‘MasterChef’ season 4: Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich talk higher standard

Are you bummed out that “American Idol” is gone for the year? Don’t be. A show that drew almost the same great ratings this past summer as the singing show did this spring is coming back on the air starting Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time: “MasterChef.” It’s a chance to see what the best home cooks in America have to offer, and it really combines some of the best things from the other culinary competitions that are out there. With “MasterChef” you have the creativity of “Top Chef,” the discipline of “Hell’s Kitchen,” the technique needed for “Iron Chef,” and also the inspirational quality of a non-cooking show like “Shark Tank.” These are people who do not make a living putting food on a plate, but would like to.

Based on the first video that we have from the new season, it certainly feels as though these people are ready to try and make some of their cooking dreams into a reality. In the video below, Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich (who hilariously sets money on fire like a cartoon super-villain), and Graham Elliot each talk about what makes this competition so special to them. Not only that, but they share some of the changes that you’ll see this season.

1. The competition will take contestants into the wild for the first time where they will have to work together to find their food.

2. Some of the best auditions ever take place during the early rounds, but also some of the weirdest (including one based on macaroni and cheese).

3. Somebody walks in with an ostrich! This doesn’t really matter when it comes to the story, but this seems like an especially insane thing to do given that these creatures can be deadly.

In case you want to know more about “MasterChef’s” return to TV, we talked to Graham Elliot this past fall about the casting process. You can read more about that over at the link here.

Photo: Fox