‘MasterChef’ season 5 premiere review: Trimming the fat leads to good results

“MasterChef” returned on Fox Monday night for its fifth season, and we have to say straight out of the gate that we admire the new approach to the show. Rather than giving us some useless “audition episodes” that really do not matter, the series instead decided to throw us right into the competition, and with a field of contestants that you already can get to know without thinking they are all going to leave immediately.

Outside of this small twist, though, it is fair to say that this is the same exact show that you saw last year, and then the year before. You had a cooking competition, contestants dealing with an avalanche of stress, and then the judges embarrassing some of them. Nothing more, and nothing less. If you love “MasterChef,” then you will love this season all over again … even in spite of the fact that there is nothing else new about the show.

When it comes to personalities, at least casting managed to scoop up a pair of interesting names. We find Leslie the Malibu single dad, who seems wealthy enough to be able to hire his own cooking teacher versus being on this show, to be a huge personality that will likely tick off some of the other contestants. Meanwhile, Francis is a postmodern cook who dresses like a reject from the Lonely Hearts Club Band. We’re happy that these two made it through the first night, at least since that allows for some opportunities for great TV in the future.

In the end, though, the challenge for “MasterChef” this season is going to be making us buy into this process all over again, and while things started out well tonight, we don’t quite know if they will stay that way. Grade: B-.

What did you think about the premiere? Share your thoughts with a comment.