Reality cooking shows have tended to focus on the winners -- until last night's debut of Worst Cooks in America. The Food Network's latest has 12 cook-testants, each vying to go from the worst cook in America to winning $25,000.
For this six-episode series, contestants are split into two competing teams, one guided by Anne Burrell (the tough but fair chef) and the other by Beau MacMillan (a significantly more serious Mario Batali), for a series of elimination challenges.
Although Burrell and MacMillan are star chefs with genuine cooking ability, it's frustrating to watch people butcher the basics of kitchen safety and preparing a recipe. While it's easy to envision a college roommate or relative on the show, something is lost in the shooting or cooking challenges -- mainly empathy. I don't care whether someone's chicken is raw. I just find myself worried for the judges and slightly disgusted.
And because the show is meant to lift up the contestants in the vein of The Biggest Loser rather than belittle the inadequacies of the entrants a la American Idol -- there is no relief in humor or feelings of superiority. On Top Chef or Chopped -- any competitive show that features trained chefs -- the contestants are often visibly bothered when they are eliminated. Here, though, attempting to better the lives of the participants costs the show compelling elements of drama.
The entire process feels closer to summer camp or a cooking class -- those who go home seem more excited that they had the opportunity to learn how to tie a roast.
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