My wife is a food aficionada. Foxtel's all-cooking Lifestyle Food channel is, therefore, on often in my house. The programs don't generally appeal to me, although I reap the benefits at dinner time.
There is one program which we discovered, and became hooked on, together. Masterchef is the pinnacle of reality TV. I'm talking the original, UK version here. It is compelling. A taut, high-stakes cooking competition.
Competition is the key word. These are real people — amateur cooks who dream of leaving behind their ordinary careers to become professional chefs. The dream leads them through an increasingly pressurised series of challenges that put their skills to the test.
It's heat-based — small groups cook off against each other for the right to progress to the next round. The focus is on the 'sport' of cooking, so personalities rarely come into it. Nor do the acute voyeurism, the tearies and tanties, sniping and backstabbing that are the hallmarks of Big Brother and its ilk.
This is reality TV, without all that irksome reality TV crap.
Needless to say we were intrigued when we learned there was going to be an Australian version of the cult UK series. But with Masterchef Australia now bubbling towards its final weeks, our feelings have been mixed. It bears the brand, but Masterchef Australia stands little comparison to its UK predecessor.
This is the theme park version of Masterchef. It is Masterchef as imagined by the network behind Australia's Big Brother and The Biggest Loser. Its formula owes a lot to those shows. (Continues below)
Soap opera plays a big part. The contestants live together in a camera-studded dwelling, so that the personality clashes become part of the story. The tanties and tearies are there (although less so since Kate was eliminated). And the talking-head confessionals from contestants about their fellows are not always charitable.
Okay, so Channel Ten needs to think about its ratings. It's only to be expected that it will execute a formula that has proven to be a winner in the past. The problem is, in terms of being a test of excellence, Masterchef Australia is more Deal or No Deal than Eggheads.
The sudden-death challenges make for dramatic viewing, but mean that overall ability becomes subservient to luck and 'on-the-day' performance. This format has seen — among other, lesser tragedies — the exceedingly talented Justine sent home, while the middling Sam remains in the competition.
This is excellence