Well, first, just because there are already 37 cooking-competition shows on TV doesn’t mean there are enough of them on Tuesday.

Second, what else are you gonna watch at 10 p.m.? The new Leno?

And third, aside from having chefs, judges and a knife in the logo, this show is different from anything out there. (Note: All culinary competition shows are required to have a knife in the logo.)

Herein, some backstory about “Chopped,” my second Food Network operation, which premieres on Jan. 13.

“Chopped,” which was created by the NYC production company City Lights Media, has actually been percolating at Food Network for a few years. It started out as a pretty over-the-top conceit that I’ll tell you about sometime over drinks, but ended up as a clean, simple, yet stylish show, where the emphasis is on chefs, food and judges.

Every episode features a different group of four chefs, none of whom continues on to future episodes, and three rounds: appetizer, entrée and dessert. Each course comes with its own basket of mystery ingredients—anywhere from three to five—and all of those items must be included in the dish. Originally, the chefs were given 30 minutes per course to conceive, execute and plate four servings of their dishes; but about three shows into production, the net in its vicious wisdom decided that was too easy (!), and shortened the appetizer course to 20 minutes.

After each round, the contestants present their creations to our panel of three judges, assembled from a rotating cast of excellent NYC chefs. And the creator of the least favorite dish is, in a word, chopped. The last chef standing—in every episode—receives $10,000. Not bad for one day’s work.

Shooting the first season of this show was one of the best experiences I’ve had in television—and not just because we did it in three weeks (which helped). The set is sleek, the producers, crew and judges were amazing, and Food Net’s culinary department proved once again that they’re the best in the biz. Also, to my enormous pleasure, we had a Steadicam, the coolest piece of camera equipment going (and brilliantly wielded by a fearless shooter who I quickly dubbed—what else?—“Shakes.”)

But what really does it for me is this: All the drama, all the tension, all the tears and tribulations and triumph come exclusively from the contestants’ ability to cook something great—or not—under pressure. That’s it.

I mean, what would you cook? Imagine being handed a quail, artichokes, smoked paprika, bok choy and cornflakes. Imagine you have 30 minutes (max) to conceive, execute and plate a dish that utilizes all of those ingredients, while three well-known chefs and the Food Network audience picks apart your every move. This is, in some ways, more difficult than the great “Iron Chef America,” which requires chefs to focus on only one secret ingredient—far easier than integrating five distinct foods, and also automatically providing your menu with a theme. To say nothing of the fact that the chefs who make it onto “Iron Chef” are senior, experienced artists at the top of their game. “Chopped” competitors are for the most part younger chefs, and are considerably more freaked out about cooking on national TV than, say, Laurent Tourendel or former White House chef Walter Scheib. As such, panic ensues. Sweet, sweet panic.

There also is a culinary straightforwardness about this show that I find really satisfying, and particularly appropriate for a company called Food Network. There is no sleep deprivation, no “Big Brother” house full of bunk beds and cameras, no booze-fueled personal drama (as much as we all love the brainwashing and catfights on that certain show I used to judge). There are no team or catering challenges. Best of all, there is no product placement, so you never see passionate lovers of good food being forced to use packaged convenience junk thanks to Kraft/Altria/Exxon’s sponsorship. (In fairness, we do occasionally throw in a jokey ingredient, like, say, gummy bears, just for laughs. But we don’t take sponsor dollars from Gummy Inc. to plug their product.)

So, in short, “Chopped” is a different kind of show. Check us out at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13, and see if you like it as much as we do.

Coming soon: news from season two of the new-and-improved “Food Detectives,” now in production in NYC, and premiering at 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20!

Cheers,
Ted 

What’s on your mind?
E-mail Ted and he’ll answer you in his blog.