America's Test Kitchen - The Next Generation

Is it possible to permanently botox a grin? If not, props to hostess Jennie Mae Jenkins for maintaining her dentition display throughout this vapid cooking competition. If you relish (see what I did?) the occasional hatewatch wallow, this Freevee stream may be right up your tomalley.

Four episodes in, the latest to leave the (kitchen) island was Rashmi, one of the few of 11 contestants who I thought would be a valuable addition to the ATK cast. The winner of the first dish in the episode was rewarded with the opportunity to screw with an opponent by switching ingredient baskets for a challenge in which everyone was making something different out of leftovers. That winner swapped with Rashmi, having surmised that she could make good use of Rashmiā€™s ingredients but that Rashmi would be doomed, which happened. Now I have at least a week to hope (not Marie) Antoinetteā€™s will be the next head on the chopping block.

Thereā€™s a varying group of judges, with a different ATK cook and top Boston area chef each show. The names in the latter cohort are unlikely to be familar to viewers in other regions.

Star Trek insiders and devotees will be particularly disappointed, but at least they have the Enterpriseā€™s food replicator to fall back on. If you decide to watch this competition, make sure to sit down to it with a cup of Earl Grey, hot.

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Is this a new cooking contest to pick new hosts for the show? Iā€™d not heard of this show. Is this on local PBS or is it only available on their online platforms?

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This was news to me too.

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Itā€™s to pick a new cast member.
Iā€™m not a fan of the competition shows, so I will be sitting this one out.

@Miss_belle link has all the info on how to watch it.

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Interesting, because I thought that all of the ATK people who appear before the camera are also regular staff members/contributors to Cookā€™s Illustrated. Is the contest winner only going to appear on the TV shows?

I enjoy a competition show where itā€™s about the skill of concern. See: GBBO, Old and mid-school Iron Chef, The Glow Up (Makeup! I have no interest in it, but itā€™s fun to watch skillful creative people do things!), even ā€˜Forged in Fireā€™ (zero interest in bladesmithing, but fascinating to watch). The moment it becomes a ā€œIā€™m not here to make friends!ā€ and ā€œhow can I screw with my competitors?ā€ as opposed to ā€œhow can I be a better baker/artist/smith?ā€ my interest level plummets.

So Iā€™m pretty sure this is gonna get a pass.

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This exactly. I like the skill part, which is one of the reasons I watch cooking shows in general. But if someone is going to force a competitor to use peanut M&Ms in steak au poive, Iā€™m changing the channel.

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Same. And lest we forget, Guy Fierri is the product of a Food Network ā€œSearch for the next Food Network Star!ā€ show.

I drread the thought of Adam Levine declaring the winner of the ā€˜best kitchen mixerā€™ study and rolling out the winner with pinstriping and hot rod flames.

I agree itā€™s disappointing for a show like ATK to lower its standards to a FN mentality. Give the viewers what they want I guess. And as far as the regulars on ATK go. Everyone needs a job.

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Had no knowledge of the show, or the host, until reading this LA Times piece yesterday:

If that link is paywalled, this might work:

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2Ffood%2Fstory%2F2023-01-05%2Fvietnamese-food-crawl-jeannie-mai-jenkins

Pass.

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This is funny. ā€œHow to Watchā€ Americaā€™s Test Kitchen.

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Iā€™m not too fond of most of the contestants and the host. Was surprised Floyd Cardozā€™s son Peter washed out so quickly. Hated to see Rashmi go because she actually seemed knowledgeable and talented. Iā€™m not sure if I have a favorite at this point, maybe Jessica but she may not have the chops to make it all the way.

Iā€™ve been watching old seasons of Masterchef Australia lately. The seasons are too long, IMO, but Iā€™m really enjoying that show, much more than ATK:TNG, anyway.

I loved IC Japan, and Iā€™ll watch chopped here and there, but generally donā€™t like competition shows, save for Guyā€™s Grocery Games (Iā€™m being sarcastic, here.)

Had no idea this show was happening.

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Professional cannabis consultant Peter Cardoz seemed to think cooking skills are inherited and never missed an opportunity to namedrop, perhaps because of the trauma of losing a parent to Covid, in the first months of the pandemic. I recognized his fatherā€™s name because he appeared on Kitchen Nightmares, enlisted by Gordon Ramsey to revamp the target restaurantā€™s menu. Floyd Cardoz was a successful NYC chef but not, AFAIK, a national name. His son was over-confident and did not take on the advice of the judges. He clearly deserved the boot in the first episode. I suspect the reason they gave him another chance was the hope that he HAD learned something from his father but had stagefright. Yet even when departing, he was egotistical. I was glad to see him leave.

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Agree. I do enjoy shows that highlight talent and skill over manipulated drama. In this vein, based on the shows you mentioned, you might like Pottery Throwdown on HBO. It has a GBBO vibe where the participants appear to genuinely respect and support each other. Conversely, avoid the just released ā€˜Pressure Cookerā€™ at all costs.

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I donā€™t currently have HBO but I, uh, found that online a while back and thought it was a lot of fun, esp when the chief judge would get all emotional when some contestant would do something particularly well. It was a less smarmy version of the Hollywood handshake.

I didnā€™t know it was still in production! Thanks for letting me know!

A Long Time Ago (when I still had a crt tv in my bedroom, so it must have been before 2000), I woke up one night, the TV was still tuned to the Food Network, but there was this show on - in Japanese- subtitled - I had no idea what was going on ā€¦. Itā€™s the only Iron Chef Iā€™d ever. watch again. Lol. So ā€¦bizarre.

I donā€™t watch the food network anymore.

By sheer coincidence I just stumbled across Landscape Artist of the Year, another UK show of, well, landscape painters painting English scenery. Itā€™s very VERY English, very ā€˜artyā€™ and so low key and low stakes (despite a prize of a Ā£10K National Trust commission) itā€™s practically meditative.

Itā€™s on Tubi, a free ad-supported streamer. You donā€™t even need to log in.

Tubi is where Iā€™m watching MasterChef Australia. Iā€™ve seen some of Landscape Artist of the Year there. Portrait Artist of the Year is good, too.