Joe Hildebrand on Network 10’s MasterChef

The body might still be as warm, writes Joe Hildebrand, but the time has come to ask about the future of MasterChef.

The body might still be as warm as Nigella Lawson’s freshly baked marshmallow and rhubarb cake but the time has come to ask: who killed MasterChef?

Ten’s once all-powerful, record-breaking ratings juggernaut managed just 545,000 on Monday night. It was beaten comfortably not just by Nine’s Lego Masters and Seven’s Big Brother but also by 7.30 and Australian Story.

It seems Ten’s mantra of “happy to be No. 3” will have to change to “happy to be behind the ABC”.

To be fair, no one can begrudge the show losing to Lego Masters, which seems to be compulsory viewing for any family with kids and a few nerdy grown-ups Just as no one could ever complain about losing to MAFS, which is its own televisual weather system.

But over the course of the last week, MasterChef has also been beaten by Seven’s Dancing With the Stars and Big Brother – ironically both shows Ten once had the rights to.

Ten’s mantra will have to change, says Joe Hildebrand.

And this brings us to the greatest existential question of all time – or at least prime time: What actually is a TV show? Is it the name? Is it the format? Is it the hosts?

The original Australian MasterChef took its name from a far more sedate UK version, put 240 volts through the format and added three largely unknown and unusual judges who ended up having the sort of chemistry money can’t buy.

This proved to be literally the case when Ten was unable to buy their services and two thirds of the crew jumped ship to Channel 7.

Meanwhile, Ten made what Humphrey Appleby might call the “courageous” decision to replace them with three younger and fresher judges, who were simultaneously both more hip and more conventional. The gamble paid handsomely in the first season but that now appears to have been bolstered by the “all-star” format featuring popular former contestants.

This year Ten decided to just revert the format back to normal. It’s hard to imagine what they thought the “wow” factor would be, unless it was the weird hologram of Nigella, who looked like she was trying to say: “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi! You’re my only hope!”

If only Obi-Wan had received the message in time.

Joe Hildebrand is on 2GB Nights with John Stanley on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8pm

Originally published as Joe Hildebrand on Network 10’s MasterChef