4 Reasons to Watch 'The Next Iron Chef' Season 3 Finale

The Food Network's "Next Iron Chef" season 3 is slated for one final winner-take-all Kitchen Stadium showdown on November 21. The season finale will bring to a dramatic end eight weeks of intense culinary competition that challenged competitors to create dishes suiting themes ranging from Innovation to Seduction.

Following last week's surprising elimination of Chef Ming Tsai, the long-time host of "East Meets West" and the ostensible "Next Iron Chef" season 3 competition frontrunner from day one, Chefs Marco Canora and Marc Forgione will face off one last time for the coveted title of Iron Chef. In case you need a little prodding to tune in, here are 4 great reasons to catch the show's last hurrah.

#1: Chef Canora's crazed antics. Weeks one through seven showed the often overconfident-to-the-point-of- obnoxious Chef Canora to be one of season 3's most freak out-prone competitors. Just last week, in fact, he ran around a kitchen in a panic, shouting over the mysterious disappearance of the parchment paper while his bemused fellow contenders quietly went about their work. Consider it a splash of pre-Thanksgiving fare as Canora runs around like a headless turkey, since it seems highly unlikely that this Type-A guy will be able to reign it in for an entire Kitchen Stadium battle.

#2: Chef Forgione's breakout. The son of the Godfather of American Cuisine has demonstrated a quiet composure throughout "The Next Iron Chef" season 3. Although he's been relatively consistent with the quality of food offered up, he has yet to bust out of his shell of above-averageness. The finale offers Forgione the perfect venue for sudden -- and unexpected -- domination of the competition. Watch out, Canora. You may be louder, but volume doesn't beget superiority.

#3: The Chairman's corny lines. My husband and I loved the staged cheeseball-ness of Chairman Kaga on the original Japanese version of "Iron Chef". The American version's head honcho Mark Dacascos has gradually morphed into a master of the head swish, the sidelong glance and dramatic recitation. It's good comedy all-around.

#4: The Secret Ingredient. "Iron Chef" competitors live or die based on the identity of the secret ingredient. Will it be a protein? A veggie? Soybeans? Cornmeal? The possibilities are nearly endless, and will have a profound effect on "whose cuisine reigns supreme" at night's end.

So there you have 'em: Four great reasons to catch "The Next Iron Chef" season 3 finale on November 21. Let's get cookin'!