Master Chef - I was annoyed that they don't introduce the chefs at the beginning of each episode - I missed the first few episodes. And I like that Ramsey is less of a hard-assed bastard in this show. Perhaps he's trying to live up to the name "Hell's Kitchen". But I also think that the contestants, in general, are less cut-throat than on HK.

I read somewhere that Ramsey's, um, language could be attributed to his past career as a professional football (soccer to us USians) player.

It was funny because I'd heard all this bad stuff about Gordon Ramsey and then the first time I ever saw him was on F word, an episode featuring his mom. It was very endearing.

His mother - and the other chefs' mothers - were on one show. That's the one where he said "Smile, mum. You're scaring the contestants." Endearing's the word.

And last night they eliminated my more-or-less favorite. sigh

I'm catching up on Masterchef. I hate Christian I want him to lose so bad. Especially after he gets called out on a bad dish and then says "I'm the best chef ever."

And no! Not Ben Star. I found his website and was reading his blog. He said that he doesn't like reality tv because he thinks it brings out the worst in people and when he went on the show he wanted to show that contestants don't have to be mean and backstabbing in order to have a following.

He has a self published cookbook, I may but that at some point.

I really liked Ben - he took such joy in the cooking. And, when things went wrong, he was so disappointed.

I think Ben's mother should start a cottage industry making chef hats (maybe matching aprons, as well).

And I want Christian to lose - he's SO arrogant and has no respect for the others. There was one show - last week, I think - when Jennifer's dish was praised. They told him to come up and taste it; when he did, he kind of shrugged and said, "It's good. I've had better." They've called him out, saying that he's stopped learning. And he never admits to a mistake.

I couldn't believe Christian thought chili would get a better reception than the meatloaf or any of the other dishes. Jennifer's meatloaf and side dish looked beautiful.

I thought it was odd the reaction to ground beef, veal, and pork was -- "what am I supposed to do with this?" When that's a classic meatloaf mix.

I missed the first five to ten minutes, so I had to infer what the ingredients were. I thought Ben's pie looked yummy.

Suzi is another one who can go - she's back there making faces and bad-mouthing the others ... and with even less justification than Christian.

When the lid was lifted they showed 3 mounds of ground beef and various veggies - carrots, peppers, potatoes.

As soon as I saw it I knew it was meatloaf mix and that's not something I grew up eating. We just had meatloaf made from ground beef.

Suzi's arrogant but she doesn't come across as completely disrespectful as Christian does.

She's just ... sour. And she went through a long period of doing badly, but not undertanding why they didn't like what she cooked.

Or meatballs!

I don't mind Suzi, either. Christian, on the other hand, is a complete dick.