MasterChef Australia

2009

Seasons & Episodes

  • 16
  • 15
  • 14
  • 13
  • 12
  • 11
  • 10
  • 9
  • 8
  • 7
  • 6
  • 5
  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • 0
8.2| 0h30m| TV-14| en
Synopsis

MasterChef Australia is a Logie Award-winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network Ten. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston serve as the show's main judges. Journalist Sarah Wilson hosted the first series, however her role was dropped at the end of the series.

Director

Producted By

EndemolShine Australia

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now

Trailers & Clips

Also starring Andy Allen

Also starring Jean-Christophe Novelli

Reviews

Clevercell Very disappointing...
Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.
TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
shadow461 The title says it all.. its THE best (not one of the best) cooking reality show.. no over the top judging and screaming by hosts.. honest and real feedback.. next door neighborly participants.. great production. My entire family is a fan and we are not Australians and we dont eat half the things they cook on the show! :)
leigh_ismond As a cooking and food lover this is absolutely my favorite cooking show on television today. I was a big fan of the concept of MasterChef.. as I always followed along with MasterChef Canada and US versions. When I came across the Australian version it was a game changer, and completely for the better.Not only does this show gives you all the information and techniques that make you personally a better cook, and to ultimately enjoy food to all its glory. You also get the privilege of truly growing and getting to know each one of the contestants and judges. (you'll smile, laugh and cry) The way the judges and contestant are always supporting each other and helping each other is a refreshing breath of air, compared to the US and Canadian versions which I feel more so with each season really focuses on putting the contestants against each other and almost with undertones of bullying. As well as the Mystery Box's and other completions AU really actually relies on the product of the food to make their decisions, not on a popularity contest like the other versions.All in all, this show is fantastic. You won't regret binge watching!
grasswhisperer I have had fun, finally, watching a version of Masterchef where the contestants are kind to each other and support each other. They behave in a professional manner while having fun-no pop tarts in 6 inch heels; no back stabbing; and, for me, no crude and coarse language. It's easy to watch and enjoy. The judges seem to have a kindness that comes out in so many ways. It may just be the best food competition reality show out there.I watched both the US version and the UK version and became disgusted. The language, the attitudes shown by the judges (and, often, the contestants) from each series turned me off so quickly that I gave up. I just happened to stumble across Masterchef Australia and I have, now, streamed all of the seasons (currently in the middle of the latest one) and it continues to be fun. One quickly comes to know each of the contestants and it is sad when one goes home.I have recommended this show to others and do the same here. Go; watch; and enjoy the only reality show that I watch.
tedg The basic idea here is that the fundamental story in life is as a contest. Everything is a competition, and every competition has a single winner. The intrigue in observing such a story is the level of character brought to the context. We are supposed to glorify the effort if we judge it worthy, comforting 'good losers' as they affirm the honor of having competed.With this notion, you can bring the idea of competition to the basics of life. So it was no surprise to me on a visit to Australian TeeVee to discover a contest brought to one of the most basic gifts in life: the ability to enhance the human encounter by preparing food. Yes, I know there is a distance when the process is industrialized, where the chef is a paid craftsman producing for anonymous eaters in another room. But even then, the values are to serve the experience of the people consciously gathering to share one of the three most intimate encounters we have.What we have is a setup that shoehorns cooking into a competition. I understand these shows are popular worldwide, so that fundamental story of life a contest trumps all. We have exotic locations and challenges. We have a self-important 'food critic,' carrying an obnoxious, superior attitude as if we could really trust him. His authority is shored up by real celebrated Australian chefs who are fine with the additional celebration and the role as winners in a higher level contest. The one I saw is someone whose food I have eaten.This comment is on season three, episodes 11 and 12. In the first of these, contestants are flown to New York's Harlem to compete in cooking 'soul food.' For international readers who don't know, the role this food plays is identical to food in any other ethnic community; it binds tribes with the only metric being how 'genuine' it is. It has to be prepared by black Americans using cheap, usually unhealthy, ingredients. Intuition and tradition are supposed to guide the cook, removing this food from any notion in a fine chef's world. In the same way that it is 'genuinely black' to rely on folk wisdom instead of a college eduction, cooking soul food is something like teaching an elite physicist to dance. A soul food restaurant is supposed to simply be a wise old woman's kitchen.So that show was weird, especially our bumpfy judge sitting amongst the now dead wise old woman's family, judging the food.But that was tame stuff compared to the show that followed. The competitors were to present meals to the Dalai Lama for his judgment!The disconnect here is amazing, and I spent a whole day wondering what this meant for the fabric of the universe. The tulku had recently ceded his political role to the thugs in Beijing, signalling the end of the only spiritual government left. He also had made some — to me — disturbing pronouncements on torture, human rights and his own anticipated future incarnation. Perhaps he had lost his mantra. Perhaps those of us who are not serious practitioners but who understand his world would not even have what he represents any more. Was he really committed to ending the dreams of a striving soul based on the relative lack of pleasure that soul could deliver on demand?As it turns out, his presence so completely overwhelmed the trivial concept of the show that this was never an issue. He peacefully said that he was a simple monk, and all such monks were to be thankful for what was placed before him. He blessed the contestants and left. Apparently he was in Melbourne for some meeting of religious leaders, so some of them were his 'guests' at the table, with no compunction about being judges. Their role in society is as sanctimonious judges and there was no problem satisfying the complex ordering: two best (one superior), two 'safe' and three 'at risk' one of whom would subsequently be ruled unworthy. However, one of those had a property inherited (I think) from Dungeons and Dragons: elective one-time immunity in battle. Will she use it?The whole thing is disturbing. But I can see the appeal. The producers are happy for the main judge to be a man we despise, and they spend inordinate time presenting the innate goodness of the contestants, who we are reminded are 'just like us.' Without much experience in sorting out which is the least damaging waste of time on TeeVee, I can report (as sanctimonious judge myself) that this was interesting if seen as a contest for finding the right form of contest. I am lucky to have seen how a great soul walked through this. Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.