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"Come Dine with Me" is great! I didn't like the Canadian version at first, but warmed to it after a while....once the commentator stopped trying to be *exactly* like the British guy (who is hilarious) it got a lot better. My favorite was Cathy, who was so bad she made it to the "Redemption" special with 4 other horrible cooks. Girl got drunk prepping her food, and would up pulling her container of heavy cream out of the trash before whipping it up to serve with dessert. Also was entertained by that blonde magician with the big mohawk (Dylan?) who had his worm composter in the kitchen..... I grew up watching Natalie Dupree and Joanna Lund in amongst all the greater PBS food programs, so have a special place in my heart for the trainwrecks.

Masterchef UK and Masterchef: The Professionals are both stellar shows. Love the emphasis on cooking, love the seriousness of the amateurs, and love the challenges (mystery box, skills test, invention test, etc.). Masterchef USA is nothing like the original format. In general, the US-based shows all have too much emphasis on the competitive aspect of the show (earning ways to screw everyone else, lots of contestant conflict) whereas the original UK shows focus on the food. The contestants rarely have a bad word for each other, and there's none of the "twists" which so often cause conflict and backstabbing. Basically, the UK food shows almost universally beat the US versions. And I say this as a Canadian.

"Conviction Kitchen", with Mark Thuet and his wife. It was a trainwreck.