The fifth TV show: #476 Iron Chef
I don't really watch cooking shows that often - they would usually be filler for me, and, well, I have enough to watch anyway. Iron Chef had some work to win me over, though.
It did. It did for a large part because it's not about teaching you recipes or showing ordinary people cook. Instead it's the best of the best - the best chefs in Japan as the iron chefs, challenged by other chefs from Japan and around the world. They're having fun creating new recipes and being creative, while still delivering quality. It's masters at work.
Then there's the dubbing. Originally a Japanese series, the show was dubbed for American audiences. This is slightly camp - a feature of the show anyway, with the host being rather flamboyant and introductions being appropriately over the top - with the writers not going too far, but the sports commentating style adding to a slightly absurd atmosphere. It's a lot of good fun.