Hell’s Kitchen – Reality TV Is Losing Its Reality… And That’s Saying Something

I have to admit it.  I like Gordon Ramsay. I like Simon on American Idol as well. Apart from the volume associated with their comments, and the bleeping, they’re rather similar. Now, on Hell’s Kitchen, Ramsay may at times go rather beyond the necessary level of screaming, but I can’t help but be in favor of the general theory.

 

 

 

Just to pick one example from last night’s episode, if you’re supposedly running a very serious kitchen, where people are supposed to know what they’re doing, and are aiming for a job running a pretty swank restaurant – when a guy puts something to be cooked in a pan that is filthy from having already been used to cook something… what are the options?

 

 

 

I suppose you could Paula Abdul it, and say that his chef’s jacket really looks good on him, and you hope he’ll do better next time because you really like him.  Maybe you could just sweetly suggest that we generally prefer the clean cookware here.  You could even overlook the whole thing, and just let it go.  Who is Gordon Ramsay to suggest that his standards and opinions are better than anyone else’s anyway?

 

 

 

Or, you could maybe have someone who looked disgusted, and yelled, “Wh… What the hell are you doing?!”

 

 

Is that really the wrong option?

 

 

I don’t know… I like it when Simon tells people who suck at singing that (gasp) they suck at singing.  

 

 

 

But, here’s the thing… Hell’s Kitchen has really gone wrong at this point.  The first couple of seasons weren’t too bad, but I’m really more a fan of Kitchen Nightmares… where I can believe (with good reason) that he’s helping people.  Sadly, it seems the show has gone the way of all reality shows.  First season or two, let’s have our gimmick and go for it.  Looking back on the ratings and “buzz” leads to the idea that nutty character so-and-so did well for us.  Following seasons, more nuts!

 

 

Last night’s castoff is this guy here -

 

 

We’re at the point that half the contestants are already gone, and J, because that’s his “name”… “J”, can’t cook rice.  Now sure, I already hear the replies, “you try to cook rice smartass.”  Well, fair enough, but I’m not trying out in a competition to run a restaurant am I?

 

 

 

J hands in his resume which glorifies his impressive road going from – not being a sous chef anymore, to not being an executive sous chef anymore, to not being an executive chef anymore, and ultimately to working himself up to the honored spot of First Clerk at Price Chopper.  Thus, listing his occupation as Food Court Chef.  What?  WTF is a Food Court Chef?  His notes on the show’s website begin – “J fries chicken in a food court.”  What?  It goes on to give us the fabulous idea that J claims to be held down by corporations.

 

 

This is your competition on the “who is going to be a great chef show?”

 

 

J was actually summarily dismissed before the show even ended last night, because even after the rice fiasco, he continually botched everything he touched.  This after weeks of botching everything he touches.  Thus, the end of the show was rather a let down, with no one else being sent home.

 

 

 

Thus, Lacey was spared a real verdict… again.

 

 

Lacey that everyone on the show seems to love to hate.  The same Lacey who has “quit” the show at least five times and stormed off, only to return.  And the same Lacey who, perhaps according mostly to clever editing – perhaps not, spends most of her time wandering aimlessly and complaining about not wanting to do things.

 

 

Lacey – 24 – with this glowing resume -

 

Wine Bar Chef, Dean and Deluca

Chocolatier, City Sweets

Entre Cook, Sodexho (which is actually now Sodexo)

 

In case you aren’t aware, Sodexo is a multi-national, facility food service corporation that, in a nutshell, runs the cafeterias at hospitals, colleges, military bases, senior centers and etc.

 

 

I was actually rather intrigued by some of these (maybe less than stellar – maybe laughable) resumes when the show started.  Maybe we were giving some talented people a shot.  People who had submitted themselves and shown their worth, who might be a long road through traditionals avenues because they weren’t able to go to the best culinary schools (Lacey went to Central Piedmont Community College Culinary School, by the way).  If nothing else, they’d get some good experience… notice that Lacey really has no restaurant experience at all.  I was rather hopeful.

 

 

Unfortunately, it turns out that many of these people are just awful.  Lacey was pretty clearly chosen for the show based purely on the fact that her personality and utter lack of any work ethic was going to cause untold drama for the cameras.  Hooray.  Meanwhile, we’ve spent much of the season listening to complaints like – “The water isn’t even boiling.”  ”The oven isn’t on the right temperature.”  ”The pasta is raw.”

 

 

That’s just not interesting cooking show competition material, though it’s bound to cause a lot of fighting amongst the chefs, and a lot of screaming from Ramsay.

 

 

Worse still, round out the competition with other chefs like one of the clear frontrunners Giovanni -

 

20 years experience (real restaurant experience)

 

Culinary Institute of America

 

Executive Chef, Creehan’s Copper Grill

Executive Chef, Marina Cafe

Executive Chef, Chops

 

 

Other skills: mostly cooks rice decently, boils water without incident, along with a few others was hardly on the show the first few weeks, because he wasn’t really screwing anything up much.

 

 

Sorry, Ramsay, it’s just not particularly interesting anymore.  Putting a group of people together who have strong qualifications, and yelling at them when they make mistakes they shouldn’t be making is one thing.  Putting together a few people you’ve picked as possible winners with a mass of others who aren’t remotely qualified so that you can yell at them because they have no hope of doing well is really quite another.  And, it’s not interesting.

 

 

 

 

Are You Screening?

 

 

Here are a few clips from the show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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