Chopped on FoodTV *all episodes*

[sushikitten]

Anyone else watching? I think there have only been two episodes thus far, and we've enjoyed both (even though the chef we wanted to win, didn't).

Of course, it's a basic ripoff of Iron Chef, what with the surprise ingredients and timed cooking, but I do like that each course has different surprise ingredients (anywhere from 3-5 for each segment) and that someone gets kicked off after each course.

[jsmeeker]

Yeah.. It uses the very traditional "mystery basket" challenge. Haven't seen an episode yet, but I am told it plays out like the Top Chef Christmas special from 2007. (where someone gets booted as they progess through courses)

[mrmike]

I'm liking it so far. It's not enough of a ripoff of either Top Chef or Iron Chef to annoy me and the pacing is pretty good. I could do without the faux dramatic pause before the reveal of each "chop-ee", but other than that it's not bad.

[TAsunder]

Better than expected. Worth keeping around as DVR filler for now. The best part is the detailed judge comments. If they were random celebs like are so often present on Iron chef, it wouldn't be as enjoyable.

[MikeMar]

Yeah it's a decent show, 30 min to make some of these things is TIGHT, so that is interesting to see

[Aniketos]

I found it interesting that in the first episode, they had a guy who applied to be on Top Chef New York (I recognized him as one of the chefs that didn't make it that went to critique the judges the one episode). When I was reading about this show online before it came out apparently the same guy was on Rocko DiSpirito's the Restaurant (which I never saw.)

He was on the first episode and was eliminated in the second round, think his 15 minutes are up yet?

[moot]

I've caught one episode. Felt like Food Network Challenge meets Iron Chef. I've already got enough Food Network filler on my TiVo, though, so I doubt I'll be season passing it.

[justen_m]

I've watched two episodes now, and I don't know if I'm annoyed or entertained. It seems like every course throws in one ingredient that is really off the wall. None were impossible, but the strange ingredient plus the other three ingredients really limits what one can prepare. I'd also like to occasionally see more time than just 30 minutes per course. Give them an hour and see what the can come up with.

One thing I notice is that the contestants tend to use fewer pantry items than I'd expect, but I think the time limit plays a bit role, and the pantry doesn't seem particularly well-stocked.

I do like the idea of four surprise ingredients, and treat it as a play-at-home game to see what I would come up with. Usually one or two of the contestants ends up making what I would for the first two rounds. For desserts, they usually come up with something quite a bit better than me.

[pmyers]

I'm liking the show. I too try to think of what I would come up with using the ingredients.

[Craigbob]

Ted Allan took this over Top Chef? He is totally wasted here. He could just as easily be replaced by a faceless narrator.

At least have him judge the food along with the other judges.

I like the idea of the mystery items, but overall it is a plae imitation of TC.

[sushikitten]

We try to come up with a dish as well!

I can't believe no one used the bran flakes as a coating to deep fry something. Yes, the one used them in the crab cake thingy, but it wasn't the same.

We would love to, one episode, have Ted say "Okay, judges, it's your turn to whip something up with those same ingredients. You have 30 minutes. GO!" And then have the contestants judge them. I am sure their dishes wouldn't be perfect, either.

I like guessing which chef is going to win from their little personal blurbs at the beginning... I'm 3 for 4 right now.

[Frylock]

Its not the best show, but its better than Ted's other Food Science show, which is almost a direct rip-off of Mythbusters, only focusing on food.

I like it. It moved along at a quick enough pace that its with watching again.