After sacrificing an arm to some severe twisting, we put aside our reservations to watch the third season premiere of HELL’S KITCHEN. For the (lucky) uninitiated, this is the show on which notorious bad boy chef Gordon Ramsay berates a bunch of people idiotic enough to put themselves in his line of fire in the hope of opening their own restaurant. But do we really want the future chefs of America learning at the feet of a man who behaves like a petulant, spoiled child who has just discovered obscenities? Worse, Ramsay’s ridiculous outbursts come off as ridiculously staged, which is no surprise since every commercial for the show features him yelling… at least we assume that’s what he’s doing beneath the censor’s endless bleeps. Why encourage this kind of rudeness? Frankly, we think SUPERNANNY needs to be flown in to wash his mouth out with soap and put him in a time-out chair. Want real entertainment (especially now that it appears a betting scandal has made it easy to do a quick google search and find out who supposedly walked away from HELL a winner)? Catch Bravo’s TOP CHEF, which featured a showdown between season one and season two contestants last night and will kick off a third season next week. We’d also recommend THE NEXT FOOD NETWORK STAR, which is interesting to watch because it puts almost as much emphasis on the personalities of the competitors as on their cooking styles since, after all, they are looking to land a gig hosting a show on the Food Network (thus the title… see how simple this is?). We were sorry to see spicy dish Vivien cut so early, although dull as dishwater Patrick’s exit wasn’t much of a surprise. At the moment, our money’s on sexy chef Adrien to walk away the winner, although his specialty – southwestern comfort food – is sure to be held to a high standard by judge Bobby Flay, who happens to excel in that particular area.
Each and every episode of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE makes it clearer and clearer why this show is far and away better than AMERICAN IDOL. The criticisms are sharp and to the point, usually having something to do with the actual performance of the dancer as opposed to Simon’s snarky remarks, which more often than not sound as if they were scripted by someone with a nasty streak. And is it just us, or has choreographer/judge Shane Sparks – who last season seemed a little full of himself – mellowed and become a downright likeable guy?
Is it wrong that we’re so anxiously awaiting the premiere of BIG BROTHER? It just doesn’t feel like summer until Julie Chen starts doing lame interviews with evicted houseguests. No word yet on exactly when the season will begin, but rumors are making the round as to what this year’s “twist” might be. One we’re not particularly thrilled with is the idea that the show will reunite class bullies with those they intimidated back in high school. Remember the good old days when all we asked of reality TV was that it put a bunch of strangers together and pump them full of booze?
GREY’S ANATOMY has a series of ads targeting Emmy voters which have a tag line which might be the motto of the show’s emotionally-needy characters. It reads simply, “Pick us. Choose us. Love us.”
