then Prime Minister of Italy. Berlusconi wanted a show to be aired at midday, when state-owned RAI and the other few private networks still didn't air anything but the test card.
The first concurrent show of state-owned broadcaster RAI at midday was Pronto Raffaella? starting from late 1983. The show was host by singer Raffaella Carrà, who had co-hosted several shows with Corrado Mantoni on RAI, as like Canzonissima (1970-1971) and Fantastico (1982-1983). The show was replaced in 1985-1986 by the similar Pronto, chi gioca? hosted by Enrica Bonaccorti and in 1987-1988 by Pronto, è la Rai? hosted by Giancarlo Magalli. If the first two shows were definitely successful, the third one was less rated, allowing Il pranzo è servito to gain a larger audience.