Cutthroat Kitchen

A lot of people are complaining about how this show brings out the worst in people who are competing. It's like those people believe all Chefs and cooks are somehow superior and should never behave like that. Ridiculous! The show is entertaining and nobody forces the contestants to play the game. They do it simply to try and win some money and exercise their culinary skill.

The dishes that Alton makes them create are not rocket science, they're ordinary foods that most of the viewers are familiar with and probably many of us have made at one time or another.

MOST of the fun in the show is seeing some of the ways the chefs actually get around the sabotages because it does show their creativity and in some instances, absolute culinary genius.

I have YET to watch a single episode where I have not laughed out loud and with this show already going for 12 seasons, I only hope it goes for another 12.

In many cooking contest shows they do things like have 6 haute- cuisine chefs preparing six haute-cuisine dishes using ingredients I can't even identify, or they pair ridiculously incompatible ingredients (chocolate, sardines and cotton candy). I can't learn anything from such shows.

Despite the fact that some of the sabotages are so silly they detract from the show, the food the contestants cook, on Cutthroat Kitchen is normal everyday food, such a tomato soup made from scratch. THAT, I learn from.

Sometimes when I cook I don't have every last ingredient I want, or don't have proper utensils, or have to used a heat source that is not my first choice. I think that happens to all home chefs. When two chefs have took cook tied together at the waist, well, that's just comic relief and sometimes a lesson in teamwork.

Many of the reviews on here seem to be from people who miss the point of the show entirely. The sabotages force the chefs to be creative to overcome them. It is fun to watch them try to work around a crazy cooking vessel, a crazy thing to carry around, or a time waster. There is an educational component to the show. We learn how to improvise and make something when the ideal conditions are not there. That is good information. Alton Brown is adorable, as always, and is a key component to the show. Without him it would definitely not be as fun to watch. He is the one that provides a lot of the educational commentary on the show as well. It kills me that there are so many snobs out there that want to watch what would be the most boring cooking show ever - chefs cooking fancy food with no obstacles to overcome. Talk about boring. These are probably the people that watch early morning Food Network fare, which consists entirely of the "here is a chef who will cook a dish and talk about it" shows. I prefer primetime Food Network competition shows. And no, the one with the least amount of money is not always the winner in the end. Not even most of the time.

If you're tuning in expecting a cooking competition show, forget it. But if you accept the premise that this is a game show, it is quite entertaining.

Yes, the obstacles are ridiculous - but that's the fun of the game. Unlike "Chopped", where the mystery baskets feature obscure and often incompatible items - and which takes itself far too seriously, with pretension reaching new heights - "Cutthroat" manages to serve up a delicious blend of tongue-in-cheek malice with on-the-fly inventiveness that is fun and satisfying.

Forgive me, but if you take this show with a grain of salt, you could end up finding a new guilty pleasure.

This was our favorite food network show - so entertaining and clever and challenging.