# Hell's Kitchen, and it's viewers. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 14, 2010, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096 "2010-10-14T05:45:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/101 "2010-10-18T16:20:51Z")
I would say that being the author of both Stardust and Coraline would place him well within the pop culture world. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/102 "2010-10-18T20:53:33Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Spell it “kneel gay man” and I bet you’ll get a lot more hits. Google news search for kneel gay man: [13 returns](http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=kneel+gay+man) Okay, so I cheated and pulled the quotation marks out. > [@filling\_pages](#): > > I would say that being the author of both Stardust and Coraline would place him well within the pop culture world. \*Stardust \*had [mediocre returns and reviews](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardust_(2007_film)#Reception). \*Coraline \*[performed much better](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coraline_(film)#Reception), but it still wasn’t a blockbuster in the same sense as something like _Up_, another animated film released the same year. And can you tell me who wrote the script for _Up_ without looking it up? Just because someone saw and liked \*Caroline \*doesn’t mean they have any clue who \*\*\*Neil Gaiman \*\*\*is. A pop culture figure is someone who’s a household name. It’s someone who’s having articles written about them constantly, even when there’s nothing in particular to write articles about. And none of that applies to Gaiman. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/103 "2010-10-18T21:03:21Z")
_Stardust_ wasn’t a bad movie, but it didn’t breach mainstream consciousness by any means. At best, it might have reached the level of “Isn’t that the flick where Deniro is gay?” ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/104 "2010-10-18T21:20:16Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Just because someone saw and liked _Caroline_ Ack, that should obviously be “saw and liked _ **Coraline** _.” Pardon the finger autopilot. ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/105 "2010-10-18T21:26:09Z")
I would imagine a lot of Terry Pratchett fans will know Neil Gaiman. _Good Omens_ is one of the funniest books ever written. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/106 "2010-10-18T21:35:30Z")
Terry Pratchett, unfortunately, being \*\*another \*\*example of an author who is popular \*in certain circles \*but not a part of pop culture at large. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/107 "2010-10-18T21:42:31Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Terry Pratchett, unfortunately, being \*\*another \*\*example of an author who is popular \*in certain circles \*but not a part of pop culture at large. In the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/108 "2010-10-18T21:43:13Z")
Other countries have pop culture? How quaint. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/109 "2010-10-18T21:55:57Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > In the United States. I know he’s bigger in the U.K. than here, but is he really part of \*pop culture \*there? Like, if you went up to a bunch of people on the street in London and asked “what condition has Terry Pratchett been diagnosed with,” would they be able to respond “EOAD” the same way that someone in New York could probably respond with “Parkinson’s” for Michael J. Fox? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/110 "2010-10-18T22:01:50Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I know he’s bigger in the U.K. than here, but is he really part of \*pop culture \*there? Like, if you went up to a bunch of people on the street in London and asked “what condition has Terry Pratchett been diagnosed with,” would they be able to respond “EOAD” the same way that someone in New York could probably respond with “Parkinson’s” for Michael J. Fox? [Wiki sez:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_pratchett) > [@](#): > > Pratchett was the UK’s best-selling author of the 1990s, and as of August 2010 had sold over 65 million books worldwide in thirty-seven languages. He is currently the second most-read writer in the UK, and seventh most-read non-US author in the US. If he isn’t pop culture in the UK, then books aren’t pop culture in the UK. Now, him as a person instead of just being the Discworld author? That’s harder to say. ---
**Author:** ![AutumnLeaves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@AutumnLeaves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AutumnLeaves)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/111 "2010-10-18T22:23:07Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > So, I figured, how bad could this show be? I soon found out the answer. Are these really the kind of people who work in high end kitchens? I find that really hard to believe. Most of them wouldn’t even get a job in Burger King with that kind of low class attitude, frequent profanity, and obvious psychosis. Working as a cook is my profession. And of course these people couldn’t get jobs in high-end kitchens. Some mid level chain restaurant, sure. I think the average American who never eats at any restaurant better than Ruby Tuesday’s might think the Ramsey shows depict real kitchens. Do you work in an office? Is your office like The Office? Do you work in real estate? Is it like The Apprentice? And so on. I work at a two-Michelin star restaurant. I work three days on, three days off. Those three days of work, I start at 7 am. We get a break around 4, when most of us nap in the staff room for twenty minutes. Then we do dinner service and clean down the kitchen. I get home around 1:30 am, sometimes 2am on weekends. The kitchen is silent, unless someone’s telling someone else that a particular piece of \*mise \*is fucking garbage. But that’s it. “This is fucking garbage. Re-do it”. End of conversation. If I don’t bust my ass, I can’t finish all my prep. If I don’t finish my prep, I’ll be in the shit. If I’m in the shit, someone will tell me to sort my fucking station out, and I will. If I’m not in the shit, no one will say a word to me. It’s silent. Everyone works hard and goes home. This isn’t some “oooh poor me I work so hard” post. This is the life of high-end cooking, it’s the life I chose, and I’m addicted to the adrenaline. All I’m trying to say is that, when I was starting out working in steak houses, it was a ridiculously stereotypical atmosphere. I never had any less than half a pint within my reach when I was on line. I walked in on dozens of blowjobs in the cooler. I went to work, drank all night, went home to shower in the morning, took whatever I could find to keep me awake for my next shift, lather, rinse, repeat. Because I was twenty one and I knew it was temporary. If Ramsey’s shows were set up to make it clear that this sort of chain restaurant job is the highest level that any of these cooks would ever get to, I wouldn’t mind. But the fact that viewers think it’s high-end cooking? Bugs me. And it’s not all their fault, the show is designed to make the uninformed think that way. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/112 "2010-10-18T22:39:32Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Google news search for Lady Gaga: [9,848 returns](http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=%22lady+gaga%22) > Google news search for Neil Gaiman: [198 returns](http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=%22neil+gaiman%22) > > Lady Gaga has almost \*fifty times as many \*news stories. C’mon now, [Sean Connery](http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=%22sean+connery%22) is more important to Lady Gaga in the history of pop culture but he only returns 1340. I agree that Gaiman is on the fringe, but to compare him to the hottest thing out there in a news search doesn’t prove much. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/113 "2010-10-18T23:15:29Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I know he’s bigger in the U.K. than here, but is he really part of \*pop culture \*there? Like, if you went up to a bunch of people on the street in London and asked “what condition has Terry Pratchett been diagnosed with,” would they be able to respond “EOAD” the same way that someone in New York could probably respond with “Parkinson’s” for Michael J. Fox? Not sure your average Joe on the street would know “Parkinson’s”, but anyway. Pratchett did apparently headline a [two part series](http://www.bbc.co.uk/headroom/tv_and_radio/) on Alzheimer’s on the BBC, and he’s been knighted; I remember a factoid about how he was responsible for some measurable percentage (I want to say 5 but who knows really) of all book sales in the UK. He’s roughly Stephen King big in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/114 "2010-10-19T01:14:06Z")
Can we get back to heckling the OP?😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/115 "2010-10-19T15:09:05Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Can we get back to heckling the OP?😃 Meh, it’s Stan, he’ll be back to leap on another grenade in a few days anyway. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/116 "2010-10-19T15:16:30Z")
> [@AutumnLeaves](#): > > Working as a cook is my profession. And of course these people couldn’t get jobs in high-end kitchens. Some mid level chain restaurant, sure. I think the average American who never eats at any restaurant better than Ruby Tuesday’s might think the Ramsey shows depict real kitchens. Do you work in an office? Is your office like The Office? Do you work in real estate? Is it like The Apprentice? And so on. > > I work at a two-Michelin star restaurant. I work three days on, three days off. Those three days of work, I start at 7 am. We get a break around 4, when most of us nap in the staff room for twenty minutes. Then we do dinner service and clean down the kitchen. I get home around 1:30 am, sometimes 2am on weekends. The kitchen is silent, unless someone’s telling someone else that a particular piece of \*mise \*is fucking garbage. But that’s it. “This is fucking garbage. Re-do it”. End of conversation. If I don’t bust my ass, I can’t finish all my prep. If I don’t finish my prep, I’ll be in the shit. If I’m in the shit, someone will tell me to sort my fucking station out, and I will. If I’m not in the shit, no one will say a word to me. It’s silent. Everyone works hard and goes home. This isn’t some “oooh poor me I work so hard” post. This is the life of high-end cooking, it’s the life I chose, and I’m addicted to the adrenaline. > > All I’m trying to say is that, when I was starting out working in steak houses, it was a ridiculously stereotypical atmosphere. I never had any less than half a pint within my reach when I was on line. I walked in on dozens of blowjobs in the cooler. I went to work, drank all night, went home to shower in the morning, took whatever I could find to keep me awake for my next shift, lather, rinse, repeat. Because I was twenty one and I knew it was temporary. If Ramsey’s shows were set up to make it clear that this sort of chain restaurant job is the highest level that any of these cooks would ever get to, I wouldn’t mind. But the fact that viewers think it’s high-end cooking? Bugs me. And it’s not all their fault, the show is designed to make the uninformed think that way. You MUST start an “Ask the” thread if you haven’t already. Fascinating stuff. You can start the thread by discussing what you did and didn’t like about both Kitchen Confidential and Anthony Bourdain. You’d have me reading…and your thoughts on HK sounds about right… The OP of this Pitting seems weirdly pot and kettle-ish - someone raising their nose at someone down in the same, um, Burger King. Whatever. I know who Gaiman is, have read a bunch of stuff, but really don’t hold him in high regard. American Gods read decently from page to page but faded halfway through. I will say that it is interesting that the OP started looking down on a TV show in a Burger King and now has a discussion about whether Neil Gaiman is worthy of loftier discussion or not… ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/117 "2010-10-19T16:35:11Z")
> [@Teacake](#): > > I would imagine a lot of Terry Pratchett fans will know Neil Gaiman. _Good Omens_ is one of the funniest books ever written. Okay, you have caused me to finally read a Terry Pratchett book. It better be good. {glares accusingly} **STAN!** Stan, honey, when you start a thread, it’s good manners to come back to it once in a while. Poor little orphaned threads, all alone and huddling in the cold… ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/118 "2010-10-19T19:49:02Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Not sure your average Joe on the street would know “Parkinson’s”, but anyway. Pratchett did apparently headline a [two part series](http://www.bbc.co.uk/headroom/tv_and_radio/) on Alzheimer’s on the BBC, and he’s been knighted; I remember a factoid about how he was responsible for some measurable percentage (I want to say 5 but who knows really) of all book sales in the UK. He’s roughly Stephen King big in the UK. Anyone who watches the news or various current affairs programmes (or reads the papers, listens to the radio), or some daytime TV programming, would have heard of him and his condition. He’s become an extremely vocal advocate, all over the television. Also, haven’t some of his books been made into films/TV series? I try to avoid them, preferring the characters inside my head, so I’m not sure. I don’t think you can argue that he’s not well-known though. (Have to say though, just being knighted isn’t necessarily a sign of anything.) ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/119 "2010-10-19T20:23:44Z")
> [@Teacake](#): > > Also, haven’t some of his books been made into films/TV series? Yes, and the SkyOne productions are _excellent_. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096/120 "2010-10-20T07:53:04Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > and if any _Kitchen Nightmares_ episode deserved Ramsay pounding his fist in a plate of food and screaming “Stupid Donkey!” at someone it was that one. I also loved the one with “Shrek in a dress” and the husband who was always bellowing at her. I think her name was Karen but to the husband it was just ENGH! Ramsay sees this going on and mocks the guy for it. ENGH! ENGH! Two waitresses in the background almost fall over from laughing so hard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hells-kitchen-and-its-viewers/557096.md?page=7)