I enjoy cooking. I enjoy baking. Folks seem to enjoy eating food I prepare. But, do I want to be a chef? Or, more specifically, do I want to go through hell at the hands of Chef Gordon Ramsay of Hell's Kitchen?
No way! This guy is brutal. He makes my own micro-managing boss look like an angel. And, of course, when you're talking kitchens, there are weapons there — knives, forks, and hot stoves, oh my!
I watched this show last season mainly because there wasn't anything else which interested me in the time slot. I ended up getting hooked on the show. So, here I am.
Tonight's season premiere was less of the touted two-hour special than it was two episodes shown one after the other. The events occurring were obviously two separate shows, not one grand ol' cookin' fest. But it did the trick for me on a quiet Monday night (as well as making me feel a bit better about my own boss).
This season, the 12 contestants have been broken down by gender to two teams of six each. I'm not huge on the gender war mentality in the reality television genre, but it seems like every show goes that route if it lasts more than a season. So be it. The men are the Blue Team; the women are the Red Team. Pink is obviously too fluffy and soft for Ramsay, I'd say.
Even though I watched the two hours, I still don't have too many of the contestants down. I'm impressed with Heather — she knows what she's doing. She severely burnt her hand in the second hour yet kept giving her team direction and said things like, "We do not speak in the kitchen." I'll remember that. I will only dance and hum while in my kitchen.
Article comments
1 - Bliffle
This program is quite stupid. It is obviously contrived for strife, not for cooking.
2 - John Owen
Well, yeah. If I wanted to watch semitalented novices just cooking, I could always put a camera in my own kitchen. It's the abuse that makes it half-decent TV.
3 - Cass
Keith hasn't gotten a chance to show off in the kitchen yet. He's supposedly a chef. I agree that Heather is the strongest candidate. My question is that if they do so much prep work ahead of time, WTF is the problem with just cooking the food!?? The waste of food was appalling and digging through it was disgusting. I don't know how they didn't puke. I figure it will come down to Heather and Sara, unless Maribel and the biker chick really step up (Virginia seems the next to be eliminated on the girls' side). On the men's side? Hmmm.. Prison cook just might come out on top. Tom is so nasty with all the sweat. Garrett and Giacomo seem a bit out of their element. If Keith gets a chance to shine, he might do well. *shrugs*
What cracked me up was all the "tough" talk from several of the contestants: "I'm not gonna let Ramsay run all over me!" And then they ALL fell apart!
(If Polly is really a caterer, why couldn't she manage stress better?)
Should be an interesting season!
4 - Mark Saleski
ya think the contestants have to sign "though shalt not whack the chef" releases?
i mean, if it were me i would have smacked him upside the head with a frying pan.
5 - duane
The brutal dog-eat-dog world of souffle preparation. Good grief.
Next year there will be a TV show called "Masocarwash" about working in a carwash. There will be 10 contestants who will be judged on their ability to withstand the brutal on-the-job pressures of drying, waxing, and vacuuming. The instructor, a swaggering, loud, humorless hulk, will bark at the contestants about things like which rag to use on the dashboard, how not to leave streaks on the windshield, and reminding them most harshly to leave the windows up. Contestants will receive demerits for such things as forgetting the ashtrays, not vacuuming under the floormats, and not smiling at the customer. It's brutal, I tell ya. Naturally, the contestants will be drawn from thousands of hopefuls, and will represent a mix of backgrounds, and will have discernibly wacky traits to set them off from the other contestants, thus guaranteeing that the phone lines will be jammed when the audience calls in their votes. I am already anticipating the lively debates with my work buddies.
6 - Joan Hunt
Congrats! This article has been placed on Advance.net
7 - jack
the customers are not only not charged, but they're not even customers, they're paid actors.