Hell's Kitchen, U.S. Season 1

[schneich]

after seeing 5 eps i have to say "hells kitchen" is as lame as the german version "in teufels küche". i think ramsay is a very talented and perfectionistic even controlfreakin (every good chef has to be) cook. but at this show he plays the stereotype of a screaming cursing stupid english bastard....

t.

[bao]

after seeing 5 eps i have to say "hells kitchen" is as lame as the german version "in teufels küche".

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Oh my! The first time I saw in teufels küche I thought it was a spoof. I had to see a few before I realized it was a real show. Utterly ridiculous!

[Siren]

the whole michael to michael 3am pep talk was complete and utter shite...

[tan319]

When do they start casting for the new one???

[Allen]

Have they defined what the prize is other than a restaurant? I'm assuming that the winner will be given the set for the show and the remainder of the lease on the warehouse where it is located.

[kitchpig]

Hell's bells for Hell's Kitchen - still it has to be better than fox's 'Kitchen Confidential' coming this fall. A situation comedy (?) with nothing in common with the book except the title. Tony must be fuming, and hopefully sueing.

[coquus]

Hell's bells for Hell's Kitchen - still it has to be better than fox's 'Kitchen Confidential' coming this fall. A situation comedy (?) with nothing in common with the book except the title. Tony must be fuming, and hopefully sueing.

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Ahh, ha, ha, I saw the trailer, that s**t looks stupid, and, I might add, a bit more like Melrose Place than a situational comedy.

Last night I saw the whiney one, Andy, leave, and then big boy Jimmy. At least there weren't any surprises, well except Gordon's mouth got a bit more ugly, which I didn't think was possible, it seems to be infecting the others a bit too.

[ellencho]

Anyone else here confounded by the dish Andrew wanted to serve? The braised salmon in a white wine reduction? Why would you do that to salmon? Broiled salmon sounds fine, but what would be the point of cooking the crap out of a piece of salmon?

That, and Jessica blowing on the filets that had caught fire? Does it really take much brain power to know to put a lid on it?

Edited July 12, 2005 by ellencho (log)

[Mnehrling]

He probably didn't know what braised meant.

[jbonne]

anyone else notice the "uni vichyssoise" listed atop one of the team's menus when diners were looking it over? (it flashed quickly, and i forget which team, though might have been red.)

sounded like the most interesting option they had -- certainly more than that lame halibut.

also made me wonder what other items we didn't see featured from their menus that might have actually swayed Ramsay.

[peppyre]

Didn't anyone else notice that the 7 minute long intro was reduced to about 30 seconds? To that I say THank You!!

[DeVeaux]

I think that the next season of Hell's Kitchen should feature Gordon running a new McDonalds in an inner-city location, where surly teenagers who don't want to work get to bitch-slap Gordon when he screams and insults them. Sample dialogue: "At least I didn't get cut by Rangers, beeatch" and "Yo - Scottish boy! My knife is bigger than your knife".

The winner will get to shoot Gordon in the ass in a drive-by.

[jhlurie]

Hell's bells for Hell's Kitchen - still it has to be better than fox's 'Kitchen Confidential' coming this fall. A situation comedy (?) with nothing in common with the book except the title. Tony must be fuming, and hopefully sueing.

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I doubt it. Bourdain isn't that uptight, and he certainly knew what he was getting into when he optioned the book. He stated here once that he'd been surprised by the actual deal that went down, but that's hardly the same thing as an admission of disapproval.

As for Hell's Kitchen, U.S., I've come around to the point of view that everyone involved knows it's kind of a joke, and nobody--especially Ramsey--really expects to make a commercial success out of whoever "wins". The idea is that, at most, they are creating somebody they will march out to the public, as Donald Trump marches out his so-called "Apprentices", and that's about all this is. That isn't to say that Ramsey is giving false opinions--he's probably taking that part at least seriously enough that he feels compelled to use these chuckleheads to illustrate a real lesson or two. Then again, he's not going to win any sensitivity awards for constantly harping on Jimmy's er... weight issues. He's probably getting more hate mail for that alone than everything else put together.

[johnnyd]

I think that the next season of Hell's Kitchen should feature Gordon running a new McDonalds in an inner-city location, where surly teenagers who don't want to work get to bitch-slap Gordon when he screams and insults them.  Sample dialogue: "At least I didn't get cut by Rangers, beeatch" and "Yo - Scottish boy! My knife is bigger than your knife".

The winner will get to shoot Gordon in the ass in a drive-by.

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Oh. My. God.

I am laughing my ass off here!

"Yo, you want fries wit dat?"

[Siren]

yes, but are you moving your arse while you're laughing it off?

that's really what is most important..

[coquus]

jlurie, or jon?, I'm happy to hear Tony is at least getting paid, it would be a shame otherwise. Hopefully Jack will turn out to be at least half as much the man, the promo certainly doesn't catch me, but it's Fox, and they know better than I who their target audience is, so I'll suspend judgement.

As for Gordon, he deserves that hatemail. If he doesn't think that fat people can handle the heat why did he have Jimmy on the show, from day one he said that Jimmy was too bulky for the work. I've seen chefs as big as him really hustle however, so in my opinion the point is moot, however, I doubt people would tune in to watch me deliver subtle encouragements and helpful advice. The only one I would like to see with their own restaurant right now is Jessica, not that she'd know what to do with it, she's just the only one I even care for anymore. But that doesn't matter, she gets the boot on Monday, j/k, I don't know anything like that.

[DeVeaux]

OK, here's a variation for next season:

Gordon is the grill cook at an inner city McDonald's. His supervisor is a very large Black woman with an attitude against "chefs" who hate fat people and do not have even one Black person on their show. Gordon's mouth is duct taped shut, and he's attached to the grill by a leg chain for 15 hour shifts. He is called a "stupid twat" by the entire staff and all of his Quarter Pounders are returned and thrown at him to be cooked again, while customers come back and insult him. Once a day, Gordon is released from the grill and has to dress up as Ronald McDonald and stand outside and dance while holding a sign that says "I wasn't good enough to play for Rangers, so I became a fry cook". He is also only allowed to eat McDonald's food.

[BigboyDan]

This whole show is weird. What's the point? What does Ramsey hope to gain?

[DeVeaux]

He gets paid to be an abusive, bullying twat.

[Holly Moore]

He gets paid to be an abusive, bullying twat.

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Somehow I get the feeling that money isn't the motivator for the bullying side of Ramsay.

[mike_r]

i have to say this show's having a deleterious effect on our chef at work; every two seconds he's quoting ramsay, yelling at our intern, playing it up...all in good fun though. at least it gives us something to talk about on the line. i think its gonna come down to michael and ralph, with michael maybe winning...dude's always hiding on the pastry section though! anyone else notice that? the past three eps he's been bruleein' away while rome burns. oh yeah, and the mysterious meat incident, although i think he just went and looked in the meat locker, where jessica should have looked in the first place. whatever; it's entertaining...i'd like to see him at an inner-city community college cooking school. or even at chic. people making wendy "i thought cold water boiled faster" seem like fernand point.

[coquus]

.i'd like to see him at an inner-city community college cooking school.  or even at chic.  people making wendy "i thought cold water boiled faster" seem like fernand point.

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It does though doesn't it? I mean hot water has a head start, so doesn't the cold, although not boiling as quickly, still heat up faster, nah, nope, I don't think so, same rate. It doesn't take much longer though, it has probably got to do with the longest part being getting the aluminum hot then convection currents taking over. Personally I almost always use cold water to boil things, unless I my boss is learing. I love it when the contestants give Ramsey a time when he asks for something, they still do that, as much as it pisses him off, just say right away chef, and if he presses you, think of the fastest time you could finish it and cut in half, then speak.

[BCinBC]

He gets paid to be an abusive, bullying twat.

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Although I disagree with the "twat" part, people do indeed pay in part because of his tactics - they pay him every time they walk into any of his restaurants.

I actually think GR is opening up a little more as the shows go on. Episode 1 was of course over the top, but in the last episode he told the final 5 how proud he was of them, and then when he cut Jimmy he commented on how well he'd done to get so far and how he should hold his head up.

When Jimmy won the fruit flambee challenge, he (Jimmy) talked about how he was on top of the world.

TV is obviously playing up the millitant screaming persona (fercrissake people, the show is airing on Fox, the "Princes of Malibu" network), but it seems to me like these people on the show, ie the people being "abused", actually respect GR.

Whoever gets it, is certainly going to be a proud "captain" of the ship as those two sous chefs they keep showing actually run the place until it goes under. It'll be like a Planet Hollywood, but shorter lived.

[Phatlouie07]

He gets paid to be an abusive, bullying twat.

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"elsie you've touch my heart"-from tonight's episode. was what he said just for show?..if not..he's an abusive, sappy, bullying twat.

[mike_r]

nah if you notice in the earlier episodes he definately pays close attention to her, every time they win a challenge he's hanging out right next to her. wasn't too sure about all that "every chef's dream" stuff about cooking on live tv...and did anyone ever see that? maybe i missed it...

surprised that elsie's gone, but you could tell right from the beginning. i think the key here is to not win challenges, then you won't get kicked off. still clinging to the belief that michael will get it.