Chopped

In a world of fake reality television shows the simple idea of pairing 4 people up against each other competing for $10,000 while cooking offers more than most.

Being a bit of a foodie myself I really enjoy the mystery basket approach of secret ingredients. I find this show much more "real" than say Iron Chef America. The strict time limit and need to produce all 4 plates single handedly makes for more intense buzzer beater endings to each round.

The quick personal stories of each competitor in the beginning of the program set up each episode to give the viewer a sense of their expertise (or lack there of) as well as occupation. There have been teen chefs, stay at home moms, and military personnel.

The recent episode of accepting suggestions from social media sites was also a fantastic idea that I enjoyed as well.

My only suggestions to improve the show might be to add fan of the show to guest judge along side the professional judges from time to time. I would also like to see less "sob story" during the cooking portion of the show and focus more on the techniques and commentary from the judges. Also for those strange mystery basket ingredients I would like to hear more from the judges about what they know about it and how they might integrate the ingredient if they were competing.

Overall one of my top shows to watch each and every week.

A classic cooking show. They come up with some pretty creative basket ingredients, and I love theme days. If you like cooking competitions, this is a must watch!

Great show until Martha Stewart showed up. She is unwatchable.

It's excruciating this season. It has no connection to the video. It crashes to a climax at stupid times, changes style without reason and sorta sounds like my little brother's 8th grade band. When did a cooking contest become so ridiculously dramatic?! I wish I could eliminate the music track completely.

Season 45 was a disappointment to be honest. So unfair to the chefs that are trying to win. I understand the judges work with each other but when they do a versus show with the judges, there needs to be unknown judges that judge the meal. 2 episodes back to back and I feel like the chefs got railroaded. Scott won against Michael which is BS and the one before that was BS. She dropped her sorbet and burnt her cookies but still won. Stop playing favorites with your friends and judge it honestly. You guys harp on the basket ingredients being noticed and Scott's ranch could t be tasted but he still won. I just feel that it was very unfair to the contestants. Just my 2 cents.