Iron Chef US: The Shatner Edition

[Kim WB]

It was hugely entertaining..the commentary was so bad, that it became good, if you know what I mean. Wow, that Todd English is a handsome fella...Kerry is more cute than handsome. They focus more on personalities than the food..."what is that! What is that strange piece of equipment there??!! What is Kerry Simon making???" "Ah, I think you'll find that it's an Icecream maker, Jim! I think he might be making an ice cream of some kind! "

[tommy]

"i've never seen a blender in ice before." cock gun, point at my head, shoot. thank you.

[Bux]

I caught a bit of that by accident. I guess I missed the best parts. I was enthralled by the taster comments. One of them was explicit enough to describe on dish as "indescribable." It was almost as if I could taste it myself. A good part of the appeal of Iron Chef was that it was a freak show from an inscrutable foreign culture. At home it's a couple of journeymen in clown suits cooking for people who have nothing to say about what they ate.

[tommy]

i couldn't help but think that the "tasters" didn't really like food in general. more than once i heard "well, i didn't think i was going to like this..." who the eff thinks they're not going to like something??? besides children and people not into food, that is.

[cinghiale]

Dunno about "so bad, it's good." Seems rather all-around bad. Floor host "Sissy" Biggers commentary consisted of "Kerry is now taking a stainless steel bowl" or upon learning what Simon was chopping, "Oh, vegetable ... dice". The WWF-style guys yuking it up over sea urchin gonads. And the tasters: a bunny, two TV "stars" and an unkempt comic. Like tommy, I couldn't get over the mantra "I didn't think I was gonna like this, but." The bunny confessed to being a "french-fry gal w/lotsa salt", the comic, to being "a big fat pig."

Did anyone notice that at the "2-min to go mark", Simon (whom the FTVN website lists as "Kerry Smith") looked pretty worried about the Bay Seasoning sorbet? It looked reallllly soupy in the shot of the maker. Yet, it served up like water ice. hmmmm.

My tivo keeps listing this sh*t as IC/Japan battles. I've now deleted it from my Season Pass, and I hope never to see an episode again.

[tommy]

in all fairness to the "fat pig" ( Bruce Vilanch), he's a comedy writer, and has been pretty successful over the years, writing horrible quips for the Acedemy Awards and things like that. he, actually, seemed to understand food a bit more than say, the playboy model.

[cinghiale]

True about Vilanch. And, he seemed to be eating every morsel of each dish (prompting the "BFP" comment) -- contradicting the commentators, who discussed the technique of proper taster sampling.

[beans]

The cell phone stuff was a bit dorky. According to FN's schedule, this episode wasn't supposta be on the air.

[tan319]

Was Sissy dressed up like a ring girl?

[bao]

Saw this when it originally aired sometime ago. They admitted that there was so much staging going on that the food was cold by the time the judges sampled it. It also got out that the entire competition was fixed for Todd to win from the get-go. Dunno how much truth there is to this, but the whole thing came off as a waste of time to me.

[beans]

My tivo keeps listing this sh*t as IC/Japan battles.  I've now deleted it from my Season Pass, and I hope never to see an episode again.

That's a tad harsh! It was meant all in silly fun. And from the looks of it, all that participated in the show appeared to have fun too!

[cinghiale]

The cell phone stuff was a bit dorky.

Yeah, I almost expected him to say, "Hey, Jean-George, can you hold on a minute? I got Daniel Boulud on the other line."

It was meant all in silly fun

Not my idea of fun. Idiotic description of ingredients ("What's dungeness crab?" "It's a crab from Dungeness, WA."). Manufactured freneticism in the crowd ("Wow, let's see Todd flip that pancake again in slo-mo!!") So, I-M-O, it sucked. To me, I didn't think it was funny. I didn't enjoy it. If FTV wants to descend to offering "silly fun", they've lost one viewer (well, I'll keep watching MM), but I guess they think they'll more than make up for it with new viewers. Edited July 21, 2003 by cinghiale (log)

[hotle]

my son and i watched saturday night. i was pretty disappointed, i guess. in addition to echoing many of the comments here, i also wondered how the napoleon with the sparklers on top tasted......yummy yummy ashes in my tummy!

i'm a big fan of the japanese iron chef. yeah, the costumes were hokey. yes, the 'host' was goofy. but, under it all, there seemed to me to be a VERY serious treatment of food, even with all the staging. and, there was a knowledgeable commentator (hattori) who actually seemed to know something about ingredients (i've read dias blue's columns on wine before and enjoyed them, but anyone who was just exposed to him on this show hasta think he's a moron). the pacing was good, the guests.....even the kids they had on.....seemed to love food and be able to express themselves. and, during the battle, there seemed to be a consistent repartee between fukui and hattori that these two commentators just didn't have.

i may catch another episode (if there is one), but if it doesn't improve, i won't watch it again.

[bsan]

Please!

This show is as boring as an adult birthday party gift. It doesn't have the pizzazz like the Japanese version does. And we all know that the Japanese version rules. (Well, that's what I thought when I read this topic...)

I'm glad it's only on for one more week. I can't take it!

*bounces up and down in a padded bedroom with a straight jacket hooked up*

[beans]

Wow, I had no idea these would be the responses to my post! Yes, Iron Chef is a show that either you love or hate. This was just a silly spin off that I couldn't stop laughing while watching. Not everything is meant to be taken so seriously! Believe me I'll take this show as entertainment over Food Fight, Lighten Up or Date Plate also airing on FN. Big difference from serious food shows and those geared for sheer entertainment!

My impression was it was over the top in good, clean fun. I enjoy those that are happily able to poke fun at themselves.... Or, perhaps I rarely catch Iron Chef episodes at all that I found it an absolute riot! Everyone had a part to play and they hammed it up well! So, yes, why not sparklers? For heavens sake, Todd English was clad head to toe in shiny satin!

I'm just disappointed the recipes for the episode are not listed. I love dungies.

[Kim WB]

I'm not sure that the USA version is meant to be taken seriously...it's so over the top campy,, from the announcers to the costumes to the cell phones to the crowd...I treated it as a parody of sorts, and enjoyed it as such.

And I'm not quite sure I am willing to conceed that Japan Iron Chef is as serious and knowledgeable and respecful as presented by some on this thread..the general guy comes into the stadioum on a white horse! The judges seem just as clueless, unless the translation is flawed ( I don't know ..that giggling actress translates pretty clearly! )

[tommy]

And I'm not quite sure I am willing to conceed that Japan Iron Chef is as serious and knowledgeable and respecful as presented by some on this thread..the general guy comes into the stadioum on a white horse! The judges seem just as clueless, unless the translation is flawed ( I don't know ..that giggling actress translates pretty clearly!  )

i disagree kim. those judges seem to appreciate food, and have a pretty decent knowledge of it, and they're able to articulate what they're thinking when tasting a dish, all while giggling.

you can have serious cooking, even with a white horse in the opening sequence. i think anyway.

[hotle]

agree with tommy. underneath all the glitz and glam and giddiness, i believe there was a VERY strong sense of seriousness with the chefs involved. i bought the 'iron chef' book, and though i understand that there was likely some editorial content care taken (read: self-serving speaking and quoting), you couldn't help but be impressed with how much the iron chefs CARED about the food they made, and the potential face they'd lose if they lost a battle. and, the tasting panel members seemed to be knowledgeable about food, and willing to speak their minds as well.....even the kids. even the battles with flay, though more over the top, food was the key, not the campy presentation.

the american version seemed to me to be all about the glitz and glam and giddiness, and i didn't find the commentators amusing. but, personal taste and all!