2. Chopped (Food Network)
Hosted by Ted Allen it lets four professional chefs battle each other for $10,000. The chefs are all given a basket of ingredients that are usually on the wacky side (watermelon, sardines and pepper Jack cheese sauce for example), the ingredients change as they make the three courses. The chefs are usually polar opposites (Texan food, vegetarian, new school and a pastry chef, for example) and after each course is judged one chef is sent home. The wacky ingredients that the chefs havent worked with is what keeps this interesting, plus they chefs only find out their main ingredients on the day. Unlike the amateurs on Masterchef its fun watching the professionals sweat over dishes theyve never been near. How you can get work in a top New York Hotel and not know how to cook lobster is beyond me. Food Network then went a little mad and had the spin of Chopped Champions with past winners and then Chopped All Stars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ9NK-TXnvs
For fans of: Top Chef, Hells Kitchen