Top Chef Masters

Curtis Stone is adding another show to his repertoire with a new show called “Around the World In 80 Plates” – this adds to him already hosting Top Chef Masters, that aired on Arena.

Culinary experts Stone and Cat Cora are to host the series that follows 12 chefs competing in a culinary race across 10 countries in 44 days. It will be like a mix between Amazing Race and Top Chef/MasterChef.

Curtis Stone is a renowned chef, best-selling author, TV personality and entrepreneur – best known here now as the face of Coles.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Curtis left Victoria University in 1994 at the age of 18 to follow his passion for food. His strong will and love of quality cuisine led to a job cooking at The Savoy Hotel in Melbourne. Once a qualified chef, Curtis began travelling throughout Europe with his best mate. Determined to fulfill his dream of working in the world’s best restaurants, he walked into legendary Chef Marco Pierre White’s London kitchen and offered to work for free for the opportunity to learn from the three-star Michelin genius.

He is also a regular contributor on America’s number one morning program, The Today Show, where Curtis provides viewers with tips and delicious recipes to try at home.

Curtis was a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice in the USA  and in addition, Curtis took over as host of the third season of the hit show Top Chef Masters, a role he’ll revisit in the show’s fourth season in 2012.

In 2005, Chef Cat Cora made television history by becoming the first and only female Iron Chef on Food Network’s Iron Chef America.

The show debuts in the USA in May – expected here on Arena.

Sunday September 18

W
THE CLOSER – SEASON 5 – Ep 1
Sundays from September 18 at 8.30pm
Emmy and Golden Globe winner Kyra Sedgwick returns as LAPD Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson in the W
Premiere of THE CLOSER Season 5. All episodes COMMERCIAL FREE.
Cast: Kyra Sedgewick, Jon Tenney, J.K. Simmons, Corey Reynolds, G.W. Bailey.

BIO
THE GLAMOUR GAME – Two-part special
Sundays September 18 and 25 at 9.30pm
Exploring the dazzling history of the Miss Australia Quest and the emergence of our vibrant fashion industry, The
Glamour Game reveals how Australia has moved from its colonial past to a strong and distinctive identity.

THE COMEDY CHANNEL
VERY SMALL BUSINESS – SEASON 1
Sundays from September 18 at 6.30pm
From the creators of THE LIBRARIANS comes the story of Don Angel (Wayne Hope) is a small businessman- the
backbone of this great country’s economy. But if that’s true, it’s no thanks to him. After numerous unsuccessful ventures, Don’s Worldwide Business Group is now hurtling towards liquidation.
His debts are mounting his stomach’s killing him, his wife left him, and he’s just hired Ray Leonard (Kym Gyngell) as his sole employee.
VERY SMALL BUSINESS is about the unlikely relationship between two men who form an alliance. Don Angel, is
brassy, streetwise and charismatic. He’s full of big ideas but something always gets in the way of him making any of his small businesses big. Don could sell ice to the Eskimos, but the ice would have melted on arrival. Ray Leonard is a considered, intelligent and sophisticated former journalist who has spent the last six years a broken man since he
discovered that his daughter was not biologically his. It’s a marriage made in heaven – at least until the Tax Office gets there.

THE HISTORY CHANNEL
GETTYSBURG – Two-hour Special
Sunday September 18 at 8.30pm
Australian Exclusive Premiere
This two-hour HISTORY special strips away the romanticized veneer of the Civil War and presents the engagement in a new light: a visceral, terrifying experience with everything on the line. At its core, this is the story of the soldiers on the ground, not the generals who commanded from behind the frontlines.
Compelling CGI and powerful action footage place viewers in the midst of the fighting, delivering both an emotional
cinematic experience and an information packed look at the turning points, technology, and little known facts of perhaps America’s greatest battle.

Monday September 19

FOX8
63rd PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS 2011 – LIVE TWO-HOUR SPECIAL
Monday September 19
Red Carpet from 9.00am
Awards show live from 10.00am
Australian Exclusive Premiere
The Primetime Emmy Awards salute excellence in national primetime programming; presenting top honours like the
Governors Award and the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award. Hosted by Jane Lynch (Glee), this year’s awards are
guaranteed to be entertaining and the only place to catch it will be FOX8.

FOX8
ROVE LA – SEASON 1
AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTION
Mondays from September 19 at 8.30pm
Australian Exclusive Premiere
Multi TV Week Gold Logie winner, Rove McManus, is back on Australian television and he’s gone Hollywood. FOX8′s
exclusive new series, ROVE LA, will see Rove back in his natural habitat – a comedy driven talk show in front of a live
audience, talking to famous celebrities. Incorporating the hottest celebrity guests as well as a postcard of Rove’s new
life in the USA, this exclusive one hour series is the perfect way to welcome Rove McManus back into your home.

ARENA
TOP CHEF MASTERS – SEASON 3
Mondays from September 19 at 9.30pm
Australian Exclusive Premiere
Australia’s favourite celebrity chef Curtis Stone takes the helm as host of Top Chef Masters; and pits 12 world-renowned chefs against each other to see how well they fare in fierce culinary competition. Each week, these super-chefs will be whittled down until the last one standing is crowned “Top Chef Master” and receives $100,000 for the charity of their choice.
With so much money at stake, the chefs are bringing more than their knives to the table; they’re bringing their egos and stirring up the drama. The chefs must face off in some of the most difficult challenges in Top Chef history and plate up for some master entertainers and celebrity guest judges including Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks, Maroon 5 and pop sensation Kelis.

Wednesday September 21

THE HISTORY CHANNEL
YOUR SHOUT: THE HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN BEER - Two-part Special
LOCAL PRODUCTION
Wednesday September 21 and 28 at 7.30pm
Australian Exclusive Premiere
Is there anything closer to the heart of Australians than beer? In the past 200 years the ritual of men sharing a beer has defined the Australian character more than any other. It’s brought men together in pubs and sporting grounds, lubricating our friendships, quenching our thirst and rewarding our labours at day’s end.
Beer has played a central role in our history as far back as Captain James Cook’s first charting of the East Coast of Australia in 1770, where Cook brewed beer to sterilize the ship’s fetid drinking water.
Today Australian beer is loved and enjoyed around the world, and two great corporations dominate local industry with sales of $8 billion a year.
Your Shout is the definitive history of beer in Australia, an untold story that both delights and surprises. It traces the
development of the most familiar brands including Fosters, XXXX, Coopers, VB, West End and Swan and examines
how regional variations in beer developed around the nation. Your Shout is the history documentary all Australia has
been waiting to see.

Thursday September 22

BIO
WHEN I KNEW – One-hour special
Thursday September 22 at 8.30pm
Australian Exclusive Premiere
Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato travelled across the US to ask 150 people in six different cities to talk about when
they first realised they were gay.

Pitting twelve accomplished chefs against one another is a recipe for exciting culinary-drama, and that’s exactly what Top Chef Masters dishes up when the third season premieres on Monday, September 19 at 9.30pm exclusive to Arena.

Hosted by hot Aussie chef, Curtis Stone, Top Chef Masters takes the kitchen reality format to the next level in more ways than one.

Amateurs, these contestants are not and this season they’re bringing more than just their knives to the table. All accomplished restaurateurs in their own right, the collective culinary knowledge and experience, really turns up the heat in the Top Chef kitchen.

This season’s contestants battle it out in challenges that take even these kitchen veterans out of their comfort zones.

Egos will clash when they face off in some of the most difficult challenges yet including; ‘Restaurant Wars’, where they must transform an empty space into a restaurant within a set time limit and budget, selecting and creating the name, theme, decor, and menu.

They’ll also create dishes in under 7 minutes in the ‘Quick Fire’ challenge and cook with some bizarre ingredients including crickets, beetles and scorpions, as they try and keep themselves in the race to win some cash for the charity of their choice.

Charismatic Curtis Stone, brings some Australian charm and along with his panel of judges, serve up the tough critique at tasting time. Joining Stone on the judging panel are critically acclaimed food writers and editors, James Oseland and Ruth Reichl.

Rock group Maroon 5, Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks and R&B sensation Kelis all serve as guest judges.

On September 19, two Aussies are bringing their US based shows to Foxtel. Curtis Stone is hosting the new series of Top Chef Masters, while Rove McManus is to debut his new talk show on Fox 8 at 8.30pm.

Top Chef Masters
Curtis Stone of Celebrity Apprentice and Surfing The Menu, will serve as the host of season three of Top Chef Masters, and the sexy Aussie chef couldn’t be happier about being on the other side of the challenges this time around.

“I think it’s good to have a chef on there who can empathize with the other chefs during the competitions,” Curtis told Slashfood.com. “I’ll be on the judges panel, but I’m not going to cast advice, because I don’t want to judge my peers.

“Top Chef Masters is a whole different ball game,” says Stone. “Top Chef is a great show, but with Masters, these guys are seriously established chefs on the restaurant scene with Michelin stars, James Beard awards, and all that stuff.”

Definitely a little more refined than Curtis Stone’s competitors on Celebrity Apprentice.

“The Apprentice was bizarre,” says Stone. “I was sitting there before the first day and Cyndi [Lauper] was sort of singing to herself and I was thinking, ‘What am I doing here with all of these freaks?’ But you know what? I made a lot of good friends from it.”

Top Chef Masters Season 3 will air on Arena on Monday September 19 at 8.30pm.

Rove LA
Apparently with a silmilar format to his show on Ten, Rove is headed back to our screens from Los Angeles in a new celebrity based variety show. McManus told the Herald Sun, “It will be that talk-and-variety style of show that I like doing, but a more simplified version.”

Rove LA will film in front of a live syudio audience in LA and be broadcast here within 48 hours, not live obviously, due to the time difference. Rove has made some great trailers that can be viewed on the Fox 8 website, spoofing Foxtel shows, Falling Skies, The Real Housewives and Deadliest Catch.

Rove LA will air on Monday September 19 at 8.30pm, on Fox 8.