Tautology of the Skeptical Sinner

Ahh 80’s geekiness revisited with relish, Karate Kid 1 and 2 available now on hulu.com - wax on… wax off.

Classic.

“Spies don’t get fired… they get burned”

I recently read a review of Burn Notice. A USA original series which is part action, part tongue in cheek that was getting some excellent ratings. Its second series season has just started, but guess where you can find season 1 in its entirety??!! You got it.

Check out the first 5 minutes and see if you likey

Go Hulu, it’s your birthday…

The show that we all love to rag on, yet can’t surf away from is now on demand at hulu

Let’s see how many “accidently” hit the link… you freaks!

And what a finale it was. **spoilers** see it first!

The final two were Christina, a 23 year old Culinary Student from MO, and Petrozza a 47 year Catering Director from NC.  If you haven’t seen it yet, you can see it over at Hulu.com, because **spoilers** will follow.

Both were strong players, and throughout the show, both of them played fair with a minimal amount of strategizing… they just focused on cranking out good food, and aside from both of them feeling the stress early on, both had great attitudes.

I really felt it was too close to call going in, but I was leaning towards Petrozza  although Christina is very cute, and talented.

Ultimately, it was a cliff hanger to the end with neither Chef really pulling away. Both had handicaps, the AWFUL Jen was on Petrozza’s team… and had the nerve to ask Chef Ramsay for a letter of reference! Then proceded to sulk her way to the end of the show.

Christina had the unpredictable and frankly, somewhat unstable Matt. Matt can cook, and when he’s not getting yelled at can really deliver good results, but does not do well under pressure.

Petrozza ran out of 2 of his prepped appetizers, and Christina had two dishes sent back for being cold. Otherwise they both had a great dinner service.

Ultimately, the way Christina handled her staff and her willingness to adapt and learn was what won her the 4th Hells Kitchen.

Way to go Christina! Enjoy your new role at LAs London Restaurant

Theres a great interview with her here.

CAN’T WAIT TIL NEXT SEASON DAMMIT!!!

In my last post on Hell’s Kitchen, I struggled to find out what it was about this show that was so damn appealing.

In last night’s competition (free over at hulu.com), I think I found out what it was.

The three finalists were: Christina, Corey and Petrozza. It’s obvious, from watching them, that they’re all competent chefs who know how to cook, but can they lead the kitchen? In this episode you’ll find out. If you ask someone to describe Chef Ramsay - they’ll probably mention “shouting”, “rude”, “mean” or “English” in their description of the charismatic owner of Hell’s Kitchen - and if you have only seen previews of the show, then you’d probably be inclined to agree.

But in this episode, as each of the aspiring chef’s take a turn at running Hell’s Kitchen, showcasing their leadership skills for a shot at the prize of being Gordon Ramsay’s next executive chef, you’ll see the teacher and mentor in Gordon Ramsay. I believe that is what makes this show so worthwhile for me. You’ll see that all of the lessons, the demands for perfection and communication, the frustration he demonstrates when a chef gives him less than he knows they are capable of, all come together when each of the final three take a shot at running the hotplate. Also known as The Pass, the hotplate is where the executive chef takes the orders from the dining room, relays them to the kitchen and provides quality control on those dishes that get sent out.

The best part is when Gordon gives each of the three some “assertiveness” training. Priceless.

I’d recommend watching this one, even if you’ve never seen a single episode before. If you like it, then go back and watch how Hell’s Kitchen got whittled down to the final 3. Then tune in next Tuesday (July 1st 2008) for the Final on Fox, or next Wednesday on Hulu.

This was an awesome final three, and you are left hanging right until the end. I won’t spoil it. But I think the best two are left.

Next week’s finale looks like an amazing 2 hours of TV, with the 2 finalists each creating their own restaurant, menu, look and feel… oh, and staffing their kitchen from the contestants previously eliminated from this season.

Keep an eye out for a preview of the finale, coming soon!

I just found out I can watch every south park episode online, legally, and for free!

You know I digg Hulu, so I have no problems with short hardly intrusive ads.

But why didn’t I hear about this earlier???

They Killed Kenny!!!

Bastards.

The length of the list of reality shows on TV these days is getting obsurd, so it’s no wonder that most intelligent people are sick to death of them.

So when I enthuse about HK to someone, I expect the eye-roll.

However, something about this show just turns me into a rabid fanboi, let me try and explore why here.

If you’re not familiar with the show, chances are you’ll never read this blog entry, but if we all thought that way, blogs wouldn’t get written at all! Anyway, the premise is this: Chefs from all walks of life, from Executive Chefs who already run their own kitchens, to line chefs, and even stay at home moms and dads who just cook for their family, compete throughout the season not to be eliminated, and emerge as the remaining winner. The prize is either their very own restaurant (in season one) to being the Executive Chef of one of Chef Gordon Ramsey’s own restaurants, with a $250,000 / year salary (The current season).

As with most Reality shows, each episode has two challenges. The first is a reward, with the winner(s) doing something fun while the losers have a punishment.  The 2nd is to avoid elimination.

Where the show stands out from all the other same old same old, is that unlike most of the other shows, the producers’ focus is not making the contestants look like idiots and simpletons. Occasionally they will show people employing strategy, similar to say Survivor, but for the most part it’s all about the cooking and what it takes to run a top quality restaurant.

Now, fine dining is wasted on me, I am just not into food.(I’d take 3 square meals in pill form if I had the chance). I do like the atmosphere of a high class restaurant, but good food is wasted on my dollar menu palate. So I have no clue what turned me onto this show except that the previews looked interesting, and I caught the first episode. Been hooked ever since.

The obvious main draw is Chef Gordon Ramsay who runs the show. He has an amazing personality, and an evil temper - as I understand all great chefs do. But he is phenomenal at what he does: getting the absolute best performance out of a chef of any calibre; Novice to Adept. Those people who’ve only seen exerpts of the show, naturally only see the explosive side of him, however he’s constantly pushing for excellence, and getting it. In the same way I imagine a Football Coach will yell at his team when they screw up, and praise them only when they produce the results he expects and knows they’re capable of.

The other element that appeals to me is the Challenges. Unlike the majority, the challenges make sense! They’re not just some stupid or fiendish idea the producers have dreamed up to make the contestants look as retarded as possible.  The 2nd Challenge, the one that determines who is getting eliminated that week, simply, is their performance during dinner service at the Restaurant that shares its name with the show, serving the general public.  They compete both as individuals and as a team. The Reward challenge is always a culinary excercise. Usually who can make the best dish during a specific time, or who can prepare the most amount of quality food ready for cooking with the least wasted etc…etc… The reward they win shows them perks of a Top Chef’s lifestyle, and the punishment is always the downsides of running a restaurant, the cleaning. As a result, throughout the course of the show, it’s preparing all the contestants, winners and losers, for the responsibility and rewards of running a top restaurant. Rather than looking for ways to make them look like idjits. Even the losers win the experience of working with an extraordinary chef in a quality restaurant, the longer they work with him, the more valuable work experience they get. Now I’m not saying it’s necessary something I’d expect them to put on their resumé, but I think you get my point.

If you’re not into food or fancy restaurants, it might sound a little boring. while I’m reading back what I’ve written, I’m thinkin’ “Wow, Skep, way to make people go ‘hmmm that sounds like something I might like‘” - I know! That’s why I’m writing this. To try and think through why I’m such of fan of a show that I can’t describe as exciting, but is.

It’s available on www.hulu.com a free web service I discussed earlier today as complete episodes of the current season, and little snippets. SO, if you’re inclined, stop on by and see for yourself and if you can do a better job of explaining its appeal, let me know!

Now I’m off to prepare some toast for breakfast!

(edit)Found a convert!: 

hulu.com - Dumb name, great site. Its a joint venture between a couple of the major US TV networks to share current and archived shows in their entirety. The Hyper-geek in me just got through watching the first two whole seasons of Babylon 5 - all for free and with only minor commercial interruptions.

I got involved in the Beta test of this site, and since then its just gotten better and better.

In addition to the aforementioned geek fest Bab5, they also have Family Guy, The Simpsons, Hells Kitchen, The Office, shoot… the list goes on - click here for a quick index. Sometimes they only have clips or info about a show, but there are a ton of full length episodes and a decent selection of full length movies. It’s updated next day, which is a good thing because I’m always too drunk sleepy to watch Hell’s Kitchen on Tuesday nights, and I have Wednesday morning off. So guess where I’m heading next.

Skep