“sauteed ho-hos”
yyyeeeeeaaah.
This show so kicks ass!
I could do w/o the constant music and the graphics. Particularly the time screen… I think the Japanese IC had that time thing down a lot better with just the timer on the side. OH, and they have an annoying habit of trying to make sure that they get Sissy in the shot when she’s speaking. I like it better if you don’t see the “Ohta” role.
Otherwise, this is a lot of fun. The cheering like a real sports event… The commentary is properly cheesy… Shattner is perfectly cheesy. I really dig being able to hear and interact with the chefs as they’re cooking.
God, I loved it!!! Those two guys reminded me of Fred Willard in Best in Show! There’s a few kinks in the show that they need to work out, but overall, I gotta say that I loved it. There were a few other things that they said, which I can’t remember now, that I really thought were funny. Hopefully, it’ll continue for a long time.
I was embarrassed for everyone involved. Okay, the announcers were funny, but the audience was so loud that I couldn’t hear them half the time. The graphics and music were painful, the judges obnoxious, and the action replay of the blonde judge eating? Don’t get me started.
And why, oh why, did the the guy who won get so many points for presentation? Were the judges actually impressed by the thing with the sparklers, or did the (I admit, very good) ice sculptures distract them from it?
It was terrible. I am a “fan” or the original and had high hopes for this one. It was just a flaming car wreck of a show.
I almost cried. Well, not really but I had really hoped it wouldn’t be so… “tacky”.
Did anyone else notice that they cut away just as one of the announcers was about to hurl after eating the caviar?
I thought it was awful. While the Japanese version is cheesy in all the right spots, this one is just tacky and stupid. Shatner looked like he was embarassed to be there, and I don’t blame him. Oooh, look, live Dungeness crab! Gross!
The crowd was too loud, the announcers were lousy, the lights and graphics were annoying, the set was clumsy and the plates and dishes (according to my potter wife, who loves the pottery in the Japanese show) were dull and cheap. Iron Chef American was a mugging, posing clown. The challenger? Two words, sweetheart: hair net. It’s no surprise that one of the judges nearly barfed: he probably found a greasy, foot-long hair in his caviar.
And the judges - who were they, rejects from Hollywood Squares? The guy with the mop on his head was supposed to be funny? Please. I second what Suo Na said about the blonde. Seeing an action replay of her stuffing her hand down her gullet was not entertaining. The other female judge was okay, but I couldn’t get over her freakily huge shoulder muscles. And did the young male judge leave halfway through the show? We hardly saw him at all.
The only interesting part of the show was when the final gong sounded (hey, they got a leggy blonde to hit the gong! Classy!). The challenger faced Iron Chef American and looked like he was about to cry. I thought “Great! Pick up a cleaver and attack the asshole! Shove one of those sparklers up his butt! Let’s wring some entertainment out of this dreck!” But alas, no tears, no cleaver and the sparklers were wasted.
I liked it.
Having said that, I don’t think it will last a full season. It’s just a wee bit too bizarre for lowest-common-denominator TV audiences. UPN won’t see the ratings it wants, so off it goes. Maybe FoodTV will pick it up.
I do have a lot of nits to pick with the show, but I think most of them can be forgiven due to the fact that this was the opener. Tone down the flash guys, you don’t need to have a flaming cut between every shot. Focus more on the food instead of the glitz. And is it just me or was Kerry Simon battling Sling Blade in there? Seriously, Todd - get over yourself. And if we see any more food with sparklers on it, well, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.
I though T.J. Kaga was great though. He should lose the “Turn Up the Heat” for the mandatory “Allez Cuisine”. The judges were okay, but I did not need a one-liner from Villanch after every bite (although I liked the “this dish makes me glad I’m a big fat pig” one).
The audience needs to be a little more subdued, for a while I thought I was tuned into Springer. Overall, I think it’s got a lot of potential.
I thought it was great. As soon as I saw Shatner I knew it was going to be enjoyable. My own minor quibble is that they should have judges who are more knowledgable about food so they can describe what the dishes taste like better.
Heh, maybe they should do like that one SNL episode with Alec Baldwin and Chris Farley and have the losing chef have to chop off a finger on-camera at the end.
Oh yeah, I saw that too, I swear he did spit the caviar out. That was funny as hell! What will they feed that squeamish pansy next week? That should be a goal of the chefs every week, to make that guy try something new, which only a very educated palate could enjoy. Next week, I suggest sweetbreads.