Category: Reality TV (Page 116 of 118)

Kitchen Nightmares: Season Ends With F-Bombs

December 13, 2007 / Mike Farley

In the season finale of “Kitchen Nightmares,” Gordon Ramsey ventures out to Moorpark, California to revamp the failing Secret Garden restaurant. The restaurant features French food and a chef/owner named Michel who is very full of himself and his foo-foo menu. He’s also about 300K in debt and needs help because no one is eating there anymore.

After finding that the front door to the restaurant does not even function and having to enter through the back, Ramsey sits down to sample the food. He orders a salad with garlic shrimp and strawberries, and some kind of steak with fried potatoes on top. He sends the salad back, saying that it’s disgusting. Then he says the steak is tough and that the potatoes are just a greasy mess on top. I’m grossed out already, are you? But then Ramsey goes into the kitchen and tells Michel his food sucks.
He then tells him that he’s too far up his own ass to care about anything. Wow. But this was just setting the tone.

The next day, Ramsey inspects the kitchen and finds mold growing in the refrigerator. He makes the entire staff spend the day cleaning the kitchen, after which they prepare for the dinner service that night. Ramsey is mortified that many people are ordering this strawberry “canape,” which is a tiny appetizer. He also notices that every meat entree is crusted in something and says that the menu needs to be simplified for things to run smoother. When he presents this idea to Michel, he is furious and argues with Ramsey some more. But Ramsey wins out and some of the items are presented at the dinner service, which nevertheless gets backed up due to a lack of communication among everyone.
Michel winds up snapping at his servers, making some of them cry.

Then Ramsey has his design team come in as he always does, and gears up for a revamped dinner service with his menu in place. Michel is worried about the changes, saying they will hurt his business rather than help. But since most of Michel’s customers are senior citizens, Ramsey thinks a newer, fresher menu will attract some younger folks too.

The restaurant is packed that night, and a food critic is in attendance as well. That critic sends back her fish dish, saying it’s too salty and over-seasoned. This prompts Michel to revert back to his old menu, which makes Ramsey call him a lazy pig (with many f-bombs thrown in) and storm out.

But Ramsey decides he can’t give up on The Secret Garden and winds up going back. After the critic tries something from the newer menu, she raves about it. Then Michel polls some of his customers and finds out that they all love the new menu items. He admits to himself and to Ramsey that he had been wrong, and that he will go along with the new menu. It doesn’t hurt that he made a ton of money that evening. He even promotes his top server, Jane, to manager.

This one winds up having a happy ending, when it appeared Ramsey might just bail out on the stubborn French chef.

It’s been a fun season, and who knows if the show will be back for a second season. But it sure is interesting seeing how Gordon Ramsey can whip people into shape in a matter of days and turn things around. See you all next month for the return of “American Idol.”

Kitchen Nightmares, Reality TV, TV

Reality used to be a friend of mine…

December 12, 2007 / Will Harris

…but with the writer’s strike showing no end in sight and the stockpile of scripted programming slipping a little farther away from us each week, I’m less and less enthused about reality television every day. Not that I was ever all that thrilled with it to begin with, but I’ve occasionally managed to find shows within the genre that I found interesting. The thing is, there’s “interesting,” and then there’s “car wreck TV,” where you know you shouldn’t watch but find you just can’t turn away, and the latter category has produced two particularly notable new entries – one on broadcast TV, one on cable – which make me want to throw my hands in the air and yell, “Sweet Jesus, what is wrong with these people?” And while I can’t entirely recommend them as must-see television, I feel as though I have to give them a shout-out of some sort, if only because they’ve successfully provoked that kind of reaction from me.

Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants (The CW, 12/12, 9:00 PM): A show about a mother-daughter beauty pageant? Yeah, it’s not exactly what you’d call testosterone-laden, so if it makes you feel better, we’ll call it a guilty pleasure straight out of the box…but, c’mon, there are some total babes here. Rather than go the “American Idol” route and show the auditions for the pageant, “Crowned” cuts right to the chase and and simply introduces the eleven duos who’ll be competing for the grand prize of $100,000…and, inevitably, matching tiaras for both mom and daughter. The judges for the show are Carson Kressley (“Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”), Shanna Moakler (“Meet the Barkers”) and Cynthia Garrett (“Later with Cynthia Garrett”), and although they all brings something to the table, it shouldn’t be any surprise that Carson’s comments alone make the show worth watching.

As far as the contestants, it’s a mixed bag of professional beauty queens and total amateurs, and it’s somehow unsurprising to find that the amateurs come off as way less obnoxious, mostly because they don’t walk in with that “I’ve won pageants, and these peasants know nothing!” attitude. (To be fair, though, looking at the decidedly eccentric Pamela and Felicia, you sense that they were added to the mix not because they were a breath of fresh air but, rather, because they’d be good for a laugh.) The different personalities of the contestants come into play not just during the competition but within the big house everyone lives in together; there’s much sneering back and forth, from early in the morning (one daughter decides to practice her singing at the crack of dawn) to mealtime (one mother refuses to eat anything but what she’s brought from home). Based on the pre-air screener I checked out, I’m hoping that they tone down the unabashedly melancholy strings which play during the various interview segments. It’s at its worst whenever Melinda and Rachelle appear on the screen. Melinda, you see, had a kidney transplant a few years ago, and she never fails to bring it up as a reason why she’s so excited about doing this pageant; that’s understandable, but the way the show’s producers are trying to kickstart the viewers’ tear ducts is so over the top that it’s laughable.

Watching the sequences where the women choose their team names and select their costumes are entertaining enough, but it’s when they make their individual debuts before the judges that the real fun begins…and by fun, of course, I mean it’s time to yell, “Sweet Jesus, what is wrong with these people?” Probably the funniest moment comes when Carson reveals to one mother-daughter pair that the name they’ve chosen is actually better known as a euphemism for a bodily function…which, based on their absolute deer-in-headlights look, absolutely never occurred to them. There are a few charming moments which inspire legitimate smiles, and at least one instance where you’ll end up in a puddle on the floor when an introduction falls apart to the point where the daughter starts crying on stage, but for the most part, it’s more about the laughs than anything.

Hey, as Shanna Moakler herself has said, “It’s reality TV, it’s not rocket science.”

External Entertainment, External TV, Reality TV, Reviews

Bullz-Eye’s 2007 Year End TV Review

December 9, 2007 / Will Harris

Given that the TV season generally runs from September to May, it always feels a little strange doing a year-end wrap-up of the best in television, since you end up bringing in bits and pieces from two separate seasons. Still, between the second half of the 2006 – 2007 season and the first half of the 2007 – 2008 season, we’ve certainly been given plenty of material to work with. Six of our most prolific TV writers have provided their opinions of both the best and the worst that the small screen has had to offer, and while they do occasionally concur on a show, it’s a safe bet that no two people on the Bullz-Eye staff have identical season pass lists on TiVo.

Head over to the homepage by clicking here, but don’t forget to swing back by to offer your own opinions!

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Kitchen Nightmares: Tony Soprano Might Eat Here

November 29, 2007 / Mike Farley

Last night’s Kitchen Nightmares featured an Italian restaurant called Campania’s, located in Fairlawn, New Jersey, which is 20 minutes from New York City. Looking at the location and surroundings, it felt like this restaurant was located on the set of The Sopranos. Like you could imagine that meat store Tony and his boys hang out at being in the same strip mall. But I digress….

Gordon Ramsey was sent to rescue Campania’s from impending bankruptcy. Its owner/chef, Joe, was about $80K in debt and nobody was eating there anymore. In addition, he had too much food inventory, too many employees to pay, and was running his business like a frat party.

They showed the staff joking around, including Joe, head chef Gene, servers Josette and Jessica and pretty much everyone else. They interviewed Joe’s mom, Pat, who was worried about his son’s business and his health.

So Ramsey sits down and orders lunch so he can sample the food at Campania’s. He orders tortellini soup, some kind of sausage ravioli and chicken with what I think was a pistachio crust. After waiting more than 20 minutes for his soup, Ramsey was extremely disappointed. The soup was bland, the ravioli had too much garlic and the chicken was dry. The next day, he inspects the fridge and notices that there is way too much food for the amount of business the place is doing. He finds out that Campania’s serves huge portions and folks are always taking food home. In addition, Ramsey starts sending wait staff home because the place just has too much overhead. After the dinner service confirms a lot of these problems to Ramsey, he sits down with Joe and tells him he needs to make some changes to his business. Joe is hard-headed but in the end realizes that Ramsey is correct.

Ramsey even visits Joe’s house and his wife Melissa, who looks like Marisa Tomei. Melissa wants Joe to succeed so badly but knows he needs to make changes as well at the restaurant.

The first thing that Ramsey does when he returns to the restaurant is teach the staff how to make some great meatballs, and suggests that instead of the flashy dishes they are serving, that the restaurant go back to basics and feature these meatballs. He paints the Campania’s logo on a van and takes some of the staff with him to serve the meatballs on the street, calling them “New Jersey’s Best Meatballs.” People on the street are loving it. Then, the design team re-does the interior as well as the signage out front, and the kitchen is equipped with a new stove. Finally, Ramsey institutes the use of smaller plates, forcing the portion sizes to shrink, and simplifies the menu.

In the new dinner service, the wait staff likes the new menu, and gets to play “bingo” as Ramsey says whoever sells one of each item on the menu takes home $100. Most of the customers love the food, except for an older woman that says everything is terrible…Ramsey sticks up for his chefs and calls the woman an “old bag” to her face. That’s great television. Then, another woman who says the food is like “Ragu,” gets berated by another customer who is drunk. Again, great TV.

So with the new menu and the staff more serious about their work, Campania’s begins to make money. Thankfully, there is no footnote that the place has closed down five months later…as far as we know, Campania’s is still going strong and Joe is back on track to making money. I know I want to go taste those meatballs now!

Next week’s show is a repeat, so I’m not sure if and when Kitchen Nightmares will return with new episodes. But until then, see ya!

Reality TV, TV

Kitchen Nightmares: Ramsey Can’t Save This One

November 23, 2007 / Mike Farley

Pomona, California is an artsy town, and not the kind of place you’d expect to find a fine dining restaurant. Yet that’s exactly what Lela’s was, and it was floundering. Enter Chef Gordon Ramsey and his crew with “Kitchen Nightmares.” Ramsey immediately knew that this place was, well, out of place in Pomona. But the fact that not many people were eating there signified a greater problem. So he got there, and met with owner Lela, chef Ricky, sous chef Lex, and server Tabitha.

As he always does to get things kicked off, Ramsey sits down and orders lunch so he can sample the food. And as always, he’s disappointed at the lack of fresh food on the menu. After pointing out some spelling errors on the menu and finding out that they are out of both shrimp and salmon, Ramsey orders tomato basil soup, chicken nachos and lamb with chocolate mint sauce…..chocolate mint sauce? YUCK. Sorry, that was me speaking, but Ramsey would soon feel the same. First, he realizes the soup is canned; that the nachos were made the day before; and that the lamb has almost no meat on it, and is also frozen and re-heated. To make matters worse, Ricky’s chocolate mint sauce is Hershey’s syrup with mint leaves….again, YUCK. So Ramsey decides to go straight to dessert. He orders the brownie ala mode, but soon finds out they are also out of brownies. Then, after hearing Tabitha and Ricky yell at each other, Ramsey confronts Ricky and calls him lazy. We can see now that Ricky is the antagonist in this episode.

The next day Ramsey inspects the kitchen, and finds not only that nothing is fresh, but that the fridge is not very cold. Hence, meat is going bad. At the dinner service that evening, Ramsey discovers more things he doesn’t like–namely, that Ricky is using instant mashed potatoes, and what’s worse–he doesn’t care! “No one has complained before,” he argues. Then, as the dinner service is at its busiest, one of the kitchen employees, “Buzzard,” helps himself to some wine and some leftover dishes and starts leaving. Ramsey intercepts him and brings him to Lela. Buzzard storms out, and returns the next day only to have Lela fire him.

The next day Ramsey decides to have a blind taste test with Ricky and Lex, just as he does with the contestants on his “Hell’s Kitchen” show. Lex passes with flying colors, and Ricky can’t tell chicken from beef. So Lex proclaims that he is indeed a better chef than Ricky, and Ramsey lets him run the kitchen later that night with Ricky as the sous chef. He also names Tabitha to manage the restaurant. Meanwhile, Ramsey sends Lela off for some pampering while he has his design team re-do the dining room. He also interviews some local folks and finds out that what Pomona really needs is a casual eatery–i.e., salads and burgers, or pub food. So he challenges Ricky and Lex to come up with a “Pomona Salad” and also teaches them how to make a perfect burger. They take their show on the “road,” offering free burgers to people on the street to generate interest in Lela’s new menu.

Later that night at the first dinner service with the new menu and new design, it’s chaotic and Lex proves he isn’t really a leader. In fact, he storms out at one point when Lela starts yelling at him. So while he’s gone, Ricky steps up his game and proves that he can, in fact, hustle when he wants to. He can also cook really well. Orders start flying out of the kitchen, and the customers, including the mayor, are loving the food. Lex returns as sous chef to Ricky, and Ramsey congratulates Ricky on the fact that he stepped up.

After that successful dinner service, Ramsey congratulates everyone and the restaurant is shown to continue that success for a short time. Sadly, though, Lela is forced to shut it down due to overwhelming debt that she’s accumulated, that is just too much to dig out from underneath.
These shows can’t all have happy endings, and this one surely wasn’t. Still, it’s amazing to see what Ramsey can do to transform a restaurant going South in a short amount of time. And it’s even more amazing that he can change the attitudes of some big egos as well.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and see you next week…