MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA SEASON FOUR

Masterchef Australia is back on UK screens and I couldn't be happier. Although I am not  big reality TV fan I do enjoy cookery programs, and the Masterchef franchise is my personal favorite. Of the four that I watch I would rank them in this order: Masterchef Australia, then USA, followed by New Zealand then the UK. I always think that the UK version is a bit flat and lacking in dynamism. The US version is loosely based on the Australian model and is good entertainment because it is full of over-competitive, back stabbing contestants who would nobble their rivals food, if they could get away with it! For those of you not familiar with the Aussie program I will give a quick outline of the content.

Masterchef NZ is very close to the Aussie model which is a cross between a cooking contest and a reality show. The contestants live together in the Masterchef house. This allows bonds to be built which is important because the show has lots of team challenges. How people work as a team is very important for efficiently running a busy kitchen. In complete contrast to the American contestants the Australians are super friendly and helpful towards each other. There is normally a happy atmosphere between contestants and a very relaxed relationship between the judges and the contestants.

Speaking of the judges, the usual subjects are all back! The three cheery, chubby Aussies Gary Mehigan, George Carulambos and Matt Preston all return for another season: and thank goodness that they do because I couldn't imagine the show without the three of them. Also featuring on a regular basis will be Matt Moran. They are all great presenters and see their role(s) as more than being judges: in MC Australia there is just as much emphasis put on mentoring and advising the contestants. The aim is to create a cookery fairy tale where a good amateur cook is developed by learning on the way through advice from the judges, masterclasses and from their fellow competitors and turned into a chef that could walk straight in to any top restaurant for a job.

The challenges are varied: the mystery box, the team challenges, the pressure test and of course, the dreaded elimination rounds. There are also opportunities for chefs that win challenges to go head to head with a top chef and if they win they are awarded an immunity pin to be used whenever they may be in danger. The pin can be used only once.

Season four is just beginning in the UK. At the beginning of the first week we see the top 50 being selected. From there the number of contestants is whittled down to 24. Then the series starts in earnest. It is already possible to work out some of the top twenty four from the snippets of commentary of the contestants between rounds. There isn't too much coverage given to those that won't make the final cut.

The show should run for about three months during which time there will be not only excellent cooking on show but great entertainment if the last three seasons are anything to go on. I streamed the whole series but I'm going to watch it again, and give readers an account of this years competition.

As George would say " Boom boom shake the room - we have three months to go!"

PERCEPTION

ABC NETWORK

STARRING Eric McCormack - Daniel Pierce ( Will and Grace)
         Rachael Leigh Cook - Kate Moretti (Robot Chicken, Psych)
         Arjay Smith - Max Lewicki
         Kelly Rowan - Natalie Vincent (The O.C., Boomtown)


It isn't very often that something original comes along these days, it's all been done before, but Perception is quite original. I'm not saying that it is good, but it does have an original idea.The main character of the show is a college lecturer in neuroscience  who also acts as a police expert. There is a little twist, however: he has psychiatric issues himself which include full blown hallucinations, an aversion to crowds and difficulties with social interaction. He employs a student called Lewicki to keep him to a routine. Despite these setbacks he has a brilliant brain and deductive powers to rival those of Sherlock Holmes.

The show manages to be in places both gritty and witty, presenting the viewer with main characters that are likeable.In each episode Pierce has to balance his advisory work with his academic work and his episodes of psychosis. He refuses to take medication.The problem with the show is there is no depth of plot. Pierce lectures on mental functioning so every week he is called in by Moretti to advise on a case that revolves around a person with mental problems. Pierce outlines the condition and each week a different mental illness is covered (The concept of what exactly mental illness is , of course is open to discussion. I use it here only to indicate that in the story this is how people are categorized).

Pierce is often in conversation with his dead girlfriend as well as other spooks. Each week a different ghost, sometimes historical ghosts will help him to solve the case. Excuse the pun but this is really a crazy premiss: that a police department would use as a consultant a man that is schizophrenic, not on meds and who talks to non existent people. Obviously somebody sat in an ideas conference one day and said: "Hey I have a great idea for a police consultant with a twist - lets make the lead character a schizophrenic who just happens to be an expert in mental illnesses!" To bypass this awkward plot hole Pierce becomes a police consultant because Moretti was a student of his.

Rather annoyingly his apparitions solve the case(s) by coming up with big hints and clues for Pierce: so really he is projecting his own thoughts through his hallucinations. His dead girlfriend seems to serve the purpose of helping him deal with situations and rationalize his behavior. As is the case with TV detectives he always comes up with the answer out of the blue towards the end of each episode.

I can't help feeling that Perception is nothing but a novel idea. The plots aren't good enough to stand up as an average detective series but there are not enough laughs in it to call it a comedy. My feeling is that the comic element should be beefed up because the show is weak as a detective series. Some of the writing though indicates that it could easily be turned into a comedy spoof. It is on the ABC network which probably means it may not reach the end of season one, let alone get a season two if it doesn't get ratings quickly.

In closing, this is not a program that will make many of us rush home to see it, or have us set the Tivo to record it. It is, to use an old adage Chewing gum for the eyes. I perceive a short run for this show.