Topic: Hell's Kitchen Season 5

[TARAsia Fan]

I still think Lacey should be on the chopping block if she doesn't improve in the next episode. Colleen is really pulling the red team down. And I believe Seth is going to be vulnerable if the previews for next week are accurate.

[scuzneck]

Okay, just got through watching last's night episode...(I love HULU)...

First off I am very impressed that the chefs were able to get through the service. Remarkable, seeing as how it was there 2nd service overall. I goes to show that the quality of this year's TOP chefs is indeed head and shoulders above previous seasons. However, with that said, I believe that the BOTTOM chefs are by far the worst that have ever been put onto this show.

Colleen has about as much business being o this show as I do...And, honestly, I think I could perform better. I certainly hope that all she does is own the school and not teach in it. My junior in high school has more kitchen sense than she does and he just started to help cook dinners for the family. She was the one that stayed because of Jai's injury.

The only thing I will give Lacey credit for is being able to run her station without mistake last night. And, yes, she should have been on the chopping block for two reasons. Number one was her horrible desecration of the scallops. Not the worst of the chefs, but bad nonetheless. Second was her abondonment of the team during prep of the raw bar. That is an unconscionable act. You win as a team. You lose as a team. You take the reward together. You take the punishment together. That was an act that did not sit very well at all with her teammates.

As far as Carol goes, she had a rough service, but she did nothing worse than Colleen has done or Lacey did earlier in the program. She screwed up the risotto and the red team was still down one dish to the guys when Ramsey stated the winning team would be the first team to complete service.

Hate Hate Hate to see Jai go. She was one of the favorites, hands down. She will get a second shot. If not, this season. Next for sure.

Lastly, it was so unfair that the BIG GUY didn't get to spend the day on Catalina Island with his teammates. A different reward should had been planned.

[TexasLady]

I think we see the weak, Seth, Carol, Lacey and Colleen. Lacey has cooked her own goose so to speak because she laid in bed while the other women prepped. I'm sure that will come back to haunt her. Apskip is right though, she did work the station and show Colleen how to prepare the scallops.

I believe I read somewhere in my travels that Collen hires chefs to teach the classes but still, she shouldn't be in the kitchen if she doesn't know what to do. (But wasn't Lacey in the same boat last week concerning the line?

I really think once these weak people leave, this might be a very good season for Hell's Kitchen. I am still impressed that both teams pulled off a complete service on the second night. Never happened before in HK history. 

I meant to comment on Robert, it really was terrible that he was not able to take the helicopter ride to Catalina and as soon as he got there had to turn around and go back. I think the trip to Catalina on the ferry is about an hour or an hour and a half, depending on where you board and land. As he said, what did he win. He is overweight, no doubt about that but....

[tory]

yea the show was horrable last ng..jmo  i guess lacey did od welon her station an 8 hr nap will do wonders for ua. it was total crap that the big guy omly got a feiry ride realy?

as far as the q concerning the slippery floor in va beach where i live u have to have thease rubber matts down in the bar and cooking areas so u don't slip and when the person in the bar or kitchen is dun with there shift they have to take them up and hose them off and put new ones down while the one they used drys. ( one of my daughters friends is a bar tender)..so i have seen it done.. they should absloutly have those matts down it is very dangerous ,but the cheftenstants sign there rights to safty away to go on thease shows again jmo...

[marigold]

Hell's Kitchen Season 5

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2009

Episode: 4

RISE AND SHINE ON “HELL’S KITCHEN”

HELL’S KITCHEN is open for breakfast! The teams get a quick lesson about real teamwork when 50 hungry kids from a local youth football and cheerleading program invade HELL’S KITCHEN. While the chefs race to feed their customers, one team runs out of eggs and the whole operation starts to go downhill when “13 Chefs Compete” on HELL’S KITCHEN airing Thursday, Feb. 26 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

[puddin]

marigold is back  , and I want you know that your absence did not go unnoticed! 

welcome back!! 

[marigold]

   An interview with Ji 

Hell’s Kitchen’s Chef Ji Chose To Leave The Show

On last night’s Hell’s Kitchen, Colleen and Lacey managed to frazzle the nerves of their fellow competitors and infuriate Chef Ramsay, and were thus banished to the elimination round. But as Chef was about to announce who would leave the show, a wheelchair-bound Chef Ji dropped a bomb: She would be leaving instead, due to the injury that she sustained during a cooking session. Colleen and Lacey seemed relieved; not only because they were able to stay, but probably also because Ji was one of the strongest contenders on the show and could have easily won the top prize.

Why did Chef Ji bow out and is Chef Ramsay really that intense? She filled us in on these things and more after the episode.

What was going through your head right before you spoke up about wanting to leave?

A million things were going through my head. I felt like an incomplete chef. I don’t know how well I would perform on one leg, so to speak. I was debating if I should volunteer or no. If I did volunteer would I be letting my teammates down? Because they saw me as a very strong member of the team. All these thoughts were going through my head and I just didn’t know what to do. And then at the very last moment I figured that I need to look out for myself and my health. And just the thought of losing future challenges and if the cause was me I would not be able to live with that. At the very last minute I just decided that that would be the best thing to do. I had to volunteer to leave.


What happened after? Did you go to the hospital? Did you have to get treatment for your leg?

I was rushed to the ER.

Was there one particular person that you got along with or got close to?

Well I especially felt close with Andrea and Paula. It seemed like we were getting to become close. We were kind of like the Charlie’s Angels or the Three Musketeers. It was slowly developing. I wasn’t there long enough to develop a better friendship with them. I think I felt more comfortable with them because the three of us were the strongest members of that team.

Do you remember any funny behind the scenes moments?

We did hang out at the hot tub at one point and we were talking about stuff that was just funny and hilarious. I wish I knew specifically what we were talking about.

What was it like day-to-day? Did you have any time to yourself? Or do you always have to be doing something and getting ready for the competition?

There’s not that much down time. We have our daily thing that involves challenges, being in the kitchen, doing service, and as a result of that we would talk about each other’s performance. So I guess that would be considered the down time. We’d also have a couple of brews and chit chat about it. Tell each other straight up how we felt about each other. It was kind of an intense therapy session in a way.

What about Chef Gordon? Is he really as intense as he seems? Is he that scary in person?

When I see Hell’s Kitchen on Television versus when I’m actually there it’s totally different. I would be able to be like ‘Oh sure I can tell off other contestants and like tell them to F themselves.’ But the thing is when you’re in that kitchen and you are literally face to face with chef Gordon Ramsay and he’s yelling at you with that bright cherry red face of his. You don’t know what to say. You are on the spot, you’re stressed out, and you don’t know what’s going to happen next. It’s really intense.

Did you have any particular moment like this in the kitchen with Chef Ramsay?

Yeah well he yelled at me for running out of tuna. Yeah I think he called me a donkey, I don’t remember. Yeah he told me that I had to go into the dining room and tell John Pierre that I ran out of tuna. And John Pierre was telling me how could you do this? I was trying to help you guys out. I buy you cushioned appetizers and now you’re telling me you run out of tuna? It was like yeah can you tell them that we don’t have tuna? So that was my moment of glory with chef Gordon Ramsay and John Pierre.

So what’s next for you? What’s on your plate?

Well I have a web site up and running it’s www.chefji.com and I’m working on more cooking classes in people’s homes. Some events and demonstrations. I’m also working on a new concept for a cook book. I still do little intimate parties. Please check out the web site. I have free recipes on there. And polls. I hope people start visiting and we get some traffic and people enjoy my web site.

Link: http://www.fancast.com/blogs/hells-kitchen/hells-kitchens-chef-ji-i-got-yelled-at-because-of-tuna/

[marigold]

I’m also working on a new concept for a cook book.

  Oh I would love to get the cook book 

[marigold]

An interview with Ji:

Exclusive Interview: Ji Cha of 'Hell's Kitchen'

This season of Hell's Kitchen is shaping up to be a season of firsts: last night, for the first time, the Blue and Red teams completed a full dinner service on their second try. Another first: Robert, a sous chef from New York, missed out on his team's prize (a trip to Catalina island) because he weighed too much for the helicopter insurance policy. And perhaps the most shocking first: chef Ji Cha, 33, volunteered to leave Hell's Kitchen after seriously injuring her ankle. She's not the first chef ever to ask to leave, but she may have been the first that Chef Ramsay was truly sorry to see go. 

We had a chance to talk to Ji today about why she decided to leave Hell's Kitchen, who she's rooting for this season, and what the future holds.

Ji, a private caterer from Palisades Park, NJ, started off as one of the strongest chefs on Hell's Kitchen this season. She wowed Chef Ramsay with a perfectly cooked Signature Dish in the first episode, and was a solid team member on the line for the Red team. Which is why it shocked everyone last night when a freak injury cost her a chance at the grand prize.

Just before their second dinner service, Ji slipped on a wet spot in the Red team's kitchen area and severely twisted her ankle. She powered through the entire service and never complained, helping her team finish all their orders. But the stress of being on the line all night irritated her ankle so much that she required a wheelchair to leave the kitchen.

When the time came for elimination, Ji nominated herself, afraid that her injury would make her a burden in future competitions.

“I really would have liked to stick around a lot longer,” Ji said. “But the thought of losing challenges, and feeling like I was the cause of it… I wouldn't be able to live with myself.”

But the decision wasn't an easy one for the chef, whom her teammates openly considered one of the best in the competition.

“I'm really pissed off that I had to do that,” Ji reflected, months out of filming the show. “After my decision, I felt I had made a mistake. It hurts me that I had to leave my teammates and my chance at the prize—that was the reason that I came to Hell's Kitchen.”

“And my team saw me as a strong member of the team, I mean they said that Lacey and Colleen [the two Red team members up for elimination] together wouldn't meet half of me.”

But perhaps no one was more disappointed in the turn of events than Chef Ramsay. Normally the head chef asks his eliminated contestants to return their chef jackets as they leave, but Ramsay asked Ji to keep hers as a symbol of her talent and courage during her time on the show.

“Just the fact that Chef Gordon Ramsay said those wonderful things to me and gave me a chef's jacket, I melted inside,” said Ji. “I felt so honored that he let me be in his kitchen and work with him side by side. It was great.”

As far as where the contest will go from here, Ji has her favorites to take the grand prize of executive chef at the Borgata Resort in Atlantic City:

“I was able to see how the other contestants are on the Red team, and Andrea was the strongest, aside from me, to be able to go all the way. I wasn't able to see how well the men perform, but Ben has the drive, the ambition, and the knowledge of a very good chef.”

Now that Ji has had time to heal, she's back on her feet with exciting cooking projects, including a new website, ChefJi.com, which hosts several personal recipes from the chef's arsenal. Ji is also keeping busy with her cheffing business, which ranges from cooking classes and private demonstrations to catering. And at-home cooks can expect even more tips from this master chef in the future.

“I'm trying to get my concept up for a new cookbook,” Ji said. She couldn't reveal the concept just yet, but “it's definitely my recipes,” she promised.

Link: http://www.buddytv.com/articles/hells-kitchen/exclusive-interview-ji-cha-of-26235.aspx

[TexasLady]

...Yeah well he yelled at me for running out of tuna. Yeah I think he called me a donkey, I don’t remember. Yeah he told me that I had to go into the dining room and tell John Pierre that I ran out of tuna. And John Pierre was telling me how could you do this? I was trying to help you guys out. I buy you cushioned appetizers and now you’re telling me you run out of tuna? It was like yeah can you tell them that we don’t have tuna? So that was my moment of glory with chef Gordon Ramsay and John Pierre.

Am I having a senior moment?? I don't remember seeing this. 

[marigold]

Colleen talks about Hell's Kitchen


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnhVeo10GQk

[marigold]

An interview with Ji:

Interview With Ji From Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen Season 5

Q. Mark, RealityWanted.com: What got you interested in being on Hell’s Kitchen?
A. Ji, Hells Kitchen 5: I have watched it in the past and I became a fan during season one. I applied because I was getting bored and I wanted to further my culinary expertise. My brother sent me a link to the application and I then I went to the open casting call.

Q. Mark, RealityWanted.com: Was it more Hellish than you expected?
A. Ji, Hells Kitchen 5: It was so surreal, it was so bizarre to walk into the dining room for the first time. When I watched the show I would say I could do that easily but when you’re in the real live Hells Kitchen arena you get so much pressure it’s amazing. Chef yelled at everyone and you didn’t know what to say to him or how to react.

Q. Mark, RealityWanted.com: What was the biggest surprise in taking part?
A. Ji, Hells Kitchen 5: It was a huge surprise, I just felt it was a dream.

Q. Mark, RealityWanted.com: Are you sure you weren’t in a nightmare?
A. Ji, Hells Kitchen 5: No, I was very happy to be there.

Q. Mark, RealityWanted.com: Colleen really got it from Chef Ramsey, do you think it went too far?
A. Ji, Hells Kitchen 5: I felt the same way as Chef Ramsey, the dishes looked sloppy and the portions were huge. I was floored she charges $300.00 per person and I completely agree with Gordon.

Q. Mark, RealityWanted.com: What did you think about Lacey?
A. Ji, Hells Kitchen 5: I honestly thought she was wasted space and I didn’t know how she got on the show. I was laughing when she considered herself the pretty girl in kitchen.

Q. Mark, RealityWanted.com: What was the final prognosis on your injury?
A. Ji, Hells Kitchen 5: Sprained ankle.

Q. Mark, RealityWanted.com: Would you do it again or have you already filmed it again and we just don’t know?
A. Ji, Hells Kitchen 5: I would do it again and I don’t think the story of Ji was fully told. 

Q. Mark, RealityWanted.com: Do you have a website you can share before you go?
A. Ji, Hells Kitchen 5: Yes, people can find me at http://www.chefji.com

Link: http://www.realitywanted.com/newsitem/1657-interview-with-ji-from-foxs-hells-kitchen-season-5

[marigold]

SCHEDULED GUEST FOR 'LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN'

Tuesday, February 10, 2009  Gordon Ramsay 

[marigold]

HK 4 Winnner Christina Machamer At The

St. Louis AgriMissouri Food & Wine Experience

at the 3:10 mark

[apskip]

HK5, ep.2

This episode starts with a Scallop Challenge. Unbelievably, none of the 15 remaining chefs had ever shucked scallops from their shells before. I guess in their home kitchens the scallops always arrived neatly prepared. Well Ramsay wants them to learn something about how to do this, so after he has demonstrated in his brief, terse manner he poses a contest , Red team vs. Blue team, to shuck the most scallops in I think 5 minutes each. Every member of both teams does this and then Ramsay's gradings are reported for each individual on both teams. Here they are:
 
Red Team
Carol 8 of 8
Colleen 5 of 6
Paula 1 of 10
Lacey 3 of 6
Coi 6 of ?
LA 8 of 8
Ji 4 of ?
Team Total 35 (with Andrea sitting out due to the need for equal sized teams)
 
Blue Team
Giovanni 13 of 16 (unbelievably high production)
Ben 3 of 11
Danny 9 of 10
Charlie 2 of ?
Seth 3 of ?
Robert 5 of ?
J 1 of 6 (the suspense was killing the audience as Ramsay presented J's finished scallops so the the first 5 were bad and everything was going to be decided by his 6th one, which was good).
Team Total 36
 
The Men win and get to take a helicopter to Catalina Island for their prize. However, Ramsay tells Robert that insurance regulations forbid him at more than 400 pounds to ride in that helicopter. He will have to take an express ferry that gets passengers there in less than one hour, but getting to the dock is time consuming. The others on the Blue Team go on the submarine ride and when they are finished it is apparently time to go back on the express ferry just as Robert is arriving. Tough luck, Robert. The Red team got to spend the entire day prepping items for the Raw Bar, which will be instituted for the first time in Hell's Kitchen. The work was difficult and Chef Ji suffered a serious leg injury. Ji was able to prep for the rest of the day but she was grimacing and in great pain at the end of the day. Lacey had played prima donna for the nasty way she had been treated by multiple teammates and she delayed joining the others for about 6 hours to sulk in bed. When she came she did attempt to demonstrate an attitude adjustment, but some teammates never accepted her.
 
Ramsay has a meeting with them outside and tells them that their first leg performance was "beyond disappointing" before he has them open crates and bins and boxes of raw seafood products that must be repackaged into his tubs. He pointed out that the alternative was to sift through the plastic garbage bags to locate usable food, but he needed them on the seafood. Colleen actually falls into one of the bins.
 
One member from each team is selected by Ramsay to operate the Raw Bar for their side of the dining room. This is Paula and Robert. They get the opportunity to meet and greet the diners. Serving raw bar items does take some pressure off the main kitchen area because it buys time to produce appetizers. Then the kitchen is opened.
 
Carol starts it off by screwing up risotto. Charlie has no experience on risotto. Ben is asked by Gordon to help him and does an outstanding job. Colleen apparently doesn't know what she is doing so Lacey is asked to help her and tutor her and does an outstanding job. Ramsay facetiously states "God Bless Nebraska", referring to mistakes being made by Colleen on salmon overcooked on the outside and undercooked on the inside. Charlie and Seth both screw up and put no lobster into spaghetti lobster, a glaring fault that leads to a Ramsay tantrum. Colleen apparently was not listening carefully to the order callout by Ramsay (incidentally I have trouble following it because he is speaking too rapidly). Ramsay throws a fit that includes major verbal invective at Colleen. He directs Colleen to get out of the kitchen, but it is only to exile at the Raw Bar. That brings Paula back. On the men's side Danny gets an "excellent" for his lamb. However, Giovanni is having problems with salmon that is overcooked. Lacey is working hard and doing well. Ji was on her feet despite obvious pain, as she had elected to try to last through the service. Afterwards, she went in-house for medical attention and assessment of how bad her injury was.
 
The teams were pitted in another competition when Ramsay told them with 5 orders left for the Red team and 4 orders left for the blue team that whichever team finished first would win. It was shown at 1 order left to 1 order left, but the men put it into high gear and won.  Ramsay states that the level of production was very positive and that this is the first time ever service has been completed by both teams in the second episode of a Hell's Kitchen season. He is pleased, which I bet the teams did not think was possible. It was stage managed in a deliberative attempt to build suspense, but the women have to nominate 2 chefs to be considered for elimination. They nominate Lacey and Colleen and it looks to me that Colleen's number is up. At the last second (not the way it happens in real live, only on reality shows and fantasies), Ji speaks up and volunteers to leave to save whichever of her colleagues was going to be ousted. This was one more example of her classy behavior. Ramsay has no choice but to accept her resignation because she is too injured to continue. He said that Ji was capable of winning, so it is a huge loss. However, he tells her to keep her Red team chef's jacket. Does this mean that she will be back later after her jeg has healed?  I am going to hazard a guess that it does. I personally was rooting for Ji to win as I think she has the best experience and potential.  This gets Colleen and Lacey off the hook. I was turned off the by way that Carol diverted attention from her own sins and made sure to focus on Colleen and Lacey. Now that it is an open question again, I expect that her team might turn on her if her performance is low or erratic. Lacey's closing statement was essentially "I can think bad things about specific teammates, but I must not say them out loud."
 
 
 

[chef fan]

As someone who has been there (behind the scenes) Reality tv is not exactly what you see!
In a 48 hour time period, you see it edited down to 45 min.
Is what you see actually happening at that time??? Look at hair styles, bandanas and such! Things are spliced an edited to an undescribable degree.
Ji had a perfect service both nights...She disclosed in an interview how she ran out of tuna and was pushed out into the dinning room in the middle of service with Ramsay yelling in her face! We didn't see that!!! Why?
Coleen apeared so skrew up everything, if thats true then how did they finish service, she had to make good food as well in order for it to go out...Editing!
Carol put the team behind with the last risotto at the end of service, don't they serve all the apps first before moving on to entrees? Is it possible they threw in a last second risotto to purposley put the blue team ahead?
We saw no lobster spaghetti or Beef Wellington? Were they all good?
The few second you see is taken so far from what's actually going on, it's crazy.
Imagine if you were filmed for 48 hours and you absolutly worts 5 min were on national Television!
Imagine if you made 50 excellent dishes but the 1 bad one was on tv. Imagine if you were hard working an focus for 47 and a holf hours and youe few min of being unfocused were all that was shown! It's Reality TV not Reality!!
You think the people on the show are harsh to each other. Thats nothing compaered to some of you and your harsh critisism! Go after your dreams and praise those going after thiers.

[marigold]

As someone who has been there (behind the scenes) Reality tv is not exactly what you see!
In a 48 hour time period, you see it edited down to 45 min.
Is what you see actually happening at that time??? Look at hair styles, bandanas and such! Things are spliced an edited to an undescribable degree.
Ji had a perfect service both nights...She disclosed in an interview how she ran out of tuna and was pushed out into the dinning room in the middle of service with Ramsay yelling in her face! We didn't see that!!! Why?
Coleen apeared so skrew up everything, if thats true then how did they finish service, she had to make good food as well in order for it to go out...Editing!
Carol put the team behind with the last risotto at the end of service, don't they serve all the apps first before moving on to entrees? Is it possible they threw in a last second risotto to purposley put the blue team ahead?
We saw no lobster spaghetti or Beef Wellington? Were they all good?
The few second you see is taken so far from what's actually going on, it's crazy.
Imagine if you were filmed for 48 hours and you absolutly worts 5 min were on national Television!
Imagine if you made 50 excellent dishes but the 1 bad one was on tv. Imagine if you were hard working an focus for 47 and a holf hours and youe few min of being unfocused were all that was shown! It's Reality TV not Reality!!
You think the people on the show are harsh to each other. Thats nothing compaered to some of you and your harsh critisism! Go after your dreams and praise those going after thiers.

  Hello chef fan welcome to RFF and thank you for the post

What a pleasant surprise for me, that is absolutely true and very well said 

[TexasLady]

Apskip, thanks for another wonderful recap!

 

[TexasLady]

As someone who has been there (behind the scenes) Reality tv is not exactly what you see!
In a 48 hour time period, you see it edited down to 45 min.
Is what you see actually happening at that time??? Look at hair styles, bandanas and such! Things are spliced an edited to an undescribable degree.
Ji had a perfect service both nights...She disclosed in an interview how she ran out of tuna and was pushed out into the dinning room in the middle of service with Ramsay yelling in her face! We didn't see that!!! Why?
Coleen apeared so skrew up everything, if thats true then how did they finish service, she had to make good food as well in order for it to go out...Editing!
Carol put the team behind with the last risotto at the end of service, don't they serve all the apps first before moving on to entrees? Is it possible they threw in a last second risotto to purposley put the blue team ahead?
We saw no lobster spaghetti or Beef Wellington? Were they all good?
The few second you see is taken so far from what's actually going on, it's crazy.
Imagine if you were filmed for 48 hours and you absolutly worts 5 min were on national Television!
Imagine if you made 50 excellent dishes but the 1 bad one was on tv. Imagine if you were hard working an focus for 47 and a holf hours and youe few min of being unfocused were all that was shown! It's Reality TV not Reality!!
You think the people on the show are harsh to each other. Thats nothing compaered to some of you and your harsh critisism! Go after your dreams and praise those going after thiers.

Welcome to RFF Chef fan. 

You make some excellent points, and as someone who has had behind the scenes experience we value your input.

It's hard not to make judgments because we can only go by what we see and of course reality shows must have villains and heroes, shows live or die by the ratings as I'm sure you know all too well.

I hope you will continue to add your comments, they will be much appreciated since you have been there and done that.

[apskip]

As someone who has been there (behind the scenes) Reality tv is not exactly what you see!
In a 48 hour time period, you see it edited down to 45 min.
Is what you see actually happening at that time??? Look at hair styles, bandanas and such! Things are spliced an edited to an undescribable degree.
Ji had a perfect service both nights...She disclosed in an interview how she ran out of tuna and was pushed out into the dinning room in the middle of service with Ramsay yelling in her face! We didn't see that!!! Why?
Coleen apeared so skrew up everything, if thats true then how did they finish service, she had to make good food as well in order for it to go out...Editing!
Carol put the team behind with the last risotto at the end of service, don't they serve all the apps first before moving on to entrees? Is it possible they threw in a last second risotto to purposley put the blue team ahead?
We saw no lobster spaghetti or Beef Wellington? Were they all good?
The few second you see is taken so far from what's actually going on, it's crazy.
Imagine if you were filmed for 48 hours and you absolutly worts 5 min were on national Television!
Imagine if you made 50 excellent dishes but the 1 bad one was on tv. Imagine if you were hard working an focus for 47 and a holf hours and youe few min of being unfocused were all that was shown! It's Reality TV not Reality!!
You think the people on the show are harsh to each other. Thats nothing compaered to some of you and your harsh critisism! Go after your dreams and praise those going after thiers.

cheffan,
Let me first be critical of you, as a true fan of HK5 would know that Beef Wellington has been taken off the menu by Gordon Ramsay. You will not see it until he decides that the chefs are copmetent to handle it.
Apart from that, I find most of your comments apropos. Editing is the key to Reality TV. They have 10 to 15 hours(time mutiple cameras) of footage over 2 days that go to the Edit room. Only a small percentage of what goes in can be in the final 42 minute (plus commercials) version. They edit for drama and pathos, not to reflect the reality of what happened in the kitchen and break areas. From my persective as a viewer, the editors do a very good job although remember that this is on the FOX network. It is not what you would see on CBS, NBC or ABC.
I would probably be one of the commentators you consider to be harsh. I'm from the Howard Cosell School of Journalism. I tell it like it is. Isn't this reality TV we are talking about?

[marigold]

this is on the FOX network. It is not what you would see on CBS

I don’t find this to be true as I cannot compare culinary skills and working at the Borgata to that of the sex on live feeds and anything goes ( the actual lowest ) from contestants at CBS’s Big Brother.

[apskip]

this is on the FOX network. It is not what you would see on CBS

I don’t find this to be true as I cannot compare culinary skills and working at the Borgata to that of the sex on live feeds and anything goes ( the actual lowest ) from contestants at CBS’s Big Brother.

Marigold has a point, that comparing individual shows is not easy to do effectively.  However, I was stating that comparison bewteen networks based on the quality of their total offering of Reality Shows is not just possbile but also totally appropriate. Now beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so this is a subjective analysis. I went to reference lists of all reality shows that the list maker was aware of. On a worldwide basis, there are many hundred. I picked the top 21 that I have seen at least once and organized them by originating network (even though in some cases GSN or the Travel Channel become the network showing a given show):

ABC Dancing with the Stars, Wife Swap
CBS Survivor, Big Brother, Amazing Race
FOX Hell's Kitchen, American Idol, On the Lot
NBC Apprentice, America's Got Talent, Fear Fator, Weakest Link(original BBC)
BRAVO Top Chef, Top Model, Top Design, Project Runway
OTHER MTV- Road Rules and Real World, PBS - 1900 House, FOOD - Iron Chef and Bobby Flay Throwdown

If you look across this list, all networks are doing pretty well. My distaste for the FOX network stems from my distaste for American Idol as a second-rate show(although that beats third-rate Big Brother and Wife Swap by a mile). So this more detailed review shows little differences overall in realty show quality (rather than my original FOX is inferior contention).

 

[marigold]

An interesting article:

'Hell's Kitchen' Insider: "Chef Ramsay Loves a Fighter"

If you watch Hell's Kitchen, you already know that Christina Machamer overcame exceptional odds to win of the fourth season of the notorious show, becoming the executive sous chef at Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood Hotel. Check in each week as Christina "dishes up" her insights on Hell's Kitchen's fifth season, her notorious new boss, and life after reality TV stardom.

By Christina Machamer

It’s been a quick week since the premiere of Season 5.  For those living in L.A., it is restaurant week, and we have been busier than ever at The Gordon Ramsay.  I was once asked, “Why would you want to work fifteen hours in a kitchen, then come home and watch a TV show about other people working in a kitchen?”  The answer is, “To see my boss covered in risotto.”

Episode 2 started to look a little familiar, when the contestants marched outside to see a mountain of garbage.  This is the worst.  In preparation for the show, I bought a new set of pajamas.  I knew, having seen the previous season, that at some point we were going to be woken up by the sous chefs, and I didn’t want to be caught on national television in my comfy rags.  Sure enough, in the second episode, we were woken up and herded downstairs.  I didn’t even have time to grab a pair of shoes.  Crawling around in the garbage was not a good use of new clothes, and the stains, let alone the stench, never came out.

This year, the contestants had to grab fresh scallops from a large bin of sea water.  I took a small amount of guilty pleasure in watching Colleen fall in.  Then again, if this were my season, that probably would have been me.

On to the challenge.  I wasn’t surprised that the chefs had little experience dealing with fresh scallops.  In Europe, it is popular to eat the whole scallop, much like one would a clam or a mussel.  Here in the US, however, we only eat the abductor muscle, and the product is often more fresh, and less expensive when only that part is purchased.

Even though the men won the butchery challenge, Robert missed out on most of the reward.  I had a chance to meet up with Robert earlier this week, and I have to boast that my first impression was spot on.  He is talented, genuine, and promises to make this season very interesting.  Although it saddened me that Robert couldn’t join in the reward, I have to wonder if maybe he was lucky to be spared Forrest’s retelling of Gordon’s life.  Was that creepy to anyone else?  I work for Gordon, and have probably spent more time with him than anyone else in my kitchen.  Still, I do not know all of the details that Forrest was spewing.  Weird.

Back in the kitchen, Ji slipped and injured her ankle, leading to her courageous withdrawal from Hell’s Kitchen.  I cannot tell you how many sizzle reels there are of me falling from last season.  In one clip, we were racing against the boys to complete a dinner service.  I was bringing the last dessert order to the pass, and felt myself going down.  I looked at the two items in my hand, a souffle and a creme brulee, and decided to save the souffle, as it took 20 minutes just to bake.  The floor is treacherous.  It is not like a real kitchen.  It is more like industrial linoleum, where any water or food scrap is a potential hazard.  You learn this as you advance in Hell’s Kitchen, and try to work around it.  It just angers me that such a stupid accident took out one of this season’s strongest competitors so far.  I hear that Ji is fine now, but I wish she would have toughed it out.  Gordon loves a fighter.  Heather West burned her hand in Season Two, but stuck it out, and took home the victory.  I was sick most of my stay in Hell’s Kitchen, and during the finale, I kept repeating to myself, “This is one more day for the rest of my life.  I can make it through this.  Just one more day.”  So to future contestants, when you injure yourself, and you will injure yourself, fight back.  Take it one day at a time.  It is an easy penance to change your life.

Which brings us to the close.  Fourteen chefs remain.  Lacey and Colleen, you both dodged a bullet, big time.  These kinds of chances don’t come around twice.  Next week, Ramsay brings on the beef, and in the mean time, I keep earning the bacon. 

Until next week, eat well, and be well.

Link: http://www.buddytv.com/articles/hells-kitchen/hells-kitchen-insider-chef-ram-26252.aspx

[TARAsia Fan]

I liked Christina from the get-go last season and this article makes me like her more. Good post, marigold!

[TexasLady]

I was sick most of my stay in Hell’s Kitchen, and during the finale, I kept repeating to myself, “This is one more day for the rest of my life.  I can make it through this.  Just one more day.”  So to future contestants, when you injure yourself, and you will injure yourself, fight back.  Take it one day at a time.  It is an easy penance to change your life.

I didn't realize she was sick for most of her time in Hell's Kitchen so kudos to her for making it through. 

Thanks for posting this MG.