Monday, June 11, 2007
So, About Hell’s Kitchen
Is it just me, or does it seem like Chef Gordon Ramsey and the crew really seem to seed their candidates with a couple losers in hopes of making the show even more ridiculous than the average reality show? I mean, aside from the fact that Chef Ramsey is foul-mouthed and temperamental as a typical two year old, some of the contestants have definitely been imported from misfit island.
That’s neither good nor bad; it’s a logical next step in the continued coarsening of network TV and a way of arrogantly projecting a personality into our homes.
And, on the first night (the do-over of the season opener) showcased Ramsey bullying, harassing, and mocking a bunch of frightened, meek, and confused cooks hoping like hell to win the favor of the evil Chef Ramsey. If there is fun to be had it’s in watching the backstabbing, groveling, and crawling while Ramsey berates and brutalizes these people. It’s emotionally vicious, but given the grand prize of a quarter million dollar salary and a restaurant to run, the fervent competition isn’t surprising.
“Why am I watching?” you ask. Because I have a ton of work to do and I hate to work with silence in the background.
And, frankly it was funny to watch Aaron have a breakdown before the show had even started in earnest. Somewhere inside of me there must be a seriously mean person for me to enjoy the cruelty on display here…
Comments & Trackbacks
I like Ramsey - his BBC shows are quite good as well. Also, while he’s a hard-ass on people, when they do well he lets them know it, which is a lot more than most managers and bosses can say. If you can catch Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares or The F Word on BBC America, do so.
Them’s orders, boy.
I can’t watch that show. If that guy started berating me and physically pushing me around, spitting in my face while screaming at me, etc, I would beat him with a .... well, something. The average industrial kitchen is not short on things with which to bludgeon.
I watch the BBC shows with Chef Gordon Ramsey. He is very good. In each episode, Ramsay visits a failing restaurant and acts as a troubleshooter to help improve the establishment in just one week. Ramsay revisits the restaurant a few months later to see how business has fared in his absence.