MasterChef (American TV series)

MasterChef is an American competitive cooking reality TV show based on the British series of the same name, open to amateur and home chefs.[1] Produced by Shine America and One Potato Two Potato, it debuted on July 27, 2010 on the Fox network, following the professional cooking competition series Hell's Kitchen.[2]

For the recent season, see MasterChef (American season 10). For the PBS television show, see MasterChef USA. For international adaptations, see MasterChef.

MasterChef
GenreCookery
Created byFranc Roddam
Judges
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons10
No. of episodes205
Production
Running time42 minutes
Production company(s)One Potato Two Potato
Reveille Productions (2010–12)
Shine America (2012–14)
Endemol Shine North America (2015–)
Release
Original networkFox
Picture format480i (SDTV)
720p (HDTV)
Audio formatDolby Digital 5.1
Original releaseJuly 27, 2010 (2010-07-27) –
present
Chronology
Related showsMasterChef Junior
External links
Website

For the first five seasons, the series starred celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay (the co-creator of the series and Hell's Kitchen), Graham Elliot and restaurateur Joe Bastianich.[3] From Seasons 6–8, pastry chef Christina Tosi temporarily replaced Bastianich.[4] On Season 7, Elliot departed as a judge, and in place of a third judge, there were a series of guest judges, one of which was Aarón Sanchez. Since Season 8, Sanchez joined as a regular judge.[5] In Season 9, Bastianich returned as a regular judge, replacing Tosi. On September 19, 2018, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a tenth season, which premiered on May 29, 2019 with Ramsay, Sanchez, and Bastianich reprising their roles as judges/hosts respectively.[6][7][8][9]

Format

MasterChef is based on the British BBC series MasterChef. It was created by celebrity chef, TV personality and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay. The competition takes place in the MasterChef soundstage located in Los Angeles, CA which includes a large kitchen area with several cooking stations which is overlooked by a balcony, a well-stocked pantry, a freezer/fridge area and a fine-dining restaurant/seating dining area room used for certain challenges.

While the particular format of the season has slightly varied over the years, the following challenges have all been regularly featured:

  • Skills Test: Cooks are challenged to perform a list of common cooking techniques or styles, or to replicate a particular cooking method of a dish (i.e. steaks done to an exact wellness). This type of test is also sometimes used as an Elimination Test.
  • Mystery Box: Cooks are all given a box with the same ingredients and must use only those ingredients to create a dish within a fixed amount of time. The judges will select three dishes based on visual appearance and technique alone to taste, and from these three select one winner who usually gains an advantage of some type in the elimination test.
  • Elimination Test: After the challenge is explained, judges evaluate all dishes based on taste and visual appeal. The judges nominate the worst dishes for elimination and criticize them before eliminating at least one contestant.
  • Team Challenge: The cooks are split into teams by either team captains or the judges. They often occur in a restaurant takeover or pop-up restaurant taking the place of the staff of a particular restaurant. Diners taste both meals and vote for their favorite. The winning team advances, while the losing team will participate in the Pressure Test or face elimination based on the teams' performance.
  • Pressure Test: Another form of the Elimination Test, in which losing team members compete against each other to make a standard dish within a very limited amount of time that requires a great degree of cooking finesse. Each dish is judged on taste, visual appeal and technique, and the losing chef is eliminated.

Once the competition is reduced to either the final two or three competitors, the finalists will compete against each other in a three-course cook-off. All courses of the meal are judged and an overall winner is crowned. The winner of each season wins $250,000, a MasterChef trophy, and the title of MasterChef. Some seasons have also added other prizes such as a cookbook deal.

History

Season 1 aired as a summer series initially on Tuesday nights at 9:00 PM ET/PT, debuting on July 27, 2010; it later moved to Wednesday nights at 8:00 PM ET/PT on August 18.

On September 7, 2010, MasterChef was renewed for a second season,[10] which started with a 2-night premiere on June 6, 2011.

On October 6, 2011, MasterChef was renewed for a third season, which started with a 2-night premiere on June 4, 2012, following Hell's Kitchen.[11][12]

On July 23, 2012, MasterChef was renewed for a fourth season,[13][14] which premiered on May 22, 2013, in its new Wednesday at 8:00 PM ET/PT timeslot.[15]

On May 10, 2013, Fox renewed MasterChef for an additional 2 seasons, which will extend the show to at least 6 seasons.

On July 22, 2015, Fox renewed MasterChef for a seventh season.[16]

Series overview

Seasons
Season Episodes Premiere Date Finale Date No. of Contestants Winner Finalist(s) Judge 1 Judge 2 Judge 3
1 13 July 27, 2010 September 15, 2010 14 Whitney Miller David Miller Gordon Ramsay Graham Elliot[3] Joe Bastianich
2 20 June 6, 2011 August 16, 2011 18 Jennifer Behm Adrien Nieto
3 20 June 4, 2012 September 10, 2012 Christine Hà Joshua Marks†
4 25 May 22, 2013 September 11, 2013 19 Luca Manfé Natasha Crnjac
5 19 May 26, 2014 September 15, 2014 22 Courtney Lapresi Elizabeth Cauvel
6 20 May 20, 2015 September 16, 2015 Claudia Sandoval Derrick Peltz Christina Tosi
7 19 June 1, 2016 September 14, 2016 20 Shaun O'Neale David Williams
& Brandi Mudd		 Guest judges [lower-alpha 1]
8 21 May 31, 2017 September 20, 2017 Dino Angelo Luciano Eboni Henry
& Jason Wang		 Aarón Sanchez[5]
9 23 May 30, 2018 September 19, 2018 24 Gerron Hurt Ashley Mincey
& Cesar Cano		 Joe Bastianich
10 25 May 29, 2019 September 18, 2019 20 Dorian Hunter Sarah Faherty
& Nick DiGiovanni
  1. The guest judges rotated between Sanchez, Wolfgang Puck, Edward Lee, Kevin Sbraga, Richard Blais, and Daniel Boulud

Specials

Note: Bold indicates the winner(s) of the challenge.

MasterChef Celebrity Showdown (aired January 18, 2016)[17]

MasterChef Celebrity Showdown (aired January 2, 2017)[18]

MasterChef Celebrity Family Showdown (aired May 15, 2019 and May 22, 2019)[19]

Ratings
Season Episodes Premiered Ended TV season Time slot (ET) Season averages (Live + SD)
Date Premiere viewers
(millions)		 Date Finale viewers
(millions)		 Viewers (millions) 18-49 rating
1 13 July 27, 2010 5.75[20] September 15, 2010 4.81[20] 2010 Tuesday 9:00pm (1-3)
Wednesday 8:00pm (4-13)		 5.26[20] 2.3[20]
2 20 June 6, 2011 4.40[21] August 16, 2011 7.12[21] 2011 Monday 9:00 pm 5.27[21] 2.2[21]
Tuesday 9:00 pm 5.35[21] 2.2[21]
3 June 4, 2012 5.10[22] September 10, 2012 6.52[22] 2012 Monday 9:00 pm 5.84[22] 2.5[22]
Tuesday 9:00 pm 5.67[22] 2.4[22]
4 25 May 22, 2013 5.30[23] September 11, 2013 6.31[23] 2013 Wednesday 8:00 pm 5.63[23] 2.3[23]
5 19 May 26, 2014 4.26[24] September 15, 2014 5.56[24] 2014 Monday 8:00 pm 5.43[24] 1.9[24]
6 20 May 20, 2015 3.39[25] September 16, 2015 4.69[25] 2015 Wednesday 8:00 pm 4.56[25] 1.5[25]
7 19 June 1, 2016 3.81[26] September 14, 2016 4.36[26] 2016 4.03[26] 1.3[26]
8 21 May 31, 2017 3.67[27] September 20, 2017 4.14[27] 2017 3.62[27] 1.1[27]
9 23 May 30, 2018 3.52[28] September 19, 2018 3.56[29] 2018 3.52[28] 1.0[28]
10 25 May 29, 2019 3.14[30] September 18, 2019 2019 Wednesday 8:00pm (1-4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20-25)
Thursday 8:00pm (5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19)

Reception

Critical

The premiere episode received mixed reviews from major newspapers and online review websites, with reviews commenting that it was entertaining, but criticized the emotional aspect. The Los Angeles Times claimed[31] the contestants' back stories were "blown up," which referred to their dramatization.[31] A Reuters reviewer explained the show "manages to be hugely entertaining and involving thanks mainly to the judges’ personalities and the ability of the producers to spot emotionally charged stories."[31] The Globe and Mail said "the contrived sentimentality of it is, frankly, vomitous" referring to the emotion in contestants' reactions.[31]

The program also attracted negative attention in Season 2 when Agence France-Presse journalist Alex Ogle discovered that the producers doctored a crowd scene said to be of "thousands upon thousands lined up" to audition for the program.[32][33] In post-production, portions of the scene were replicated so as to make the crowd look larger than it actually was, as evidenced by multiple appearances by especially noticeable people in the scene.[32][33]

In February 2018, Salon published I Am a MasterChef Survivor,[34] a book by former contestant Jessie Glenn claiming to outline the abusive practices that MasterChef used with contestants, provoking reactions from many in the food industry, including New Yorker food correspondent Helen Rosen.

Earlier American adaptation
Main article: MasterChef USA

West 175 Productions[35] produced an earlier American adaptation, MasterChef USA, broadcast on PBS from 2000 to 2001. The series format was based directly on BBC's MasterChef and lasted 28 episodes over 2 seasons. It was hosted by British chef Gary Rhodes, who hosted the UK version of MasterChef in 2001.

See also

References
  1. "Fox orders 'Idol'-style cooking competition".
  2. "Master chief USA Teaser". TV Tonight.com. June 21, 2010. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
  3. "Graham Elliot Leaving 'MasterChef' Franchise". Deadline.com. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  4. Andreeva, Nellie (January 13, 2015). "'MasterChef Junior' Renewed For Season 4, Mataiasi Kalou Joins As New Judge". Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  5. "Chef Aarón Sánchez Joins the MasterChef Judges' Panel". Parade. February 17, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  6. Otterson, Joe (September 19, 2018). "'MasterChef' Renewed for Season 10 at Fox". Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  7. "FOX Announces Summer Premiere Dates". The Futon Critic. March 27, 2019.
  10. "Renewed: MasterChef USA". TV Tonight.com. September 8, 2010. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  11. Kondolojy, Amanda (March 28, 2012). "Premiere Dates Announced for 'So You Think You Can Dance', 'Hell's Kitchen', 'MasterChef' and 'Hotel Hell'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  12. Official website
  13. Andreeva, Nellie (July 23, 2012). "Fox's 'MasterChef' Renewed For Season 4". Deadline. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  14. Fienberg, Daniel (July 23, 2012). "FOX Renews MasterChef for Fourth Season". Retrieved August 22, 2012.
  15. Kondolojy, Amanda (February 28, 2013). "FOX Announces Finale Dates for 'Bones', 'The Following', 'New Girl' & More + Summer Premiere Dates Including 'So You Think You Can Dance'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  16. https://deadline.com/2015/07/masterchef-renewed-season-7-gordon-ramsay-fox-1201483656/
  17. Maglio, Tony (December 18, 2015). "Fox to air 'MasterChef Celebrity Showdown' in January". TheWrap. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  18. "An All-New "MasterChef Celebrity Showdown" Airs Monday, January 2, On Fox". Fox. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  19. "Stars Cook for a Cause on the All-New, Two-Night Special "MasterChef Celebrity Family Showdown," Wednesdays, May 15 and 22, on FOX". The Futon Critic. April 8, 2019.
  20. "SpotVault - MasterChef (Fox) - Summer 2010". Spotted Ratings. June 9, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  21. "SpotVault - MasterChef (Fox) - Summer 2011". Spotted Ratings. June 9, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  22. "SpotVault - MasterChef (Fox) - Summer 2012". Spotted Ratings. June 9, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  23. "SpotVault - MasterChef (Fox) - Summer 2013". Spotted Ratings. May 25, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  24. "SpotVault - MasterChef (Fox) - Summer 2014". Spotted Ratings. May 30, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  25. "SpotVault - MasterChef (Fox) - Summer 2015". Spotted Ratings. May 26, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  26. "SpotVault - MasterChef (Fox) - Summer 2016". Spotted Ratings. June 7, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  27. "SpotVault - MasterChef (Fox) - Summer 2017". Spotted Ratings. June 1, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  28. "SpotVault - MasterChef (Fox) - Summer 2018". Spotted Ratings. May 31, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  29. Welch, Alex (September 20, 2018). "'Big Brother' and 'America's Got Talent' adjust up, 'I Feel Bad' adjusts down: Wednesday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  30. Welch, Alex (May 31, 2019). "'Schooled' repeat adjusts down: Wednesday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  31. "MasterChef USA: reviews". TV Tonight.com.au. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  32. "Fox's MasterChef faked crowd shot". realityblurred.com. June 22, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
  33. "Busted! Fox's 'MasterChef' faked crowd scene". Inside TV. June 22, 2011. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
  34. Glenn, J. 2018. "I am a 'Masterchef' Survivor". Salon, retrieved Feb 22, 2018.
  35. "West 175 Productions, producers of the original MasterChef USA".
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