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.
MasterChef (U.S. TV series)
This cycle continues until only 4 chefs remain, upon which the judges eliminate 2 chefs to select the final 2 competitors. In Season 1, 2 cooks would face off against each other to cook three dishes, with the one cooking the better dishes advancing to the finale. However, since Season 2, the 4 cooks remaining split into two teams of two. The best team automatically advances to the top 3, with the losing team facing off against each other. In the top 3, from Season 2 to 4, the winner of the mystery box gets first choice in choosing one of 3 ingredients, while the second best dish gets second choice, and the loser gets whatever is remaining. The 2 best dishes advance to the finale. From Season 5-6, the top 3 individually face each other to serve VIPs, and while the winner moves to the finale, the remaining 2 compete in a final pressure test for a spot in the finale. In season 7 the judges announce to the top 4 that 3 home cooks will be in the finale and they split into two teams for a team challenge. The losing team will face a pressure test where one will move on into the finale and one will go home. Starting from season 8 the top four home cooks compete in a series of 3 skills test in each one home cook moves on until 3 home cooks have gone into the finale and 1 home cook goes home. The final 2 or 3 face off in preparing a complete three course menu in a fixed amount of time (2 hours overall in the first 3 seasons, one hour per dish since Season 4) in which the judges evaluate both the individual dishes and the overall meal's composition. The judges then select the winner of "MasterChef", who wins $250,000, their own cookbook from season 1, 3-8, a MasterChef Trophy and the title of Masterchef, from season 7-8 the winning home cook get to be a celebrity guest on the Masterchef Cruise, and a "MasterChef" trophy. From season 2 and 9 the winner gets $250,000 and the MasterChef trophy.