re: Anyone watching MasterChef Junior? Spoilers inside...Fox Tuesdays @ 7:00

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Kosmo

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You must expect a little coaching for kids to pull off top notch restrnt dishes. I expected everything you posted.

Love the show. Whole fam does. Inspired my 7 yr old to do a little cooking with us.

My 7 year old just got an opinel jr. chef knife for his birthday because of this show. so far he's learned to halve tomatoes, chop onions and potatoes. No salmon en croute yet

Just watched it on the DVR. Anyone else watch yet?

Jimmy got screwed last night. Obvious the desire for Andrew in the finals got him there. Hated it for Jimmy.

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I don't think this really takes anything away from the show.

They still have to perform from memory and practice.

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Yeah, you are being naive if you think there isn't coaching and other crap going on behind the scenes. I'm sure they also have a fair amount of time to plan the dish beforehand which they never show on screen.

With that said, it is still very much enjoyable. I'm still confused why they aired two MC Junior seasons back to back tho

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Jimmy got screwed last night. Obvious the desire for Andrew in the finals got him there. Hated it for Jimmy.

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Based on the description, that's what I thought as well. I was expecting Jimmy to have the edge. Andrew reminds me of the first season winner. I like the boy, but I thought Jimmy should have gotten in over him by a few hairs.

I think they're worried that Nathan won't show as well. I felt like Nathan was sort of sleeper who pulled up to the front later in the show. Did I forget some early stellar performances on his part? He's a cool kid.

I would like to see a 10-20 year followup with all of the contestants and see if they have stayed the path of becoming chefs. I can see a handful of them continuing on through into professional kitchens (all seasons combined) but I feel as if many of these kids will encounter a rude awakening when they actually encounter a real kitchen with a real staff.

I enjoy hatewatching the show. There is no way any of those kids had ever made salmon en croute, let alone eaten it. And homemade sausage? No one appearing on that episode had ever come close to making sausage before that taping. I love that the judges remain so positive with the kids, but there is plenty of camera trickery with MC Jr.

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I assumed they hadn't cooked most of the dishes before. I thought that was a point of the show.

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With the way shows are staged now I would think they would teach them beforehand

Some thoughts about the show and this season:

I liked Riley, but in all seriousness he should not have been on the show. A child as young as he is will not win the overall competition- see Abbie from last season. Riley may not have made it out of the sushi round if not for being paired up with Andrew. As a viewer we want him (and others like him) to win, but having 8 year olds compete with 12 year olds is unfair and is done mostly for emotional value. Yes, Riley beat many kids older than himself and Abbie made it to the semifinals, but I cannot believe that an 8 year old will win MasterChef Jr.

It infuriated me that Kayla was on the show as long as she was. I thought that Ryan Kate was better than Kayla, and Kayla should have gone home during the sushi challenge but I think that the producers didn’t want to send Jenna packing and therefore had to keep Kayla around. She was the closest that I came to identifying as a villain in the competition.

Did Jimmy get hosed in the semifinals? Maybe. But I think that Andrew will be a stronger competitor in the final against Nathan. I don’t like a Jimmy/Nathan final more than a Andrew/Nathan final because Jimmy and Nathan have similar laid-back attitudes, which might have been a bit boring. Both Nathan and Jimmy appear to have a high work ethic and confidence in their skills, but I think that Andrew provides the competitiveness that will drive Nathan in the final.

Concerning the fact that the kids have never prepared many of the dishes before arriving at the show, yeah I get it. We want to be amazed that these kids can be so creative, technical, smart, fast, innovative, and confident in a skill that many adults struggle with in their lives. Their passion for cooking at such a young age is incredible. But, with the way that the show is edited makes me think cynically in the moment. When one of the contestants says on camera that they have made it before, my mind adds “Yeah, earlier that day or the day before”. And when they say something to the effect that they are unfamiliar with an ingredient/dish, my mind adds “But you made something similar earlier that day or the day before” or “Maybe you need to make more notes when the chefs teach you how to make this dish before the taping of the show”.

I want to see more regional diversity on the show. I would really like to see a couple of kids from the Gulf Coast and the PNW compete against these metropolitan NYC and California kids. Maybe do a East Coast/West Coast/Third Coast season.

Wow. Wanted him to win after Jimmy got hozed. Never believed they would have let him tho! Congrats!