US MasterChef, what can I say about this show? I only stumbled across it recently whilst channel surfing. Being from the UK and knowing and loving the original MasterChef, I was intrigued to see what it was like. At first, I enjoyed the different format, but once I saw a few of the episodes, it frustrated me more and more.
The overly dramatic music; the over-the-top contestants and pathetically staged bickering between them; the judges constantly ripping into the "home" cooks as if they were professional chefs; the constant reminders of the contestants' backstories and them always crying; and finally, the way in which contestants are eliminated, where you see stronger ones being knocked out and weaker ones surviving. The show's a bit of a guilty pleasure, but I do not consider it a serious cooking show. To use an overly used phrase on the show, "make the food the hero of the show, not the fake drama.
If you want to watch a decent MasterChef show, watch the UK one, or surprisingly the best one IMO, the Australian MasterChef, which mixes the best parts of the UK and American show.
