I'm with you all, Daphne, and have seen it. I don't know half of the chefs, but here are my thoughts:
I don't know Michael, Elizabeth, Chuck, Beau or Spike.
I know OF Robert only by reputation (including the controversies).
I DO know Anne, Alex, and Geoffrey from
Chopped and Geoffrey is my favourite judge on the show.
From
Top Chef: Masters and something else that I'm not remembering I AM a fan of Marcus and he's the only one of the lot that I've seen in the kitchen for more than just one or two episodes of a show.
What worries me is my association of one of the judges - Simon Majumdar - with the incredibly BAD show
Extreme Chef and the way in which this first episode (AND the preview of the next) somewhat resembled that show. He's going to have to do a LOT to earn my respect, since I don't know of his other credentials and that other show really put me off enough that his credentials probably wouldn't impress me anyway. In fact, for further information, read
my IMDB review of Extreme Chef