Last years TNIC was an awesome show and i would not miss it.i'm not so sure about this season for only one reason ( jeffery steingarten ) sp?? i can appreciate his knowlege and education , but his constant judging of the other judges is about enough to make one want to change the channel . he does the same thing as a guest judge on iron chef america and it's a treat when he is not on the show . he needs to keep his criticism toward the chefs,and not the other judges.

I was disappointed that this time it wasn't pointed out to the contestants that being "iron chef" means being good spirited even when facing competitors. I think Food network is slipping in it's quality. Even the arrogant Bobby Flay is gracious during competition.

I love the show, particularly the fact that the chefs are all talented and shouldn't necessarily be there purely for manufactured drama.

However, the first tasting was just that. It was disappointing and unnecessary. I'm sure (I hope?) the show will put that first tasting well behind it and move on to something good.

I Liked it! I have seen all these chefs on Top Chef or, in the kitchen competing against current TopChefs. Can't stand Chef Apleman, who seems to have a huge ego and doen't get along with others. Big egos involved but the bottom line is, can they COOK?

Yesterday I was watching Food Network (we had just gotten our cable package back after a year hiatus) and I saw the commercial for TNIC and thought to myself "I haven't gotten into a good reality show for awhile, and I love Iron Chef - I should celebrate our glorious return to cable by watching this show."

So at 8 PM central, my wife and I settled down into our basement and watched this show.

Overall? I liked it. I thought it was a bit more melodramatic than other reality shows I've enjoyed. I know that reality shows live and die by their bickering between contestants, but it felt pretty forced when I saw them bad mouthing each other during the first tasting.

They already have their personality archetypes in place (the arrogant one, the snooty one, the sensitive one) but all of them are immensely talented. I think this is my first reality show where the contestants actually are not just randomly selected people, but rather successful and very skilled before they even come in.

Looking forward to watching more of this. Glad to see that TV Squad was paying attention to this show.