Australian TV series or program
The Chopping Block
is an Australian
reality television
series which began airing on the
Nine Network
on 6 February 2008.
[1]
Produced by
Granada Productions
, it was hosted by chef
Matt Moran
.
Catriona Rowntree
co-hosted the show with Moran in its first season.
[2]
It ran for two series of 8 episodes each.
Format
[
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]
Each week two
Melbourne
and
Sydney
restaurants were reviewed by a secret critic (
ABC Radio National
broadcaster and food critic
Alan Saunders
) and given
A$
5,000. With assistance from restaurateur Matt Moran, they were given 72 hours to use that money to overhaul their menu, service and decor in an effort to win both his and the critics' approval.
Episodes
[
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]
Season 1
[
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]
Episode
|
Original Airdate
|
Ratings
|
Ref
|
01
|
"Cafe Parlo vs Cafe 43"
|
6 February 2008
|
718,000
|
[3]
|
02
|
"Bella Vita vs Mamma Teresa's"
|
13 February 2008
|
1,040,000
|
[4]
|
03
|
"Dimitris vs Morris'"
|
20 February 2008
|
918,000
|
[5]
|
04
|
"Grace vs Wild Oscars"
|
27 February 2008
|
943,000
|
[6]
|
05
|
"Cafe Burgundy vs Cafe Matto"
|
5 March 2008
|
979,000
|
[7]
|
06
|
"La Bella Vista vs Sophocles"
|
12 March 2008
|
1,062,000
|
[8]
|
07
|
"The Olive Drum vs Unwine"
|
19 March 2008
|
1,025,000
|
[9]
|
08
|
"Michelinos vs Zingarella"
|
2 April 2008
|
1,081,000
|
[10]
|
Season 2
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]
Episode
|
Original Airdate
|
Ratings
|
Ref
|
01
|
"Angelina’s vs Tandoori Junction"
|
14 October 2008
|
825,000
|
[11]
|
02
|
"Emad's vs Gloria's Cafe"
|
21 October 2008
|
825,000
|
[12]
|
03
|
"Anacapri vs La De Da's"
|
28 October 2008
|
856,000
|
[13]
|
04
|
"Piazza Navona vs South Yarra China House"
|
4 November 2008
|
962,000
|
[14]
|
05
|
"Courthouse Restaurant vs Hotel Eden"
|
11 November 2008
|
902,000
|
[15]
|
06
|
"Mambo Italiano vs Spargo Espresso"
|
18 November 2008
|
953,000
|
[16]
|
07
|
"Baja Cantina vs Modena 88"
|
25 November 2008
|
913,000
|
[17]
|
08
|
"Morri's Place vs Pizza Piazza"
|
2 December 2008
|
952,000
|
[18]
|
Ratings
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]
The first episode of
The Chopping Block
had a disappointing debut, with only 718,000 viewers nationally, a low figure for its 7:30?8:30 timeslot.
[3]
An uncut repeat of the first episode was aired the following night at 10:30pm, managing a reasonable 546,000 viewers for its timeslot.
[19]
The second episode fared much better, managing 1,040,000 viewers nationally - nearly 300,000 more viewers than the first episode.
[4]
Overall, ratings for the second series were generally higher than the first, and both series averaged 959,517 viewers across the year.
[20]
U.S. version
[
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]
NBC
and
Granada America
have picked up the rights to produce the series in the
United States
. The U.S. version is hosted by
Marco Pierre White
, and features a number of changes to the format, such as multiple contestants, an ongoing objective instead of self-contained episodes, and an emphasis on competition.
[21]
The first episode premiered on 11 March 2009,
[22]
but was canceled due to low ratings after three episodes. After a 3-month hiatus, 'Chopping Block' returned to complete its season.
References
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External links
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]