My Kitchen Rules

7:30pm – Tuesday, February 21 on Seven

MY KITCHEN RULES is hosted by Pete Evans and Manu Feildel.

The second Monday in 2012 ratings comes round, and again its a night jam packed with new content. Apart from the battle between Seven’s Revenge and Nine’s Alcatraz – with Revenge so far waaay out in front – you had new Big Bang at 8pm on Nine – yes – 8pm was when the new episode was, double Person Of Interest from 9.30 on Nine, NCIS: LA and Hawaii Five-O on Ten, Supernatural on ELEVEN – followed by newly moved to ELEVEN Ringer as well as new episodes of The Closer on GEM. Note only that, Man Vs Food, Hardcore Pawn, Lockdown and Operation Repo on 7mate were all new episodes, while Akmal – Live & Uncensored was a free to air first on ONE. Phew! Let’s not forget ABC1 with its usual Monday night line up, and new Mythbusters on SBS ONE.

One has to ask, how did Thomas and Carla qualify for My Kitchen Rules? Two shots they have had now at their instant kitchen, both times they have scored below 50 out of a possible 110! Read more in Alicia’s recap here. If anyone needed an immunity idol – it would be them. Wait – perhaps hanging out for Survivor a little too much here! Channel Nine – where is Survivor: One World?

Speaking of channel Nine, Sports Fever on Seven had three digs at Nine in the first fifteen minutes alone. One made reference to a rather large soccer player that should be on Excess Baggage, another comment related to The Big Bang Theory, but the one that takes the cake is the cricket commentary team’s attempt to cross promote Alcatraz while an on screen banner appears for the show taking up at least one third of the screen space. One of the commentary team said he prefers Person Of Interest yet couldn’t properly name the show. The Sports Fever guys said “he didn’t watch it”! Maybe the commentary team are watching Sports Fever instead – they do usually air at the same time now!

I have to say, I remember watching the cricket back in January having to put up with the commentary team saying they couldn’t wait for Excess Baggage. These cross promotions often sound so rehearsed and insincere – do they really think they influence people? Seven were just as bad during the tennis. A dollar for every time we saw “after the tennis” on Seven during the Australian Open would have set up a sweet retirement fund!

That aside, and back to Monday night’s TV viewing, unfortunately, due to not watching Biggest Loser live or close to live, I already knew Ryan was eliminated before finishing watching the show. There in lies the problem of being on the internet working on Throng at the time. Ryan was definitely the obvious choice. Read more in Courtney’s recap here.

How was your night on TV? Tell us about it! We want to know!

Last episode, Pete and Manu dropped a bombshell when they announced the six lowest-scoring teams would be going around the country one more time. These teams failed to deliver at their first instant restaurant so how will they go the second time around? This time it’s do or die. After they’ve all cooked again, the weakest team will be eliminated.

First up, it’s Thomas and Carla’s chance to redeem themselves after their first instant restaurant earned them the lowest score in MKR history – 46/110. Will the Victorian friends learn from their mistakes? Or could a shock discovery in someone’s food spell the end for them?

The duo want there meals out on time and to improve on their presentation and make it taste good – that would help, remember the Kofta and 2 hour waiting time? If you don’t remember that you must remember the soapy lavender cheesecake  – the worst dish Manu had ever had!

For entree they are doing an asparagus, leek and tarragon soup with a poached egg . Pete is worried there are too many components vying for top billing. For main they are attempting a fig and pistachio crusted lamb leg with a beetroot, parsnip and goat cheese roulade and homemade bread, um anything else . Manu is saying that the duo haven’t been listening to him and Pete – that less is more and there are too many ingredients in this dish. Pete is worrying about time and the overall menu. They are over complicating things just like they did last time and he’s worried.

The restaurant is set and it’s game on. Carla is making a jus when Thomas realises they have a lot going on – no, really? Carla says the jus will take 5 hours and there is 2 hours left on the clock, please not again with the waiting. Dessert is lemon and lime tartlets with a passionfruit coulis. Pete thinks it will be a hard balancing act with all that tartness. After their last dessert Thomas feels under pressure.

These people aren’t that bright with their measurements. They are trying to weigh the flour and can’t tell if they put in 500g or a kilo of self raising flour. Why cant they use common sense – it looks wrong and they have to weigh the bag of SR flour to see how much they put in. Weigh it? Can’t they see if half a bag or quarter of a bag has been used? Mercy.

With the entree Carla is adding alot of tarragon and using packaged stock, she thinks it’s lovely – it looks awful. They make some Campari cocktails and Carla spills soda water over the pastry and Thomas is not pleased. Why does Carla keep calling him baby?

The guests arrive and Peter is whingeing again before the door is even opened – saying that they have had a Julius Ceasar done on them and that we don’t belong here! The group get to know each other and seem to be getting on when Pete and Manu arrive. Manu says if Thomas and Carla have common sense they will have listened to what was said last time and should do well.

Everyone is worried about the poached eggs in the soup when Manu enters the kitchen. Thomas doesn’t even know how to poach an egg, Carla does but this is freaking Manu out. Manu asks if they are organised as previously time was an issue and they say yes. The duo look scared and so is Pete and the guests just look perplexed. Manu has never had a poached egg in soup before and thinks it’s weird but ok, Pete’s egg is raw and he thinks they have over thought it and it’s quite average. Peter thinks there is too much going on, Scott thinks it’s slimy and Andy from Tassie has got something a little extra – a piece of glass.

While eating he suddenly yelps and sure enough, there is a small shard of glass. Meg and Megan have stopped eating and Carla comes in and is told of the situation. Thomas then declares that Andy has put it in himself and Carla agrees because of the prize money. I don’t think so. They haven’t even got the lamb on yet and will take 1 and a half hours plus resting time. The guests have been waiting for an hour and a half since entree and Pete questions if they are maybe waiting for the meat to rest when Peter says that you don’t need to rest the meat – WHAT! Manu is horrified and Peter says he never knew that you rest it for half the time you cook it. So let’s recap – this is a cooking show where people can’t poach eggs or know about resting meat.

Peter enters the kitchen and Carla has the lamb out and will rest it for 10 minutes, Pete then feels the lamb and it feels overcooked. Oh my goodness they think it’s undercooked so put it back in the oven for 20 minutes and increase the temperature. Main course is unfortunately served, it looks shocking. Pete says he loves creativity but the lamb is way over cooked and was shocked when it was served. Manu says there is no crust but a Christmas pudding mix and where is the sauce? He also says they have been given a second chance and they have not listened to a word they have said and he actually looks pretty mad. Everyone is trying to chew the lamb and are unimpressed.

The dessert is now being made and they are very happy. Pete says “finally – simple and uncomplicated” but it’s too acidic and he struggled to eat it. Manu disagrees he thinks it’s wonderful and he loved it and steals Pete’s. Meg, Andrew and Simon all struggle with it but Gary and Peter loved it. Now for judgement:

QLD – Peter & Gary: 4/10

NZ – Simon & Meg: 4/10

TAS – Megan & Andy: 3/10

WA – Emma & Andrew: 4/10

QLD – David & Scott: 4/10
= 19/50

Manu Fieldel –
Entree: 5/10
Main: 3/10 
Dessert: 9/10

Pete Evans –
Entree: 5/10 
Main: 2/10 
Dessert: 6/10

Thomas and Carla have recieve 49/110. Wow – at least they improved! Thomas thinks the teams all scored them harshly to keep themselves in the competition, when in truth he just needs to get some cooking lessons. He also says him and Carla are going to vote people unfavourably due to how he was judged. Is he the new Peter?

Thomas & Carla: 49/110 – VIC

Tomorrow Kiwis Simon and Meg

For Thursdays post on Sisters Carly and Emily click here

My Kitchen Rules, 7.30pm, Seven
Tonight see Thomas and Carla compete to stay in the competition. Remember the lamb kofta last time? Have they learnt their lesson or will history repeat?

Project Runway (Premiere) 8.30pm, Arena
Twenty designers must go in front of Heidi, Michael, Nina and Tim to make a case why they deserve one of the 16 coveted spots this season. Once they are chosen, the 16 designers barely have a chance to celebrate before being awoken at the crack of dawn with one of the toughest first challenges in the series’ history: Tim arrives at their apartment to wake up the designers and tells them to grab their bedsheets and come as they are. Their PJs and bedsheets are their fabric for the first challenge! Actress Christina Ricci serves as guest judge.

Ringer (Return) 9.30pm, ELEVEN
Henry thinks he has identified a suspect in the disappearance of his wife, Gemma, but realises that he needs to work with Bridget to find out more information.

The Big Bang Theory, 8pm, Nine
The friendship contract is in danger of being nullified when Leonard tires of Sheldon’s selfish ways, and Wolowitz is spacing out over selecting an astronaut nickname for himself.

Akmal – Live & Uncensored, 9pm, ONE
Join Akmal as he tackles such topics as growing up in Australia, the government, being an Arab in the modern world, the joy of radio, film and TV plus the history of the world through Akmal’s eyes.

It’s been a somewhat extended week in reality television land this week, all thanks to one more episode of The Biggest Loser. But we’ve also seen My Kitchen Rules rise and Excess Baggage shift, making this an interesting week. Without further ado, let’s recap!

First, The Biggest Loser! This week, the teams dissipated and reformed as two groups divided by sex. This occurred after the dramatic elimination of Brenda, which left Margie fuming at her now tethered alliance, especially defyer Bek. They were then forced to work together on the same female team, and the tension was obvious in the first training session.

The girls’ tension seemed to dissipate as the week went on, possibly due to their so far successful week. They won the contest, thanks mostly in part to Lydia, Margie and Michelle- and Lydia’s walk also left the boy’s with the disadvantage of being stuck with orange food for the week.

In temptation, Hamish devoured thousands of calories for immunity and the night away with a contestant of his choice. He decided to bring along Michelle, whom he has supposedly been growing fond off.

Could it be a romance? Well, if it is, it will join another rumoured but more cemented relationship forming in Simon and Lisa. If you don’t think these two are the perfect match, chances are you haven’t been watching the show.

The week ended on Hell Hill, a massive sand dune that the contestants had to walk up and down 50 times in relay form. So far, the girls are ahead- but not by much.

Elsewhere in the week, Ryan has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The contestants were determined to not let him win immunity due to his laziness and lack of drive. Shannan was seen having a massive go at him in Friday’s catch up episode.

Speaking of which, yes, Biggest Loser now has a Friday episode if you didn’t know! Sammy, season four contestant who also had a guest stint in a ‘Love Yourself’ segment on Thursday, now gets to give each of the eliminated contestants a makeover. This week, it was Brenda. The show also focussed on behind the scenes and extended footage, plus a lot of catch ups with Brenda. It was actually well worth a look- more than just a recap!

So from one weight loss show to the other, and this week, Excess Baggage headed to GO! In its first week, the contestants travelled to Tasmania. To cut a long story short, tempers flared. Darryn and Lisa were again at loggerheads with one another. Lisa is now gaining confidence, and is able to give back a little of Darryn’s medicine.

On Monday was a spirit challenge. Here, the contestants had to paddle out to an aquaculture farm to fish for some salmon. They then had to take their boots off and head to the jetty to dump their caught fish. They had to bring their rods with them.

Brant & John won the challenge, leaving Ajay and Matt in second place and Dipper and Lana in third. But when Matt was accused of leaving his rod behind, the door opened for Dipper & Lana to climb into second place. Tempers erupted when Dipper went a little too far in attempting to steal that extra point. Matt got pissed and bulldozed everyone who even attempted to talk to him. In the end, his team was not penalised and he apologised for his behaviour later on.

Christine, Nathan, Ben, Gabby, Kevin & Renae were then taken to a massive Tasmanian dam to go a bit of abseiling. It was scary stuff, but in the end, everyone had a go and achieved the experience; even the frightened-as-all-hell Christine and Ben!

It was then onto an orienteering endurance challenge. Here, contestants had to fill a bucket up to 4L using just a 3L and 5L bucket; carry logs up a hill, fill a pool full of water using two holey buckets, breaking some tiles with a slingshot and building a massive cube. The contestants were broken up into three teams- one being the Devils; consisting of Darryn, Lisa, Christine and Nathan. They looked like they were going to win, but got stumped on the 4L challenge- and ended up coming last. Poor Darryn.

Matt, Lana, Gabby and Ben, as part of the Sharks, won the challenge.

That left the check in. Again, there was no elimination, but there were a few surprises. Ajay & Matt won the check in, again pipping Dipper & Lana at the post. Darryn & Lisa came last. We also found out that Gabby has had lap band surgery.

But enough about all this ‘losing weight’ business, it was also a tasty week on Seven with My Kitchen Rules.

Round two guests finished their home visits with Dr. Evil hogging the spotlight in a 1.9m viewer marathon on Wednesday night. He didn’t impress, nor did Emma & Andrew or Andy & Megan- all three of them facing elimination alongside Thomas & Carla, David & Scott and Simon & Meg. Nic & Rocco made MKR history by scoring a 95/110- an impressive effort. Still, I wouldn’t expect anything less from a South Australian!

So that was this week, but what about next week?

Well, it’s going to be the same-old I’m afraid! But, there’s still a lot of reality television to enjoy, so nothing to worry about!

My Kitchen Rules gets into its home visit elimination round. This week, Simon & Meg, Thomas & Carla, Emma & Andrew and Andy & Megan all showcase their restaurants for the second time around. Who will fail under the pressure? How will strategy play its part?

Excess Baggage is being a little uninventive this week, opting to spend it at home base in Hunter Valley. Still, it is a brilliant region to showcase, but with no elimination scheduled, it’s still safe to assume you’re not going to see anything too outstanding.

The Biggest Loser reveals the winner of its Battle of the Sexes themed week and someone will be sent home. The game then reverts, I believe, to a four team strategy and a new week of competition begins.

So that’s basically how the week has and will pan out. I hope you keep on watching and keep on keeping up to date! Enjoy your weekend!

THE LIBRARY

Monday

Excess Baggage Season One – Tasmania Week Begins (Spirit Challenge #3)

The Biggest Loser Australia: Singles Season Seven – Weigh In & Elimination #3

My Kitchen Rules. Season Three – Episode Nine: SA Best Friends Nic and Rocco

Tuesday

Excess Baggage Season One – Breakthrough Experience #3

The Biggest Loser Australia: Singles Season Seven – Contest #2

My Kitchen Rules. Season Three – Episode Ten: TAS Couple Megan and Andy

Wednesday

Excess Baggage Season One – Endurance Challenge #3

The Biggest Loser Australia: Singles Season Seven – The Walk #2 & Temptation #4

My Kitchen Rules. Season Three – Episode Eleven: QLD Couple and Villains Peter and Gary

Thursday

Excess Baggage Season One – Check In #3

The Biggest Loser Australia: Singles Season Seven – Challenge #4

My Kitchen Rules. Season Three – Episode Twelve: VIC Sisters Carly and Emily

Friday

The Biggest Loser Australia: Singles Season Seven – Friday Night #1

The two groups are reunited for a massive surprise announcement as the fight for survival gets personal tonight. The competition began when 12 teams came together at Kitchen Headquarters. Two groups were formed. Group 1 battled it out and, at the end of their round, the bottom three teams found themselves in the danger zone.Group 2 then entered the arena, all battling to stay out of the bottom three. Tonight, it’s Victoria’s turn to cook. Can competitive sisters Carly & Emily do enough to put Peter and Gary in the bottom three?
 
Tonight in Melbourne, Carly and Emily decide to use their parents home for their instant restaurant with their dad from Hong Kong, they love Chinese food. The girls seem fun and think being sisters will be an advantage – heard that before.

Carly and Emily head to the shops and say it’s a competition to beat Peter and Gary – GO GIRLS! Peter says and I quote “After our instant restaurant the gloves are off and I will take great delight in getting every one of those backstabbing people, out of this competition.” Peter – it’s not their fault you messed up royally. For entree the girls will be serving pork and prawn bean curd rolls in oyster sauce. Pete is loving the idea but hopes the oyster sauce doesn’t overpower the taste of the pork and prawns. For main the girls are attempting tea smoked quail with pork fried snake beans and steamed rice. They are worried about smoking that many quails already.

Dessert will be a steamed Malay cake with ginger marscapone cream and ginger syrup. Pete is enjoying the idea of fusion with the Italian marscapone with the Malay cake. The girls set up their restaurant “Harvest Moon” to represent their dual cultures. It’s a very elegant black and white theme with Asian touches such as the napkins made into cranes, orchids and Japanese wall dividers (I know they have a name and have gone blank). Now with three hours on the clock they try to steam the rice but the steamer is broken – but dad has a spare one, phew. The bean curd rolls look very unusual and the quails are already looking like a disaster.  They are trying to debone 30 of them and look incredibly oversmoked.

The guests arrive and Peter is complaining that the other teams knifed them (how does this man not get it?) and I think his claws are about to come out. Sam, my new favourite says “It looks like snobby Yum Cha” hahaha while Nic and Rocco think it’s like Bruce Lee film. Peter and Gary are very subdued and appear to be even sulking, poor things, you want to give them a hug, or maybe not! The girls serve a lychee cocktail and all say cheers, but Gary and Peter don’t join in as they want everyone to feel uncomfortable – I thought they had 6 uni degrees between them and had graduated from high school. The tension is palpable and poor Andrew is trying to move as far away as he can from Peter. Manu and Pete have arrived and they all read the menu. Peter thinks the menu is disjointed, Megan thinks it’s too Asian.

Sam thinks the entree is a bit safe and Manu says maybe because you know a little more about Asian food and Sam replies “Yeah, I’m Asian”. The entree looks rather soggy and Sam wonders where are the chopsticks. Oh no, the first thing out of Pete’s mouth is “Did you actually try this before you served it?”, this is not looking good. Pete says it’s extremely salty but liked the salad. Manu didn’t find his salty and liked it but would have liked chopsticks. The girls re-taste the rolls and they agree is too salty. Andy and Peter can only taste salt yet Nic and Rocco enjoy it.

The smoked quail is a source of contention at the table and Sam doesn’t want hers deboned and Gary says that dismembering a budgie at the table would be his version of hell. Give the man a double serve then. They have been waiting an hour and a half and Peter hopes they get stabbed in the back too. The rice looks gluggy but they are to be fried. Emily leaves the kitchen and apologises to the guests for the delay and offers drinks – Rocco says this was the difference between the boys, at least they know what was going on. Petets gets nasty (nastier) and says he hopes everyone at the table gives them the same treatment as they got and a long winded rant. It’s not 3 hours yet buddy. Nic thinks Peter’s a sook. Doesn’t he realise if he built a bridge and got over it that the fellow contestants could just judge for themselves, because if I was there Emily and Carly would get extra points just so he was in the bottom after all this child like bahaviour.

Main is now served and I don’t think they have fried the rice long enough, it looks like it will be chewy, the presentation is beautiful though. Manu says smoking is an art and that the quail is burnt by the smoking yet the quail is cooked perfectly, Pete agrees and the nasties are smirking. Megan likes it, as does Jillian. Peter doesn’t like the rice cake, but thats his only complaint. Well done. Oh dear he doesn’t like anything about the dessert description and most of the table are confused with the marscapone being Italian with an Asian dessert.

The desserts are looking fabulous and are served before time so they have caught up in time. Pete is really impressed with this dessert and Peter and Gary look gutted, Manu also loved it and calls it brilliant. Sam thinks it’s awesome, Andrew loves it and suprisingly Peter even likes the cream but of course the syrup is too strong. Now for judement

NSW - Sam & Jillian: 6/10

WA – Emma & Andrew: 6/10

SA – Nic & Rocco: 8/10

TAS - Megan & Andy: 7/10

QLD – Peter & Gary: 6/10 – they must be congratulated for not penalising due to time delay.
= 33/50

All teams actually join together for an announcement at Federation Square in Melbourne and Peter says that he’s confident his meal was better than Emily and Carly’s but feels it’s a poularity contest, as the others look on in disbelief. Carly and Emily say they think they got a more of an overall ambience to which Gary says, that what they served on a plate was better. Carly whispers to Emily ” Thats really sore loser, I hope we beat them.” So do I sweetie, so do I.  When they announce the team score of 33/50 Peter says “Bull****!”

Manu Fieldel –
Entree: 7/10
Main: 4/10 
Dessert: 8/10

Pete Evans –
Entree: 5/10 
Main: 3/10 
Dessert: 9/10

That ‘s 69/110 – YEAH THEY DID IT!!!  DO A HAPPY DANCE EVERYONE!!!

Safe are:
Nic & Rocco: 95/110 – SA
Angela and Justine: 78/110 – WA
Leigh & Jennifer: 76/110 – SA
Steve and Helen: 75/110 – NSW
Carly & Emily: 69/110 – VIC
Sam & Jillian: 65/110 – NSW

Up for elimination are:
David & Scott: 64/110 – QLD
Peter & Gary: 63/110 – QLD
Emma & Andrew: 62/110 – WA
Megan & Andy: 56/110 – TAS
Simon & Meg: 58/110 – NZ
Thomas & Carla: 46/110 – VIC

Group One are now back so all the contestants are together and time for the twist we have been waiting for …. all the teams up for elimination will do another round and the weakest team will be up for elimination. All are shocked – but I was expecting something bigger, like if they had to swap partners. Ooh Simon and Meg look like they get nasty and Pete says “Paybacks a bitch!”. Bring it on!

On Monday night see Thomas and Carla from VIC go to battle.

For a recap of last nights episode click here

7:30pm – Thursday, February 16 on Seven

The two groups are reunited for a massive surprise announcement as the fight for survival gets personal tonight on MY KITCHEN RULES.

The competition began when 12 teams came together at Kitchen Headquarters. Two groups were formed. Group 1 battled it out and, at the end of their round, the bottom three teams found themselves in the danger zone.

Group 2 then entered the arena, all battling to stay out of the bottom three.

Tonight, it’s Victoria’s turn to cook. Will competitive sisters Carly & EMILY do enough to stay out of the bottom three?

At the end of the night, the two groups are re-united as hosts PETE EVANS and MANU FEILDEL drop a bombshell no one sees coming.

MY KITCHEN RULES is hosted by Pete Evans and Manu Feildel.

I thought an interesting exercise would be to look at the ratings of free to air shows between 7.30 and 8.30 to see just what kind of share My Kitchen Rules drew on Wednesday night (Feb 15). All ratings figures are preliminary and averaged over the time a show airs – so for Ten for example – one half hour of Biggest Loser may be different to the other half, but ratings results only show the average over the whole show.

7.30-8.00
Seven My Kitchen Rules 1,923,000
Nine The Big Bang Theory 627,000
Ten The Biggest Loser 707,000
ABC1 7.30 605,000
SBS ONE Luke Gambles Vet Adventures ~100,000 (guesstimate)

7TWO Heartbeat 264,000
GO! Top Gear 118,000
ELEVEN All New The Simpsons 231,000
ABC2 Doctor Who 164,000
7mate Pawn Stars 137,000
GEM Baboon Bandits <69,000
ONE Who’s Line Is It Anyway? <69,000
ABC3, ABC News 24, SBS TWO say 35,000 combined (guesstimate)

8.00-8.30
Seven My Kitchen Rules 1,923,000
Nine RBT 584,000
Ten Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation 592,000
ABC1 Absolutely Fabulous 20th Anniversary Specials 581,000
SBS ONE Luke Gambles Vet Adventures ~100,000 (guesstimate based on shares)

7TWO Heartbeat 264,000
GO! Top Gear 118,000
ELEVEN Futurama Rpt 220,000
ABC2 Doctor Who 100,000 (half hour average, show finished 8.19, Tropfest <69,000)
7mate Pawn Stars 137,000
GEM Cheetah Kingdom <69,000
ONE Who’s Line Is It Anyway? <69,000
ABC3, ABC News 24, SBS TWO say 35,000 combined (guesstimate based on shares)

Totals.
7.30-8.00
Seven 1,923,000
Ten, Nine, ABC1 and SBS ONE 2,039,000
All digitals 1,087,000

8.00-8.30
Seven 1,923,000
Ten, Nine, ABC1 and SBS ONE 1,857,000
All digitals 1,011,000

For the first half hour, My Kitchen Rules represented a main channel share of 48% and an overall free to air share of 38%.

In the second half hour, My Kitchen Rules represented a main channel share of 51% and an overall free to air share of 40%.

Impressive stuff. My Kitchen Rules has not had these sorts of figures since last year’s finale which reached around 2 million.

Ratings figures OzTam 5 city metro. Due to not having all ratings data, figures for very low rating shows are estimated, but since they are proportionally very small, they bare little effect on the overall outcome so far as percentage shares are concerned. I estimate the variance would be in the order of less than 1%.

Wednesday nights on TV is one of those nights that is yet to find its ground for 2012. When you think of Tuesday nights, there are certain shows you just know will always be on Tuesday night – such as NCIS on Ten, Packed to the Rafters on Seven and Two and a Half Men on Nine.

But this is not the case on Wednesdays. Please Marry My Boy on Seven had its first Wednesday night airing, after playing on Mondays for the past two weeks. That was followed by two new episodes of How I Met Your Mother, and then two repeats – a show this week competing against Nine and GO!’s multiple airings of The Big Bang Theory on the most-played sitcom on free to air TV of the week stakes. Please Marry My Boy is only a short series, so 8.30 Wednesdays on Seven will change soon, while the new season of The Amazing Race (US) settles into 9.30 Wednesday from next week leaving new How I Met Your Mother to settle into Monday nights after Revenge.

A classic episode of My Kitchen Rules on Seven last night (our review here) which saw QLD couple and villains Peter and Gary cook off a marathon three course meal last night was one of the best episodes of the series so far – if you missed it, watch it on catch up TV or on the weekend assuming Seven encore the week of MKR. As for Please Marry My Boy – I personally can’t see the attraction of the show – perhaps a fan of the show could please explain!

The talk of the night would have to be Sherlock – with rave reviews so far from those who have seen it. Sherlock is also a short series – just three two hour offerings, meaning Nine’s Wednesday nights will also change is a few weeks time – hopefully 8.30 Wednesday is where The Mentalist will settle in this year – we are now plenty of episodes behind the US to give The Mentalist and uninterrupted run.

RBT on Nine reminds me of Border Security on Seven. Sooner or later you have seen all possible scenarios then some start to stand out. I can’t help feeling, that every time I watch Border Security, there is someone who can barely speak English trying to bring food across the border and don’t understand why they have to declare it or what to do with the form they fill out prior to landing. With RBT, there are two stand out scenarios for me: 1. A person usually with a blurred-out face is drunk, caught, and then abusive to the police or 2. a person is drunk, but so happy to be on national TV, they don’t care about the repercussions.

Ten are out of phase with the other networks on Wednesday night – opting to air Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation at 8pm right after Biggest Loser (featuring The Walk and more Temptation last night), then The Good Wife – one of those shows that has aired on a few different nights since its premiere a few years ago – which now starts at the odd time of 9.10.

Ten had the same out of phase scenario on Thursday nights with A Gifted Man playing from 8-9 but have changed the line up so Law & Order: SVU starts at 8.30 instead, after a repeat of Modern Family. So far, Wednesday remains “different”.

Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight – yes everyone, it is back, and has been back since last week – ratings last week suggest that noone really knew it was on – is part of ABC1′s Wednesday night comedy night. Last night, it followed Absolutely Fabulous – the 20th anniversary specials. According to one die-hard Ab-Fab fan I know, the series should have been left alone where it finished – back in the 1990′s. Same jokes 20 years on just don’t work now!

Lost in the depths of digital channel programming was a new episode of The Simspons on ELEVEN last night – who else forgets its on because they are too busy watching or recording shows from the main channels? While on ONE – new Burn Notice continues Wednesday nights at 8.30pm – it it wasn’t for my TIVO season pass, it too would be forgotten about! This is one show that really doesn’t get the attention it deserves, and should air on Ten on a weeknight at 10.30pm.

7TWO – aka free to air’s version of UK TV – keeps Heartbeat alive at 7.30, but after 9.30 it seemed to be Hetty Wainthropp night. Meanwhile 7mate kept the Pawn alive last night with Hardcore Pawn and Pawn Stars from 7.30.

Can you believe the movie The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert is now nearly 20 years old? An interesting movie choice for GEM last night, while GO! had Zombieland at 9.30 – a free to air first – the first five minutes of which either got you hooked or had you diving for the remote looking for something else!

The stand out for SBS ONE last night was the final of From Sydney to Tokyo By Any Means, followed by a documentary that looked at the conflict between Russia and Georgia several years ago.

TV 4ME had the H2O Mop infomercial at 9.30pm – which makes the product look so good, that anyone who has dirty floors, walls or just about anything else on the house needing cleaning, is very tempted to buy one. If you are thinking of buying an H2O mop – do yourself a favour and go and see one for yourself at a Danoz store – then make your decision.

On Pay TV, FOX8 was the place to be from 7.30pm (or 9.30 via FOX8+2!) with Cricket Superstar (our review here), followed by new Grimm. At 9.30 It’s a Brad, Brad World premiered on Arena – what is that about I hear you ask? Read more on that one here.

What did you watch last night? What did you enjoy? What did you think of what you watched? Feel free to share your thoughts – now that our commenting system on Throng is a 100 times easier than it used to be – thanks to DISQUS!