I was spending some quality time with channel 10 the other night. It was blathering on about how good it’s life is now, and I was only half listening. But I did hear it accidently say Masterchef’s name when it was talking about its new friend, Jamie Oliver’s Road Trip.

Oh, you guys… Picture: Chris Pavlich.

You see, Channel 10 needs us, guys. In recent times it was on top of the world: Masterchef was the most watched non-sporting event in Australian television history, with the finale reaching a peak of over four million viewers.

It was raking in sponsorship and commercial money, there’s book royalties to look forward to, it seemed like things could never go wrong.

Those were happier, innocent times, and we all saw that the end was coming. Now that Masterchef is gone, Channel 10 is going through the classic signs of a breakup, and needs us more than ever. Sure, it’s trying to convince us that it’s fine with newly imported Undercover Boss, and back-to-back episodes of The Simpsons… but we all know that it’s just trying to be brave.

It’s even trying to convince us that it can still be friends with Masterchef, which is why Adam and Callum can turn up on other shows and remind us of the good times it spent with Channel 10.

This is a textbook act here, and they’ll probably keep it up for a while. Heck, I’m sure they even occasionally ‘accidently’ call Matt Preston to see what he’s doing… just to casually enquire if he’s moved on and found someone else.

It’s not just Channel 10, people all around Australia are finding themselves just a little bit lost. I myself got a little bit caught up in the hype towards the end, and now find more time in my evenings than I’ve had in a month.

A friend of mine finds herself wandering the streets at night trying to peer through people’s window to watch them cook, and is trying to use A Farmer Wants a Wife to fill that hole left by Masterchef. It’s a coping tactic I’m sure many Australians are resorting to. Life moves on.

In time, Channel 10 will recover. It won’t be quite the same for a while, but that’s where it needs us, as it’s viewers, to be patient and understanding. We’ve been there for the good times, but we need to be there for the bad times as well – because that’s what viewers are for.

We might begin to lose a bit of patience when in a few months time it will start turning up to parties with it’s newest show on it’s arm, Junior Masterchef. This show is notably younger and has more to offer, but will bear an uncanny resemblance to Masterchef.

If that isn’t a sign of a mid-life crisis, I don’t know what is.

Most commented

17 comments

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    • stephen says:

      08:24am | 30/07/10

      I’m waiting for the pint-sized lawyer to break out in song.
      This may stop the fool from laughing.

    • Shaun Ashford says:

      08:46am | 30/07/10

      How many people need to burn their fingers on some form of french pastry before we realise that the show is about amateurs playing survivor in the kitchen.  Still…..I like it and admit to watching the final.  They need a hybrid: Biggest loser meets Master Chef meets Worlds Craziest Drivers.  Ratings!!

    • Rebecca says:

      10:36am | 31/07/10

      Biggest Loser and Master Chef in the same TV studio? Yes I can see the news headlines the next morning: “15kgs of cooking chocolate mysteriously dissapears from Master Chef kitchens”...

    • Adam DIver says:

      08:49am | 30/07/10

      Funny? No
      Informative? No
      Interesting? No

      Pointless? Yes

    • Matt M says:

      10:54am | 30/07/10

      Adam,
      You are a shining example of why Darwin’s theories no longer apply to humanity, since Duelling was outlawed.

      Get a hobby.

    • Adam Diver says:

      03:33pm | 30/07/10

      Fair comment, I kind of regret being so harsh, but I fail to see apoint to this article. Its not even a conversation starter look at the comments. If you could enlighten me to a point to this other than the chance to mention masterchef again I would be most appreciative.

      Besides I have excellent reflexes, I like my chances in a duel.

    • Masterbore says:

      08:58am | 30/07/10

      As soon as I heard the term “Post-Masterchef Depression” I knew that this infatuation with cooking had gone too far.

      I enjoyed the show on occasion but the fact that Adam’s face is now sprawled on most TV channels has me reaching for a book or a DVD *yawn*

    • Dan says:

      10:42am | 30/07/10

      All too true. And we all know it’s only a matter of time before Channel Ten wakes up bleary-eyed and rolls over to discover he did something he shouldn’t last night—as Big Brother 9 stares lovingly from the other side of the bed through blinding peroxide hair and mascara that would make a panda blush.

    • Sheedy's Left Foot says:

      11:02am | 30/07/10

      I too was loss.

      I needed a release, a way to vent my spleen, to relase the contempt I had for fellow man. The desire to carp on, to criticize to put down those trying to better themselves. The inner hatred and contempt for humanity we all have needed a way out.

      The I saw the light, or rather I wandered into the loungeroom when ‘The Farmer Wants a Wife ’ was on. Never more have I seen a group of wretched wannabees trying desperately to find meaning in their lives through reality TV amd the promise of possible marriage to a farmer. They’re truly are living the dream.

      Now I am safe in that I have my release again, that I can pretend to the world that I am nice because the blackness comes out through my TV therapy. Thank you to Channel 9 for this one.

    • chris says:

      11:36am | 30/07/10

      You lost me on the first line. “Spending quality time with Channel 10” is a contradiction in terms.

    • dancan says:

      12:08pm | 30/07/10

      I watched one episode of Undercover Boss.  Never again.

      It’s stupid.  These CEO’s “rough” it for one week, doing five different shifts in different jobs and at the end they’ve apparently had a change of heart and a revelation about life.  One scene especially annoyed me.  After spending a few days in various jobs, the one thing that really gets our CEO fired up and ready for action is a blinking ceiling light.  He’s so enraged by this light that he calls up one of the board members to complain.  WTF?

      At least undercover millionaire (the UK version) had these people out in the community actually doing something.

    • chris says:

      12:57pm | 30/07/10

      Good call. There are so many fantastic “reality”/doco shows out there I couldn’t ever be bothered with dreck like masterchef. “Blood Sweat and Takeaway” springs to mind. “Supersizers” currently on SBS is good as well.

    • Blurt Newtron says:

      05:13am | 01/08/10

      I did not watch any episodes and I would like to thank the academy

    • Zak says:

      03:41pm | 02/08/10

      ...and neither did I, not even the final where not quite 20% of the entire country couldn’t find something better to do.

      What was the point of MasterChef, anyone? Did it teach anybody to cook in a better way than any other cooking show? Did the mock drama and pathos actually contribute anything to anybody’s lives? No?

      Am I missing the point myself? Is it that a reality TV show doesn’t have any point and that we watch it simply becasue its there?

    • Shrif says:

      02:28pm | 10/03/12

      Ohhh i’m going to have to try this.  I love making Indian food.  One of my home girls is from New Dehli so when we lived ttheoger she taught me a few things, especially about the spices to use.  Thanks for sharing this punch recipe!!

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