Whats Hot On TV

The foodies seem to be overrunning our reality TV lately with three shows that debuted less than a year apart, yet are each now undergoing their fourth successful season. They seem to have something for everyone, a dream to match every foodie’s desire, with prizes that include opening up a new restaurant under a known label, seed money to open up a restaurant of the winner’s choice, or the winner’s own show on The Food Network.

Debuting in spring 2005 within a week of each other, Hell’s Kitchen and Top Chef seem to be vying for the same viewers. What sets Hell’s Kitchen apart is that the aspiring chefs work under world-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay, putting up with his many rants, raves, and insults. This season it almost seems like producers were going purely for entertainment value, as the talents of the chefs seem at sometimes questionable, with no clear winner with just five contestants left.

Patterned after the very successful Project Runway, Top Chef is slightly more generic than Hell’s Kitchen, and instead of having one egomaniacal ranting judge, it has a panel of somewhat nondescript judges in Tom Colichio, Gail Simmons, and Ted Allen, better known as one of the personalities from Queer Eye For a Straight Guy, and a separate host in Padma Lakshmi. This season’s finale airs this Wednesday night on Bravo, and looks to be a hard-fought battle.

The Next Food Network Star started its fourth season at the beginning of the month, and by its own press release, they are claiming that the premiere was the most-watched and highest-rated on the network to date. They’re apparently trying to hit more records as next week they pull out Martha Stewart as a guest star and the contestants work to impress her. All the prison jokes aside, it still has to be said that it’s pretty damn cool to have her there.

It’s just a great time to be a foodie. Whether you’re serious about it, picking up tips on some great items to add to your own menu, or just a casual fan, enjoying the good food that you see before you, even if you didn’t know what a risotto was before watching it show up on Gordon Ramsay’s menu year after year, it’s just a great time.

Photo courtesy of tv.yahoo.com.

For more information on these shows, see SirLinksalot: Hell’s Kitchen and Top Chef.

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