Hell's Kitchen - ongoing thread (1 Viewer)

[chuck_b]

Somebody else want to tell me if it is really bad, bad or okay.

I kind of felt all three opinions watching the premiere last night. With a nod (if not clone) to the Apprentice, it made The Donald look like a wimp. For me, it appeared too canned and set-up, although watching the tension was entertaining in a strange way. Where do they get these contestants? It seems like the oddest mix of Chef-wannabes ever assembled and being treated with that much abuse shows how much being on TV means to some.

 

[Patrick Sun]

This show would be funnier if they didn't have to bleep out the chef's invectives.

The chef does remind me of David Brent (The Office - BBC version) in accent and how he goes about insulting the contestant.

 

[brentl]

This "chef" is trying to be over the top, I've never heard of a chef telling a customer off.

Not impressed with the loudness or the lack of direction he gives to his employees.

and the fact that nobody has told him off is suprising

I'll watch 1 more week, if he doesn't show his human side I will stop watching.

Brent

 

[Bob-N]

Another train wreck. I thought it was entertaining and was very surprised that "chef" told off some customers. Maybe was staged?

I thought it was very unfair to throw the teams directly into a real kitchen and cook for customers. However, the request for signature dishes was a good start and then went down hill from there.

I'll probably watch for a while but with the contestants there, I don't see anyone being able to handle the pressure or the "chef" well. IMHO, cooking is also about creativity and under those circumstances, I don't think that he'll be successful in "training" one of these people to be an outstanding chef.

What he's heading towards is just a drone who will cook his way and kiss his feet at the same time.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Depends on the reputation of the chef. Jasper White (a pretty famous New England chef) once had a woman try to send back a steak. Jasper immediately came out of the kitchen to see what was wrong. The woman started to give him some lip. He asked her if the steak was what she ordered, she said yes. He asked her if it was prepared just like the menu said, she said yes. He asked "Then what is the problem?" She replied "It is just not a quality dish", spicing it up with a few choice curse words, making a large scene. Jasper told her to get the F%&K out of his restaurant and comp'd the rest of the meal for her companions. Many of the patrons congratulated him for giving her the boot. She later sued him... and lost.

 

[CharlesD]

Whats with putting the word "chef" in quotes?

Gordon Ramsay is a very accomplished chef, he has started several restaurants in the UK and has won Michelin Stars for several of them. He's as good a chef as you're going to see on any TV show. BTW he's also in a show on BBC America called "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares".

 

[Robbie R]

I got that impression as well. All the fancy cars in the parking lot had to be planted, and the table full of dumb blondes seemed like they were reading from Q-cards.
"Lets go ask the Chef where our meals are" Ya right.

 

[chuck_b]

According to the article linked below, the show is not "staged".

Ramsay says, "I think the big difference between this and 'The Restaurant' (NBC) is nothing was set up here," he says. We didn't walk into it with cue cards and understand that this is going to happen, that's going to happen."

Hard to believe at some points....

http://http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditor...ain/1,1002,271|95588|1|,00.html

 

[Tom McA]

Yeah - kinda hard to believe the restaurant customers weren't juuust a bit staged. Like they didn't notice the big honkin' jib arm, other cameras, and boom mics all over the dining room?

I do believe we were really seeing Ramsay's actual personality, if mebbe a bit amped up for TV. His BBC America shows made him out to be just as big of a wank as he is here.

I'll keep watching.

 

[Nick]

I really believe all reality TV shows are all or partially scripted. Imagine how boring it would be if it wasn't. You would shut it off in 5 minutes. Poeple like to see things that usually don't happen in real event. Remember, customer is always right no matter what.
NOt to offend anybody I can't really wait for these type of show to go away. There's just one too many on TV right now.

 

[chuck_b]

Okay, I'm starting to like this more, probably exaggerated by the lack of summer shows.

My favorite part has to be Ramsay berating the patrons who dare to ask where there food is after 2 hours. These guests are the only part I feel is really staged, as the "guests" know what they are walking into and the lights and cameras induce certain behaviors. If Ramasy was really inot serving the patrons as he professes, he would not curse out a guest.

 

[hanson mat]

Watched for the 1st time last night. I'm not sure how I feel about it - tho it did sort of looked staged. Especially the part where people ordered pizza. Why not just leave and go somewhere else?

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Lordy, but I do love this show.


Running a kitchen like that is not about creativity at all -- except in the sense of thinking fast to deal with the steady stream of nightmare situations!

 

[BobbyPerry]

I watched some of it last night and must say i enjoyed myself even though I was trying to keep from liking it.

 

[Bob-N]

This was a better episode but I can't get over how lame they are. You'd think that they could get out at least cold appetizers and desserts out especially when you're looking at a recipe. Maybe too much pressure and not enough experience.

Aaron, I see your point. However, someone who can run a kitchen isn't what I would consider a complete chef. I would think that Ramsay would want the total package: creativity, organization and leadership. The last two qualities are the ones that seem to be most important to him so far since the contestants can't seem to cook decent food.

And I agree with Ramsay's voiceover (paraphrased), I don't see anyone setting themselves apart thus far.

 

[CharlesD]

Maybe they'll focus more on the creative side later on after weeding out those who can't take the pressure.

After all the prize in this show is their own restaurant. If they want to run a restaurant they'll have to be able to take a lot of pressure as well as being able to create interesting dishes.

 

[BobbyPerry]

That Dewberry guy absolutely kills me. I laugh everytime i see him, for some reason.

 

[Bob-N]

Interestingly enough, I caught one of Ramsay's BBC shows earlier this week (forgot the name). He was certainly a lot nicer to those guys he was "training" but he still had to be bleeped out as much as he is in HK. They even showed him playing a bit of soccer with the two wannabes.

I can see his "edgy" side in that program but I think he's amping it up for the Fox show.

 

[BobbyPerry]

I actually get a kick out of this show. i can't understand how they continue to fill the restaurant every night.

 

[Nathan*W]

I think they fill it by offering the food at no charge. The caveat, as we've seen, is you might not get fed.