Worst Cooks in America
Worst Cooks in America is an American reality television series that premiered on January 3, 2010, on the Food Network. The show takes 12 to 16 contestants (referred to as "recruits") with very poor cooking skills through a culinary boot camp, to earn a cash prize of $25,000 and a Food Network cooking set. The recruits are trained on the various basic cooking techniques including: baking, knife skills, temperature, seasoning and preparation. The final challenge is to cook a restaurant quality three-course meal for three food critics.
Celebrity Cooking Showdown
The top winner from each preliminary round advanced to the final round. However, due to low ratings in head-to-head competition with shows like "NCIS", "Gilmore Girls" and "American Idol", NBC pulled the plug before the finals were aired due to very dismal ratings (the Tuesday and Wednesday editions finished an embarrassing fifth out of the six broadcast networks in their 8:00 time slots). The network originally announced the two episodes would be available only on nbc.com, and the Thursday night (Day 4) episode was available to watch on NBC.com until the time it would have ended airing in the Pacific Time Zone (9pm PDT/12am EDT). NBC later reversed its decision not to broadcast the final episodes and ran them back-to-back on the night of Saturday April 22, though only those who watched the final round on nbc.com were able to vote on the outcome.On Monday, April 17, the three contestants were Cindy Margolis (paired with Wolfgang), Tony Gonzalez (paired with Cat) and Alison Sweeney (paired with Govind). In a 34-33 decision, Cindy's menu of Chinois Chicken Salad, Pan-seared Szechuan Beef and Baked Alaska narrowly edged out Tony's Caprese Salad Tower, Penne á la Vodka with Salmon and Affogado Italian Sundae. Alison's menu of Marinated Lobster, Blue-Cheese Stuffed Tenderloin and Citrus Crepes finished a close third with 31 points. Alison also suffered a burned hand when she grabbed a hot metal saucepan without a mitt.