Boiling point on MasterChef
Producers of MasterChef will meet with TEN to discuss changes for 2012 amid concerns about over-exposure.
- Published by David Knox
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Producers of MasterChef, Shine Australia, will meet with TEN execs to discuss changes to 2012 amid concerns about over-exposure.
The Sunday Telegraph reports executive producer Margaret Bashfield said the show’s future may not necessarily be in its current format. The changes are believed to raise the question of reducing the number of episodes.
“We have put together all our ideas of what we think the series should be… I can’t tell you at the moment if it will be different in that regard,” she said.
Season three ran to 14 weeks – 2 weeks longer than its debut season.
This year’s show came in for some heavy criticism, following uneven Immunity challenges, not enough Mystery Boxes, Dalai Lama stunts, accidental Spoilers, unnecessary lockdowns for contestants -and that unbelievable splitting of the Finale.
It wasn’t helped by the audience feeling that The Renovators hijacked a format it cherished.
In hindsight it may have been better to hold off Junior MasterChef altogether and rest the brand. But by that stage the train was already in motion.
The show is TEN’s biggest tentpole and their most lucrative revenue-earner. There will be enormous pressure to strip it once again. TEN managed to reduce the amount of hours for The Biggest Loser without losing the viewers, so it can be done.
But TEN is reportedly keen to broadcast another full season with programming chief David Mott stating “current plans” would see the next series stick to 85 episodes, across six nights a week.
Matt Preston recently told TV Tonight, “We need to work on the Immunity Challenges and make them better. We need to make sure that our perception of the contestants is the way you see them on screen.
“Hopefully it will be re-energised by having a different selection of contestants and that’s always a great joy. So much depends on what the raw material is like. Having Shine looking in different places I think we’ll get some good people.”
If they do strip MasterChef once again, they have to send out the right smoke signals to the audience that say ‘Ok. We heard you. We’ve fixed our mistakes.’
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- Tagged with Junior Masterchef, MasterChef Australia, The Biggest Loser, The Renovators
38 Responses
Lauren – couldn’t have said it better! This year suffered because we never got a feel for the contestants cooking, it was always group challenges and themes! Also let’s go back to serving the dishes to the judges as soon as the challenge is finished not three hours later when benches are cleaned and food looks and must taste terrible! Please make the immunity challenges some what difficult and let the chefs bring in their own recipe as they had done in earlier seasons!
Now that Negus is gone, I wonder if they’ll cut The Project will go back to half an hour at 6:30 and put the reality format back into 7pm?
Lets not forget that these are little kids who can cook so much better than most us care to admit.
If they get a heads up a day or two before as to what to start thinking about then so be it, they are little kids !
I love JMC, it is so much better than others in the genre, Bewdy & the Freak, Farmer Wants a Strumpet and heaven forbid what the cringe worthy Apprentice will serve up. And don’t get me started on the factual tv tripe.
I’d rather watch kids cooking any day !
it needs consistent challenges whether it be for immunity, mystery box or invention tests….
happy with proper chefs guesting on the show, but am over pretenders like eamon sullivan etc.
maybe only have it 3-4 times a week too
@Moanique I also can’t wait until MKR at least they only have 3 and then later 2 a week then 6!!!!! I’d never watch anything that sucks that much time out of you week in week out
Masterchef are going down the same isle as Big Brother and Australian Idol. The first couple of seasons were unmissable but suddenly the show becomes stale and ends up looking like one huge marketing exersise for the network and its advertising clients rather then being about the competition (e.g cooking,singing) and viewers like myself are quick to grab the remotes.
This programme is and always been extremely lame. Which is why the general viewing public loved it . People wake up to yourselves !
It’s easy. Less Judges, more cooking.
I’m actually really enjoying Junior Masterchef. I wonder whether the people complaining about it have watched much of it, or still have a bad taste in their mouth following the last adult Masterchef. I hope they don’t stop stripping it, as I really enjoy my nightly fix (to the point of taping it if I’m not home). However I really hope to see more of the structure we enjoyed in earlier seasons. The mystery box and invention test challenges are this program’s real strength – Junior Masterchef has reinforced that for me. Without them we lose that sense of the contestant’s involved. I definitely don’t think Season 3’s contestant’s were bland – I just don’t think we got to know them well enough because we didn’t see enough of their cooking, and the stories that come out through it.
MC needs a major overhaul if it’s going to succeed in the coming years. Personally, I didn’t feel emotionally attached to the show this year like I did in the second, and particularly, the first season. Thats what broke it for me, I did not really care who won in the end.
Judges need to cool it a little. Less theatrical. And a big one…. same formatting as the first season. Sunday Nights were boring. Where was the creative mystery box challenge, and then the multi cultural invention test? I missed that this year.
@Allie .. Well said. I think you summed up the feelings of many viewers. I would also like to see fairness in challenges for all contestants. I am still shaking my head over the three women who were given an octopus and told to smoke it and then the judges were shocked when they were presented with a horrible dish.
just get rid of the judges and get nicer not annoying judges and better set and better production and better contenstants then ill watch it and put it on 7 or 9 i hate channel 10
Do not forget unfair dismissals and favoritism!
@ camo, so saying that I don’t like Masterchef anymore, and that I do like MKR makes me a 7 puppet does it ? If your viewing habits are influenced by the comments you read here, then you really need to become a bit more independant 🙂
Whilst they’re at it could they perhaps raise the age limit to over 25? I’m so sick of early 20 somethings, my own age, getting through without any life experience other than uni and a 4 week European tour, who can’t even cook anyway…. Arghh!
Oh and also lose the team challenges.. it’s MasterChef… not MasterCaterer…
I always thought that Murdoch was concerned that the MS brand wasnt bringing in the revenue that it was meant to.But the show itsself has to be at least cut down to 4 times a week as its overexposed.But the biggest problem comes in 3s and thats the Judges.I cannot stand George or Gary anymore.Will i watch it again , yes ill try and give it ago but fo how long is the big question.
Moanique…how long you been 7’s puppet? its people like you that make me not want to watch 7….
I gave up after just a few episodes this year, It will always be the same as long as they keep those arrogant loud-mouthed judges. Bring on MKR 2012
I thought they suffered from over exposure when they screened celebrity Masterchef, so soon after the first MasterChef series, and then they kept releasing new series with little break, the first series was such a huge success – I thought they would have been better off making people wait longer between shows, I had the same opinion of Survivor – a fantastic reality show, that I would make the time for, but every few months there’s a new series on TV
if they are going to strip, just make it half an hour each night. and just stick to one series a year, junior/celebrity masterchef is overkill. they need to be thinking about long-term success rather than a short term spike.
So many things were wrong with this year’s season.
Too many extended 90/120 min episodes. This just made the show too heavy and overindulgent.
Too many mammoth large-scale challenges, per week and per whole season.
The loss of the weekly Mystery Box/Invention episode, which has always been the highlight of the week.
…and most importantly the contestant pool this year was too bland. There was not a single stand out personality this year, in contrast to the first two seasons which had a diverse assortment of likeable and unlikeable people.
I really think stripping of reality shows is going to come to an end very soon.
Far too many shows are jumping on it, and it really just stretches out a sometimes boring format.
I’m glad they’ve got the message that changes need to be made to MC. My 0.02c worth as follows: 1) Casting in Season Two was perfect, Season Three was absolutely terrible. Get the casting right, please, the entire season hinges on having the right contestants. 2) Messing with the Mystery Box was a very big mistake, make sure it comes back the way it used to be. 3) Less shock-and-awe stunts and challenges, more good cooking, please. It took until the closing weeks of the last series for me to even bother looking up a recipe on the MC website, as I found the food so uninspiring. For a keen cook like myself, that is an indictment on the show 4) Rest Junior MC, it’s gimmicky and is simply not necessary to have every year.
What they also need to take into account is that Seven runs the very successful My Kitchen Rules in the lead-up to MC’s season, which also contributes to viewer fatigue. That is beyond their control, of course, but something they need to think about.
I loved biggest loser this year and I think masterchef can benefit from stripping across 4 days rather than 6! Sunday – invention mystery box and pressure test elimination in one night.
Wed – team challenge
Thurs – Immunity and elimination (immunity decided upon Sunday elimination from team challenge)
Fri – Masterclass
IMO they also need to remember it’s about the food and Not the judges.