At one point it seemed that half-hour shows were categorized as comedies while on-hour shows were categorized as dramas. In reality many shows straddle the line.
It’s interesting because The Bear isn’t the first show to take heat for submitting in the comedy category while being actually more of a drama (it was such a ‘thing’ for awhile that SNL did a parody of it – https://youtu.be/AMpRJwP5y9Q?si=GNfbwT1nNpi_kgmr)
When Nurse Jackie won in the comedy category, I remember saying to someone that they did it because it meant the show (and actors) were up against New Girl and Parks & Rec and not Downton Abbey, Mad Men or Dexter.
Emmy nominations just went up and they are once again the Comedy category. For season THREE which was a laugh riot…
I think it’s a matter of timing and space. The beef window and the restaurant aren’t open at the same time. It’s not clear but I assume they share some of the same equipment.
Actually, when Ebraheim showed the sandwich window operations to Albert Schnur (the business consultant played by Rob Reiner), I got the impression that there was a separate kitchen. And Ebraheim said they were open only a couple of hours each day. In one episode this season, he announced the window was closing while people were still in line, simply because they ran out of food. So there’s unmet demand there.
There’s a burger place in my area, closed all winter and in summer they open at 11:00 and close when they’re out of food. In fact, their website even says “Our closing time is dependent on when we sell out of burgers for the day”. They get a daily delivery of hamburger meat and when it’s gone, they’re closed. It pisses people off to no end, but they’ve been doing for decades and it seems to be working. Yes, it absolutely means there’s an unmet demand, but that’s not always a bad thing. On the flip side it means they rarely have 6 employees standing around for the last two hours of the day with nothing to do.
Except that one time when they served the beef sandwich as a bonus to the dinner crowd.
I know I’m a bit late to the party but I hope, having just finished Season 2, you could answer a question that occurred to me this whole season, and especially this episode:
Do you, as someone who obviously identifies with the industry portrayed here, find it a bit weird that a lot of the characters, especially Richie, but also Tina or Marcus, are suddenly able to work in a Michelin Star restaurant, after working in a bit of a dump for years, and (as far as we see) not really giving a shit about haute cuisine before the events of season one?
I love this show, and especially the fast-cut, high energy kitchen scenes, but this turn of events seemed a bit strange to me. I mean, Richie has very openly rejected any sort of professionalism for 10 episodes, and after spending a week in a real restaurant (several days of which are apparently spent polishing forks, which, IDK, build character, I guess?) suddenly finds Jesus and is able to do what he does in the last episode. Tina also doesn’t really seem highly ambitious, and after going to culinary school for a few weeks, is running this kitchen like she’s done it all her life. I mean, sure, it’s a TV show, not a documentary, but it seems a bit insulting to people who have dedicated decades of their lives to this to insinuate that you just have to want it and you’ll be awesome.
(In the same way that shows like American Idol are IMHO insulting to musicians who have performed and practiced for decades because they promise instant stardom to people who have never picked up a guitar.)
What’s your take on this?
I’m trying to avoid reading this thread beyond where I am at watching the series - currently S3.1.
I had a couple of questions. First, there was a woman at the dinner in the 7 Dishes ep - seated to the Odenkirk character’s right. Wearing a shirt with red color. I never got a clear view of her and she never said anything or played any part. Any idea who she was? Does she turn up later? I’m guessing Odenkirk’s wife, but it was odd when my wife suddenly said, “There’s a woman at that table whom we haven’t seen before.” IMDB lists a character named Carol, but no info.
I’ve found myself looking up sites to explain what is going on in the kitchen scenes, such as the meaning of their various shouts: “Hands!”; etc. But what about that order ticket machine. Were those supposed to be call in orders? They first showed it in an ep when they initiated to-go, but I thought the machine was shown on the Friends and Family night. Didn’t know if they were some in-house way of keeping track of things. Order tickets or “chits”, I guess. But if the latter, who is entering the orders?
Do finer restaurants normally have one person in the kitchen going over a list, directing what people are supposed to do?
Found the lack of an escape latch inside the walk-in an inexcusable departure from reality. In fact, I thought I had noticed the latch in a previous ep.
I’ll suspend belief for the show, but the design of the new restaurant seems much less “classy” or “substantial” than any of the (admittedly few) starred restaurants I’ve eaten at. Just sorta rickety looking chairs/stools/tables.
Anyone know exactly what Carmy was screwing under the table before Friends and Family? I recall at Ever they attached little hooks to the table for the women to hang their purses on, but they were not permanently screwed in.
And I really couldn’t understand why they had Sydney get up and stand on the Clinton el platform to go to work in River North! 
First…they don’t have a star, but that is a goal of Carmys.
IIRC, there was MONTHS between the Beef shutting down and the Bear opening (that was part of the cost discussions–paying the staff while they were closed and the costs of training them). Marcus was in Amterdam much longer than a week and presumably Tina was in culinary school for about that same time. Marcus is shown as special–like he gets it and took to it. Tina is shown struggling. She can COOK and she can follow processes which makes her able to work in the kitchen. Contrast with Ibrahim who they tried and he didn’t take to it…he went back to JUST sandwiches.
But I do think you’re right that Richie was only at Ever for a week or so. I guess it’s kind of luck(?) in a way…did Carmy know it would work? No clue.
But that host job IS the right thing for Richie. Richie was always about the interaction with customers and being the face. He’s not a cook or a chef. Working at Ever showed him that it wasn’t about being snobby..the hosts at Ever legitimately wanted to make the experience for the customer special. Richie finally got it–that there was a place for him at the Bear.
I find a hard time believing the fix-it guy w/ the tats - Fak? - would fit in as a front man for a fine restaurant. And I’m not sure if Richie’s specific interaction is exactly what most customers at a starred restaurant expect. But I’ve only been to a few.
It is weird how, sometimes there are tons of staff. But then, IIRC shortly before F&F or th enext day, Carmy seemed to be in the restaurant all alone.
Maybe it’s a “been too long since” issue but I thought they did a good job in the first season of explaining the kitchen terms because Carmy HAD to explain them to people. I seem to remember a scene where he first yells “hands” and people are confused and he has to explain it.
Regarding the printed ticket orders…and now this is me saying “It’s been too long maybe”.. but I believe the issue with that was, they got set up to take online orders that would come in on the machine and it was only supposed to be active during certain times, but Syd accidentally left online ordering open and the ticket machine was turned off…but when they turned it on once they opened, they got flooded with online orders. I don’t recall them using printed tickets once they were open as the Bear though? It was all handwritten tickets and the “captain” calling out the orders.
Thanks for your response. You’re right that some of the stories do take up a bit more time, but still one or two months at most (we see both Marcus and Tina at the construction site frequently after their respective episodes). I agree that being the host is Richie’s calling, and we did see that before when he ran the register/reception at The Beef. What we didn’t see is how he’s suddenly able to run expo (?) instead of Sydney, which seems to me to be a completely different skill set (not to mention that I really don’t see Fak as Front Of House material. I mean, seriously?).
What I find very unique about this show (so far, also Episode 3.01), is the contrast between the insane, adrenaline-fueled kitchen scenes and the snooze fest that was 3.01 (and a lot of other episodes in season 2). Sure, you can’t be at 100% frenetic energy all the time, but compare 3 Fishes with Tomorrow, and tell me those are episodes from the same show…
That’s obviously Fishes, the christmas flashback, and Tomorrow, which was 3.01. Sorry for the mixup.
It will be nice when you folks get caught up the current season (S4) because there’s some cool things happening. No spoilers though.
Tes, it’s tricky to discuss a show when people haven’t watched the same episodes.
Discuss whatever you wish. I can stop reading this end and go back to the middle of the thread where I am. Likely watch another 3 tonight.
I’m not so invested in this that I’ll be crushed by some spoiler. I already told my wife that I predict the new restaurant will open and everything will be smooth sailing and everyone will be happy. She doubts my predicative abilities.
…not at all.
My background for those that don’t know it: I worked in the hospo industry in NZ for over 15 years, primarily in conferences, events and a banqueting. I supervised, managed or event-coordinated at the biggest venues in the country including Harrahs SkyCity, Te Papa, the Wellington Convention Centre. I was Functions Manager at Bellamy’s Parliament and managed the State Dinner for HM The Queen.
The Bear is obviously a TV show. It takes shortcuts. But there isn’t a scenario or thing that happens in the show that I haven’t seen in real life.
Marcus is probably the most unrealistic. But I’ll buy that he’s a pastry savant.
Richie? Very realistic. Because he has a super-power. He’s good with people.
We see that in the flashbacks to the Beef. On how he handles the “Incel, QAnon, 4Chan, Snyder Cut motherf*ckers”. People like Richie are gold in the industry.
And Tina? She had months to learn the ropes.
One thing to think about is for me: technical skills can be taught. You can teach a chef knife skills. Teach a waiter how to carry a tray. This is the easy part.
For example, I had a short-term contract supervising banquets at the Americas Cup Village. There was a shortage of trained staff at the time and the temp agency would send us different people every single night.
At the briefing I’d ask “has anyone here worked in hospitality before?” And more often than not, the answer was no.
So we had to teach them. Over and over again. Two hours before 150 guests walked in the door having paid for a fine dining banquet, we were teaching the staff how to carry hot plates and pour wine.
You can teach this shit. And if you have a good teacher, you can pick it up real quick.
And another thing to think about: people with fast-food experience, that worked at places like McDonalds, would often pick things up faster than everyone else. They were trained in systems, efficiency, customer service. Richie had spent much of his life working in a highly regimented routine. That shit counts for something, you know? You can the moment he sees the pattern while watching Chef Jess work expo. It suddenly clicks for him. This is just a system. And he can figure out how that works.
And the other thing that counts is trust.
It’s what makes this scene.
Last season Sydney was stabbing poor Richie in the butt. And now she trusts him to have her back. To have the Bear’s back. She steps completely back from expo and lets Richie drive.
And thats why I can buy Tina as Sydney’s number two. The technical stuff? You can teach that. But Tina will always have Sydney’s back.
And here’s yet another thing to think about. Sometimes there is a level of arrogance you get when you hire someone with a traditional restaurant/fine-dining background. Think the Chef Carmy’s, the Chef Adam’s, the Chef Wingers. They can be annoying as hell. I would absolutely HATE having any of them as my number two.
In certain environments they thrive. Because they all have a level of detachment. But that isn’t the kinda place I like working in, you know?
So I’d always pick a second who would have no hesitation in telling me that I’m wrong. But they would also always have my back. And less experience means I can teach them my way, and they aren’t always going to be arguing that “this isn’t the proper way to do it.”
Work isn’t supposed to be hell. People like Chef Winger and Chef Adam with his smudge and even Chef Carmy are toxic. There are better ways. But if you’ve only ever lived and breathed the French Brigade, this is what you tend to end up with. I’d pick Chef Tina over those three as my second every single time. She deserved it. And if I wanted things done a certain way I could trust her to deliver. Chef Adam may have the technical drop on her, but he’d also be fixated on nonsense, and pick fights because he thinks it’s good for morale.
For me, it really is the opposite. Richie, Tina, Marcus, they are all good people that work hard for a living. Why would I be insulted that they’ve found their calling and are having success?
It happens. People die.
The show doesn’t try to argue that it’s “excusable.” Carmy got distracted. And blames it on his relationship with Claire.
If only you knew LOL 
I’ve sent out Fak’s to pour wines and waters and deliver and clear plates. You just don’t get them to do anything complicated like [season 3 spoilers] serve a Special Mirepoix Broth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfFdqoqu57k/
Pretty much everything that happens in the show I’ve seen, or I’ve done. I’d go as far to say the show doesn’t come close to the amount of ridiculousness I’ve seen. I’ve had Faks on my team. They are the coolest people in the world, and sometimes they do the most embarrassing things…but that’s part of why they are cool.
The best places I’ve worked and the best teams I ever worked with in hospitality were full of misfits that pulled off miracles every single night. And that’s probably why I love this show so much.
…its too late to edit, but about the scene with Fak I posted earlier:
Richie defending Fak from Carmy, even when Fak just did objectively one of the stupidest things in the world, means everything to me. Fak is an idiot. But he our idiot. He’s on our crew and we die for our crew.
It’s this little moments that take me back to my favourite moments in the industry. There was this time me and a mate screwed up. I can’t even remember what we did, but it was enough that the higher ups called my boss (while we were in the office with him) to tell him about it.
And our boss straight-up lied to the higher ups. “It didn’t happen. It wasn’t my guys. Nope. Not us.” He didn’t have a clue what it was about. But he had our backs.
And when he hung up the phone, he proceeded to yell at us and berate us for fifteen minutes, and would constantly remind us of it for the next year until he left the job. But that was all largely just performance: he didn’t mean a word, and it meant more to us that he stood up for us and didn’t turn us in.
He earned our undying loyalty that day.
Everyone in Richie’s team: undying loyalty.