Says Lorenzo: "Lots of people are confident cooks when they are in their own kitchen cooking with ingredients that they like to use ... it can be quite a different story when they have their kitchen and their kitchen removed from the equation."
They're not being given the dream of becoming celebrity chefs, just a chance to win a $20,000 cash grand prize along with another $20,000 worth of sponsor's prizes.
Starting half an hour later on Sunday is the fifth series of MasterChef NZ, which has tweaked its format - the competitors now come in teams of two which could bring it closer to the likes of Australian hit My Kitchen Rules, which has screened here on TV2.
The new MasterChef is screening twice a week on Sundays and Mondays at 7.30pm as the 15 teams get eliminated two by two.
The resident judging panel of Ray McVinnie, Josh Emett and Simon Gault have returned, their first task on Sunday night's premiere to select the duos from those who got through the initial stage.
On Monday's second episode they are joined by that one-woman Aussie cookbook industry, Donna Hay, who will be judging the little Black Forest cakes baked by the competing pairs.
The show is promising a "colourful cross-section of Kiwi couples" including fathers and sons, flatmates, friends and fiancees and even some exes who will be putting their relationships to the test under the combined pressure of hot stove, TV studio lights, and Simon Gault the shouting clock. You can also expect those voice-overs which will make a meal of the show's new doubled-up approach.
Drama pick: Homeland
Calm down,
Homeland
fans. After much delay, it's finally here -and it's worth the wait.
Season three of the award-winning CIA drama kicks off with the aftermath of the explosion that rocked the end of the show's second season. The CIA's forces have been decimated by the deadly terrorist attack, Brody (Damian Lewis) has gone to ground, Saul (Mandy Patinkin) is battling to take control of the CIA and Carrie (Claire Danes) is nearing another bipolar breakdown.
So far, so Homeland. Despite negative reviews that greeted this season in America, and a complete shut out during awards season, fans can take solace in the fact that Homeland hasn't lost any of its supercharged pace, handwringing tension, or knack for delivering a nailbiting cliffhanger when it counts.
When: Wednesday 8.30pm
Where: SoHo
What: That much delayed third season
Drama pick: Rake
After years of various
Underbelly
villains, it sure is nice to have an Aussie show which puts the Lucky Country's justice system in a good light. Just kidding.
Rake is a legal drama starring Richard Roxburgh as the colourful self-destructive Sydney barrister Cleaver Greene - the "Rake" of the title.
The ABC hit has been screening across the ditch since 2010 turned up here on Sky's Rialto Channel too.
It's also getting an American remake with Greg Kinnear in the starring role.
This first series has a who's-who of Australasian screen talent among Greene's mates (Danielle Cormack and Robyn Malcolm feature in recurring roles) and clients.
In the first show, Hugo Weaving plays a professor charged with murder - but is only willing to admit he's a cannibal.
When: Wednesday, 8.30pm
Where: One
What: Sydney legal shenanigans
Comedy pick: This Is Jinsy
Folks who like their comedy on the sketch-based, surreal and silly side are directed to this second series of the show that's had favourable comparisons to British comedy predecessors like
The Mighty Boosh
,
Monty Python
and
The Goodies
.
Series two has Stephen Fry, Rob Brydon, Sir Derek Jacobi and Dame Eileen Atkins as guest stars joining the show's creators Chris Bran and Justin Chubb on the fictitious Channel Island of the title where life seems to have taken a turn for the weird sometime in the 1960s.
The place is ruled over by Arbiter Maven (Chubb) and his assistant Sporall (Bran) and it's fertile ground for many a Spike Milligan-esque sketch and equally nutty song.
When: Thursday 10pm
Where: UKTV
What: More silliness from the Channel Islands
Crime pick: The Blacklist
It's a big couple of weeks for new and returning crime shows -
Person of Interest
and
The Following
are back on One on Monday nights too.
But the show which seems to be making the biggest noise is this stateside hit which marks the return of Boston Legal star James Spader to television.
He plays master criminal "Red" Reddington who hands himself into the FBI to help catch the villains he has been in cahoots with.
If it's not clear why he's surrendered, even more puzzling, is that he insists he only deals with rookie FBI profiler Liz Keen (Megan Boone), who has some mysteries to her own life that she needs to solve too.
When: Sunday 8.30pm
Where: TV3
What: Takes one to catch one
- TimeOut
