Greetings,
So, here's the thing about me and Bradley Cooper. I like the guy, generally speaking, but when we start getting specific, it can go either way. For example, I am not a fan of The Hangover. I don't mind looking at him in The A-Team, for obvious reasons, but he offers me little else there. And All About Steve? Do we even to go there? However, I do think he can do some very good work as an actor. He was obviously great in Silver Linings Playbook, and I thought he was stellar in a fantastic movie that few people saw called The Words. So, as I said, either way. Of course, there, I merely spoke of his film career, but Bradley Cooper has also been seen on television a few times. One of those times was when he starred in a short-lived comedy called Kitchen Confidential, and today, we're going to discuss it and decide if it should have been long-lived. Either way.
In 2005, this show was developed for Fox (of course) having been based on the book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain. It was so inspired by the book that the lead character played by Bradley Cooper was named Jack Bourdain. The premise of the show was centered around Jack, the chef, and the people with whom he worked at an upscale restaurant called Nolita. Now I don't know exactly how much of what happened here was based on real life events or people, but I hope not much. Although, I think they took the word "underbelly" from that book's title and ran with it. Okay, let's talk about the cast and characters.
Well, there's the aforementioned Jack, who, whilst being a chef, was also a bit of a - oh, let's just say it - man whore. Not to mention the fact that he was a bit of a jerk. I guess he was just trying to fit in with everyone. And so we move on. We have a pastry chef named Seth, played by Nicholas Brendan, who I think a lot of us Buffy fans had high hopes for on a return to television; John Francis Daley as Jim, the new guy chef at the restaurant, who might just get picked on a little; Jaime King plays the hostess Tanya, who both Seth and Jim have the hots for, what a shock; Bonnie Somerville as Mimi, head waitress, daughter of the owner and a little uptight; and Owain Yeoman as Steven, the sous chef, who makes Jack look like a guy who hasn't even kissed a girl yet. That's the main cast, but there are a few recurring characters, like John Cho aka new Sulu, as the seafood chef, Teddy, and Erinn Hayes as Becky, Jack's obnoxious nemesis from when they attended chef school together. Oh, and there's also the restaurant owner, Pino, played by Frank Langella, of all people. Sigh.
Okay, so you know how Gray's Anatomy is technically called a medical drama, but it's really about who's banging who? Well, replace the hospital with a kitchen and the scalpels with parring knives, and you've got this show. Look, I get it. I didn't expect it to be a full on cooking show. I knew it would be about the characters and their personal goings on, but seriously, these people were so sexed up, and I'm talking IN the kitchen sometimes, that I would never want to eat there. But, I'm certain, by most viewer's standards, it was probably tame.
But, even if I forget about the hormone-y aspect, I have to say that, in my opinion, there was not a single, likable character on this show, not one! Not even the alleged 'underdog'. That is not good. Look, I'm not saying you can't have morally ambiguous characters on a series, though it tends to work better in a movie, but they can't be that and one dimensional. It just won't work. And maybe that's why this show just didn't work.
And here was the sad timeline of this show's life. It aired three episodes in September of 2005, then got put on hiatus because of baseball, then they didn't want to air it in November, which is a sweeps month, then they aired the fourth episode in December to such dismal ratings that it was cancelled four days later. Now they did make thirteen episodes, which eventually got sporadically aired in syndication, as well as being released on DVD, which is what I rented to do this post. That was more hours than I ever wanted to not be able to get back in my life.
So, did this show deserve a second season? Yeah, that's going to be a 'no' on this one. It just wasn't good, plain and simple. What bugs me most is that it probably could have been, especially considering the cast, but just...no. Maybe if the appearance of Andrea Parker, my beloved Miss Parker, would have been more than one episode, but I don't think even she could have saved it. Now obviously I am not going to tell any of you to watch this, but if you're a hardcore Bradley Cooper fan, you may do it, just to look at him. However, please do not say I didn't warn you. I suppose, though, that we should look on the bright side. Sometimes things don't work out for a reason, and it all seems to have worked out well for Bradley Cooper. Just stop making those Hangover movies, my friend. Just stop.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
