The opening montage to season four of "Hell’s Kitchen" gives you everything you need to know about the show: It’s loud, it’s fast, and it’s over the top. (The voice-over actually refers to star Gordon Ramsay as "The Dark Lord.")
Who's that? Ramsay was once a respected chef in Britain. Now he’s
mostly an angry, screamy television personality. Ramsay yells horrible
things at the contestants—he’ll even make it personal, like when he tells one
overly made-up woman to get out of the kitchen and put more makeup
on—and seems to hate
everything. Think Simon Cowell with a (slightly)
better haircut.
What is it? Food and humiliation are the two key ingredients in this competitive cooking show. The stakes are pretty high—the winner will become executive chef of Ramsay’s new L.A. restaurant—but the whole competition feels so staged, we’d be surprised if the winners even get a free McMuffin out of the deal.
The “sex” factor: The teams are divided along gender lines, and the women take the lead from the get-go. (Hooray for women! Oh wait, it’s a cooking show...) This should be especially upsetting to contestant Jason, who says, “The only thing I’ll lose at to a woman is an ironing contest.”
The “yuck” fctor: The chefs are supposed to be creating delicious dishes, but there sure is a lot of spitting and even puking going on. Loud, violent, possibly fake puking. Gross!
The verdict: If you associate food with stress and tears, or you enjoy watching people in emotional distress (and really, who doesn't?), this cooking competition/spectacle is for you.
