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In sharp contrast to the sunny disposition of Food Network Star is Bravo TV’s new show Top Chef. Top Chef comes to us from the producers of the brilliant Project Runway and has all the trash-talking, crying and fighting we’ve come to expect from the reality television circus. It’s interesting to see that two programs with practically the same premise have such different tones and styles. Comparing the two lets you see the line where reality ends and television begins. The effects of casting, shooting conditions and, most importantly, editing, come together to makes the shows naughty or nice.

The most obvious reason the two shows differ is the way they were cast. Food Network is a family oriented station, and the goal of the show is to find somebody to host their own program. So they searched high and low to find some of the friendliest people in the world. Friendly, but not boring. Top Chef is becoming the most abrasive show on cable. Their viewers want catty comments, backstabbing and constant drama. So Top Chef was cast with hyper-competitive and hyper-sensitive chefs who aren’t afraid to speak their mind. Casting alone can set the entire tone of a series. If the cast is always friendly and cheerful, Bravo couldn’t put together the endless drama of their programming.

After contestants are cast in a show, they are subjected to whatever the producers throw at them, and this is where things turn nasty. Top Chef searched for some of the highest rated chefs to compete for $100,000 to open a restaurant. Once they started on the show, they were constantly performing tasks that were uncommon for a 4-star chef, such as cooking a school lunch or making a snack for a street vendor. This makes the contestants angry and bitter, and many constantly bicker and complain as a result of doing work other than what they were trained in.

Food Network Star is quite different. It gives it contestants a great deal of freedom over the types of food they cook and the way they serve it. Their challenge comes from learning how to work in the television business, which was the goal they all had in applying for the show. Their judges offer very helpful advice, and they are trained by other hosts of the network on tasks like reading a teleprompter, filming scenes on location, and doing a demo in a short amount of time.

While the challenges are reasonably hard, they are hardly unreasonable in comparison to what hosting a show would actually be like. What is also realistic about the conditions of Food Network Star is that the contestants simply show up in the morning and go home in the evening. The camera is not constantly following them around, and they are not forced to live in tight quarters with their competitors. The contestants on Top Chef live together, which likely increases the tension between them and gives more opportunity for snarky comments.

The casting and show conditions give the producers a lot to work with, and the tone for shows is furthered in the editing room. They can decide to portray everybody as nice and friendly or down and dirty. It’s a difficult position because if everybody is too nice, the show could get boring; if they’re too nasty viewers may be turned off. I think both shows have their merit, but I greatly prefer Food Network Star because it teaches the audience about food and about what goes on behind the scenes of a cooking show.

If you like cooking, Top Chef doesn’t offer much info. If you like whining, look to Next Top Model or the insane Blow Out to satisfy your inner drama queen. Just some food for thought.