(This article was written following the first episode of the first season of MasterChef SA)
Is it just me, or is the much anticipated MasterChef SA a load of tripe? Episode one of 18 aired Tuesday March the 20th, and we were treated to scenes of inept judges trying very hard to appear intimidating, and contestants doing their very best to outdo their American counterparts, shedding enough tears to extinguish a Cape Winelands summer fynbos fire.
There is a fine line between drama and melodrama, and the show’s director ought to know that… unless the intention was for the show to be overly melodramatic to the point of being over-the-top.
If, as it is suggested, MasterChef SA is modelled on the excellent
MasterChef Australia, then whoever did the observation of the latter, and subsequently modelled the former, clearly missed most every point.
MasterChef Australia ran for nine months, rather than 18 weeks, giving the contestants ample opportunity to hone their skills, which made the competition that much more fierce, and the standard of cuisine that much higher – the contestants who left the show along the way, had actually learned a great deal by the time they were axed, and the winner was equipped to run a multi-million dollar restaurant. How much can you learn in 18 weeks?
The Australian judges were not only well qualified, they were polished presenters, skilled in maintaining the level of tension without tediously drawing out each moment of decision. To their credit, none of them tried to emulate anybody else, preferring instead to formulate their own strong characters in relation to each other, and the intention of the programme. No grandstanding, no gratuitous comments, and meaningful feedback for contestants.
Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the local trio. Pete Goffe-Wood’s demeanour is an uncomfortable combination of Gordon Ramsey and Idol’s Simon Cowell, with each persona attempting to assert its authority in a Jekyll and Hyde like contest.
Benny Masekwameng comes across as an indulgent father who, when he must extend a reprimand, does so with significant discomfort, tinged with embarrassment.
Andrew Atkinson is MasterChef SA’s very own Spud, with the same degree of social ineptitude and bumbling desire for acceptance at all costs as portrayed in the title role of the film so effortlessly by Troye Sivan, but without the same effortless flair.
Okay, it is ‘Reality TV’, which is to say that is doesn’t in any way remotely reflect reality (why on earth would anybody watch it if it did?), but there is a vast difference between engagingly staged and compellingly watchable ‘reality’, and over the top melodrama, that attempts to hide the inadequacies of a poorly conceived and undoubtedly very expensive TV series, behind inept judges and overly emotional displays by the contestants. MasterChef Australia was very much the former, MasterChef SA is very much the latter, thus far.
Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong in the coming weeks, in which case I’ll gladly withdraw my criticisms, but if the other recent foreign clone to hit SA’s TV shores – Come Dine with Me South Africa – is anything to go by, I won’t be holding my breath.
(For the record the White Wine Ou is not Australian – Ed)
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