sjalkarjadottir First .. i thought i had written a review for this before .. but apparently not?Masterchef as well as Hells Kitchen are TOTAL guilty pleasures for me. I am fully aware how terribly aweful they are .. and i mean really, REALLY aweful in terms of cringeworthy or just pitiful.Then again, i kind of like 3 dudes shout at a "random" assortment of nobodies. But lets get to the details... Masterchef is - at its core - a VERY good concept .. but the network is too cowardly to really adhere to the idea and instead makes it a meaningless soap opera or worse .. a telenovela.The idea of professional cooks to judge homecooks on increasingly higher stakes and more difficult "challenges" .. great .. i would call that a winner .. and NOT a guilty pleasure if they actually did that.Sadly though the quality of the food and the skill of the contestants is obviously irrelevant compared to what can only be called "drama potential". That does not mean that the finalists are not good cooks ... but the judging becomes a fárce early on .. when it becomes just too blatant that they do not judge on the quality of the dish at all.The selection of characters to compete is usually interesting enough .. but follows typical focus group results. You get a sassy black woman, a bossy white male, a shy woman, a tough guy/girl, a very young and innocent girl and of course someone who causes the maximum drama by being antisocial or just a loudmouth with no filter. Now it is not even clear that this is actually the case, cause the episodes are edited in such a narrative .. but it does become old quckly.What is good about it?Aside from watching food ... there is a certain narrative of character progression. I caught myself being quite invested in start to around the end of the 3rd forth .. and then not caring much who actually won. The challenges are often quite nice .. but it would have been interesting to see how the contestants actually prepare for them, cause they certainly do not spontanously come up with their dishes .. so there must be a lot of learning in their spare time and interaction (something that might be interesting and that Hells Kitchen does show a little more of...)Well, but why a 9/10? that is an awefully high score i hear you exclaim!Yes, yes it is .. and it is also a totally biased one. I just have fun binge watching this garbage sometimes. I can switch my brain off and rant at the rediculous jingoism, the pitiful veneration of military and american values, the cartoonish drama and the godlike bossy chefs that hover over everything like saints, resolving everything with amazing authority and skill.So, its just fun .. mindless, stupid fun. Objectively it is terrible though ....

opinionated-alchemist Masterchef is quite an installment! It has highly acclaimed chefs as hosts. It seems that they have the best of the best of props.The issue is, that from year to year, it loses appeal (at least to me). And this has some more obvious and some more hidden reasons:1) The TV format... I know, that cliffhangers are used to increase the suspense - but techniques like that are totally overused in Masterchef US. Every commercial break is after one of these cliffhangers. Supposedly suspense moments are repeated over and over again. Yes, Masterchef is a commercial program but does it need to be that obvious? It almost becomes one of those bad reality TV shows. It is so bad, that I have stopped to watch some seasons after a couple of episodes - despite the fact, that the content was quite good. 2) The "dictator: Gordon Ramsey" The show has Gordon Ramsey written all over it. The other main judges seem to be chosen to be as compatible as possible with him. What is more disturbing is the whole cooking - it is an amateur cooking show, but the participants are consistently asked to cook "Gordon Ramsey's dishes" (and at times dishes of the co- judges). Even in the semifinals, this repeated. Further - despite the fact that we never see, that the participants attend workshops (for sure they do), the cooking technique and cooking equipment seem to be extremely stipulated. Every sane chef who cooks on an event will use an instant-read thermometer to ensure, that steaks (...) are properly cooked. Not the Masterchef contestants. Oppose to previous installments it seems, that Masterchef is not looking for the overall best home-cook, but for the best conservative home-cook - and they seem to do everything in their power, that nobody is touching any contemporary technique or equipment. That is Gordon Ramsey, I guess... 3)The Drama. Yes - I understand, that you want to include drama into the show because it will have a bigger mass appeal. But it seems that the judges and the producers are adding artificial drama, just to make the show more gripping. This can be seen from the selection of the participants, over the selection of the competitions, to the reaction and outbursts of the judges. ... and this is just the tip of the iceberg.It is unfortunate, that a successful and appealing TV format like that is so exploited, that it becomes annoying and unappealing, but the producers are exactly doing this. Please take Gordon Ramsey on a shorter leash and let him not dominate the whole competition. And let the show be produced and cut having people with an interest in cooking in mind - it isn't a stupid reality show. Get also some fresh blood as guest judges or maybe even replace those judges. I like Aaron Sanchez as the next cooking show fan, but putting him as the godfather of Mexican cuisine is pretty overstated. What is about Rick Bayless - who 100% proofed himself to be one of the spearheads of Mexican cuisine in the USA. Or what about Carlos Gaytán- who is the first Mexican chef who earned a Michelin star? Same applies for Christina Tossi. She really converts into a mini-me Gordon Ramsey - she is cool and good, but what about Dominique Ansel? Or another question - why not completely taking out the baking stuff and have another show which concentrates on baking (Masterbaker US?).Cooking is such a widespread hobby or activity, and there is not one but many ways. However Masterchef US is not much interested to explore talent, but more into turning every contestant into an amateur- Gordon. That is sad, that is annoying and overall this will kill the show.

stefan-574-690122 It is a petty to see how they took the Australian (or UK) show and changed it to break people instead of building and teaching. It is a completely different atmosphere compared especially to the Aussie version.The Brits and the Aussies also have the MasterClass episodes that are really educational.There are elements that are interesting in seeing how contestants form informal teams as well as having to team up with "enemies". Still - quite more subtly executed in the original series. I recommend watching the Australian version.

firststriker I haven't even seen porn more over scripted than this! This show is an absolute cracker of a joke. For those of you who've seen the Australian version, just compare the first episode where they simply rip off the scene of an Australian contestant during the auditions. It's where an Asian woman seemingly got a second chance to cook in front of the judges and got sent back home to grab some ingredients in order to cook her mom's traditional Asian recipe. Classic.It's a shame to see Ramsay whoring himself away on US television as well. The man has done a genuinely good show with the UK version of Kitchen Nightmares. And just being a complete prostitute on American television. I guess he's in need of the extra dough trying to botox reduce away his wrinkly arsed face.The other two judges are just a bunch of extras on the set. They don't add anything to the show. With the bald guy trying to be completely over the top giving every contestant the "evil" eye being all pimpy and tough and then the remaining judge who would even pass on his 'OK' if he got served a Mc Donalds meal in front of him.Nah. Masterchef Australia ftw!