Only two shows have won the Emmy for Outstanding Reality Competition Program since the award was introduced in 2003. While Bravo’s “Top Chef” took home the Emmy in 2010, CBS’s “The Amazing Race” has won the coveted award all of the other years. With the creation of its “Around the World in 80 Plates,” Bravo appears to have thrown in the kitchen towel and made the decision to follow the old adage, “If you can’t beat them, join them.” “Around the World in 80 Plates” takes elements of both Emmy-winning reality competition shows and melds them into one.
Each season, “The Amazing Race” pits teams against one another as they travel the globe and take on various challenges in different countries. Each team is made up of two people, and the show is not only a test of their physical and mental strength, but also of the ability of team members to work with each other, as well as their stamina.
“Top Chef,” on the other hand pits up-and-coming chefs against one another in culinary challenges that are designed to weed out competitors who lack creativity in the kitchen or have trouble working under pressure. There are a number of team challenges, but most of the time the contestants are working by themselves.
Bravo’s new show “Around the World in 80 Plates,” which is hosted by handsome Australian chef, Curtis Stone, and the first and only female iron chef, Cat Cora, pits 12 chefs against one another as they travel the globe, taking on various challenges in different countries (hey, wait, that sounds familiar…) — okay, the show does differ from “The Amazing Race” in that all of the competitions have to do with food and cooking.
Unfortunately, for Bravo, the show did not have a stellar debut. It only drew an estimated 800,000 viewers on its opening night.
