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Iron Chef USA debuts Friday
devinoni writes "Yes, the long awaited American version of Iron Chef is coming. As reported on Slashdot, William Shatner will be hosting it on UPN 9pm (8 central) on Friday. The 4 Iron Chefs are: Todd English, Iron Chef American; Jean Francois Meteigner, Iron Chef French; Alessandro Stratta, Iron Chef Italian; and Roy Yamaguchi is Iron Chef Asian. Check out UPN's site (flash required) for more info." CD: The SF Chronicle review wasn't all that enthusiastic about this, so heads up, foodies.
Today's theme ingredient... PLOMIK SOUP!
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
...tribbles!
Liberal (adj.): Free from bigotry; open to progress; tolerant of others.
I can just see William Shatner biting into a big yellow pepper already..
Yeah, I can NEVER wait until great foreign TV shows get moved over to the US, where they are immediatly ruined (eg. Whose line is it anyway, Junkyard Wars, Robot Wars, etc.) The originals are much better.
What is Iron chef American? Hamburgers and hot dogs? Why not iron chef Cajun instead? All "American" food is really mostly Italian and French anyways. I certainly don't think the Iron chef is going to be slow roasting a turkey on a spit.
Dammit, Jim, I'm a contestant, not a chef!
"Ask me about Loom"
What was so cool about the show (for me) was that it was dubbed over a foriegn language. If everyone is speaking english, then its just another cooking show. Boring.
Reality has a liberal bias
If you're like me, you assumed that this was the Japanese show "ported" over to the USA, with no modifications. Don't be silly.
What made Iron Chef so entertaining? The hosts. The voice-overs. The theatrical music. Kitchen Stadium.
Guess what! They're all gone. They've been replaced by Shattner, English-speaking announcers, no sound effects, and a mock-up of Kitchen Stadium, but including screaming fans. That is NOT what Iron Chef was about.
It's lame, through and through.
Damn.
One of the reasons I like it so much is because of the Chairman, and the cheesy voice-overs, not to mention the occasionally-cute Japanese Ch1X0rZ on the panel.
A big par tof the entire allure of it is the fact that it is predominantly Japanese/Asian cuisine, and the Nippon-centric interpretation of it.
As it is cuturally known, the Japanese pop culture is not special necessarily because of its originality, but BECAUSE of the Japanese "twist" they give things.
Sorry trekkies, William Shatner is going to take the show where it's never gone before - into the toilet.
wouldn't it have been ever nicer if there could have been an international iron chef show? French, Swedish (meatballs! Guess where I am from;), Italian, Greek, Spanish, Mexican, American (your food tastes too damn good!), Japanese, Korean, the list goes on!
Maybe we could hope for a european iron chef program? As posted above, if there is a good show anywhere, it's sure to be copied. Just look at all the Expedition: Robinson (survivors for you non Swedes;))
[I miss a checkbox for "posting while you are ill"]
... there's one "Asian" cook. It'd be nice if there were several though, as European cooking tends to be pretty homogeneous and Asian cooking is so completely different.
...
Also, is Shatner just gonna make a mockery out of this? He doesn't exactly get good gigs anymore
Any idea who the play-by-play announcers will be? It just won't be the same without Kenji Fukui, Doc Hatori, and field reports from Ohta.
With our luck, we'll get the MNF crowd. Micheals and Fouts would probably be okay, but Miller would suck.
"Albino-san...."
"Yes, Dendu?"
They shouldn't be busting on the new show so much. Sure, it's Americanized, removing every hint of high cuisine and majesty that made the show what it was.
But Shatner will clasp his hands together and deliver crushing two handed blows to the losing chef. So it can't be all bad.
Right?
If guns kill people, then CmdrTaco's keyboard misspells words.
Craptastic. Crapalicious. Crapulent.
Einstein without a mustache.
Plain unnatural!
Are the chefs made of iron, or do they make dishes from iron?
I think I'll watch Robot Repair instead.
The show is so distinctly japanese that I worry it won't translate well using american production teams.
:-)
I also can't see them using gooey soybeans and lobster brains a theme ingredients either. After all how many ways can you actually cook mac & cheese
Also, it just *won't* be iron chef without morimoto or sakai.
Well, I hope it ends up being good. It will be different for sure.
here.
Lots of great info on the original IC as well as some stuff on the US version.
A bit off topic, I know, but the site rocks.
And so... today's theme... is... I wonder what he'll say for the chefs to get running up to the stage. I doubt it will be comparable to Kaga's "Are kezeeeeeee!" --Chag
--Chag
Oh god. What a waste of TV space. I'm a hug fan of the original series and sure, the dubbed version on the Food Network is a little odd but that's what makes Iron Chef. The quirky commentary from the floor reporter, the goofy dubbing (and apparently brainless actions) of the food testers (1 of which is some pop star nobody ever knew, 1 is a ditzy actress, 1 is a distinguished person and 1 is a food critic). Master Takeshi unveiling the main ingrediant (which usually amounts to some endangered species where the beef of the creature is $3000/lb.) is the highlight of the program and from there on in, it's a wild ride.
UPN and Shatner? Yeah, right. Since when did putting a cooking show on UPN be something that would be a success. Then there's Shatner, who needs some serious help in the geriatric department not to mention the acting arena (T.J. Hooker, nuff said).
This is going to leave a base taste in any Iron Chef fans mouth no matter what they try to do with it. I've already seen some clips and Shatner and the floor reporter look awkward at best. Don't expect anything like the original and as someone else said, the U.S. seems to almost always ruin a good foreign show without even trying.
liB
fire phasers to warm up fish,...
spock and bones. Kirk: spock, how are they doing with those cabbage rolls? Spock: it seems illogical that should be making cabbage rolls when this is a leak soup competition Bones: damn you and your logic
I generally like that show. I like cooking and it throws in a plethora of special effects and attitude. However, when I see it becoming yet another of those "untrendy trends" it really makes me sick. No, its not a problem of my being turned off of the show because of the often hypocritical trend fair of it... its simply that in the past, I have seen a very repetative pattern emerge that shows that the true spirit will often be sacrificed by elements of entertainment such as these (hell, not just entertainment). What you eventually end up with is a over marketed/bureaucracized (sure, it is a word because I SAY that it is) piece of shallow crap which it becomes an insult to even say that it is a former fragment of shadow of the former show even on its WORSE night.
yaa-bore-kerr-ski-berr-skoo-keeedoooo!
If it is not on fire, it is a software problem.
I'm kind of surprised they didn't get Bobby Flay to be one of the Iron Chefs. He had 2 appearances on the original Japanese show against Iron Chef Japanese Masaharu Morimoto (one)(two), one of which was a bit controversial as Bobby was almost electrocuted during the battle and then at the end Masaharu claimed that Flay was not a true chef since a true chef wouldn't stand on his cutting board.
I wonder if Shatner will dress like Liberace to keep with the spirit of Chairman Kaga?
it's not going to stop until you wise up, no it's not going to stop. so just give up.
-Make them deliver Dominoes pizzas in South Central.
-Have them work as an "expeditor" for either an Applebee's or a Denny's in a medium-sized Midwestern college town.
-Work as one of those weird New York street vendors selling unidenfied meat on a stick.
-Feed all Detroit's homeless with one Swanson's TV dinner.
The possibilities are endless.
WWF and I see they aren't going to show Iron Chef
either. They only reason they are one is so they
can show Star Trek. Blah they suck.
Oh well, at least can still watch the Food Channel
at 9 (central) as I always do on weekends and watch
the original. (yes, i never have dates like everybody
else here)
Shatner is perfect as the Chairman... over-the-top, energetic and inherently humorous... however, I highly doubt he can fully capture the charm of Kaga...
... "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters." I don't see how this fits with this Iron Chef thing. Is it because of that Shatner bozo?
I think part of the poplarity of The Iron Chef is its Japaneseness. It is at least partially a fascinating look into a bizarre part of a culture which we don't usually see. I don't see an American equivalent catching on nearly as much in the USA. Though it might see some interest in Japan...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
As watching it won't interfere with the real "I-own Chef" and all of my friends are ditching me tonight to go see "Harry Potter", I guess I'll be watching this tonight.
I'll be cringing, but you all know that we have to see it once...
This has, what, zero to do with the so-called "news" this site pretends to cover?
Uh, maybe I can help it out. Quick, get me the model number of the microwave to Shatner's left, so I can dissect it, flash the ROM, and attempt to boot Linux.
There, credibility returns!
I agree.
99% of the fun of watching Iron Chef is the intensity the Japanese cast gives the show. Even if it's faked, they display such an incredible depth of passion for what they're doing that it verges on being ridiculous.
And can we get Shatner into a Rhinestone-studded, sequined suit like Kaga? Well, maybe.
Americans just don't get that passionate about simple things like that, whereas I can (almost) really believe all the old grudges and tests of honor that happen on Iron Chef Japan.
Well, unlike most Japanese shows that come to the U.S. (America's Funniest Videos, ?!?!) we USians have fairly broad access to Iron Chef, both through Food Network and through the episodes that float around on FT and Gnutella. I wouldn't be suprised to see the Iron Chef Japan get quite a bit more recognition by the major players in the U.S.
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
This is what happens when people who are too stupid to come up with their own ideas try to copy the ideas of creative people. They invariably misunderstand what was good about the original. To my mind, what makes Iron Chef so interesting to watch is the contrast between how over the top it is and how seriously the participants take it. Sure, they're wearing absurd costumes, battling in an arena like gladiators, but the contestants, judges, and the Iron Chefs take it all very seriously. Clearly the people at UPN don't get that. It looks like they are going to take the "over the top" element and exagerate it even further, but ignore the serious side.
Shatner: "That's quite a leg of lamb you've got there!"
Contestant: "I told you it was going to be big. Really big."
Oh God. I can only hope that the cooking music that they use will be the classic music from the original Star Trek episode (also used on the Simpsons) when Kirk and Sock have to fight each other in an arena.
3,s company, all in the family, sanford & son, .... there's a million
What is the show without Chairman Kaga biting into the pepper... the real kitchen stadium... the taste testers (loopy Japanese actress, fortune teller, egotistical male of the day, and famous murderer). Nothing beats Iron Chef Japanese vs. The American Bachelor Chef (mmmmm - mini-shark-head pizza bagels).
"It's tough to be bilingual when you get hit in the head."
They should wheel barbeeque carts into the ring after WWF matches and have Pamela Andersen host the show. That's what they need to keep the ratings up! The wrestlers could be the judges! Wouldn't it be funny to watch The Rock eat speetbreads? And Pamela could say, "And the secret ingredient is... breast of chicken!"
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
The Chronicle's stuck-up staff strikes out again.
The thing that made IC great in the first place was the camp and the dialogue. We can watch French Chef reruns if we want the food to star.
As long as it's not "Let's Bowl" with food, it'll work.
--Blair
...can't make up for all of that.
Go Lakers!
Jump
The
Shark
I would be pissed if I was one of the judges and got dubbed over by the gay voice-over guy.
What is it about these replies complaining that the show won't be the same? Of course it won't be the same -- if it was the same show, what would be the point?
Then there's the people who say that the show won't be as good because it's the inherent Japanese-ness that makes it good. Could be true, could be true...but I kind of doubt it. The show won't be the same as the original -- it's obviously going to be far less somber and and dignified -- but that doesn't immediately translate into "bad". It's different. Give it a chance.
I now get a lot of the tv I watch online. I get anime fansubs from private ftps, and I download Enterprise epsiodes from newsgroups. Is there any place I can get Iron Chef episodes? My cable has the WORST LINEUP EVER (no cartoon network, no news except cnn, no food channel, comedy central from 6p-6a only) so I can't get the dubbed version. It would be cool if someone out there was capping iron chef and fansubbing them, but I'll settle for food network versions. Ideas? offers?
Honestly, who gives a flying Philladelphia Fuck about this? Do nerds care about some lame assed cooking show? Is this stuff that matters?
Who you callin' an ass clown, cuntface?
Does Shatner prefer real or replicated Gak?
To-do List: Receive telemarketing call during a tornado warning. Check.
My friends are considering putting together a White Trash Chef version of the show... today's ingredient - easy cheese
So.. how much more weight will butterball Shatner gain being the host of a cooking game show? Or, will he become a bulimic just so he can taste all that food without having to get fat like normal people? Hey, we can even have him dress up like Louis XIV with all that frilly shit and pussy makeup (jeeze, like he's not used to that having starred on Star Trek).
"Using a tractor beam to keep your souffle from falling".
"Leftovers and phasers: stun to re-heat, kill for those that bitch an moan about leftovers".
"101 tips for baking with plasma".
"cow+phaser = steak the easy way"
"Quick way to tenderize meat with this meat storage coat and book of Andoria yo momma jokes".
------------
Iron Chef isn't such a bad title, could have been worse, it could be titled "Leave it to Cleaver".
If it is not on fire, it is a software problem.
If Emeril is any indication of successful cooking-related shows today, it will be cancelled faster than he can say BAM!@#!@#
Hmm, American. There's only so much you can do to hotdogs and hamburgers before it gets boring. I give it one season, tops.
I happened to catch some of the Food Network's Iron Chef marathon and the show boggled my mind. First of all, the freaky rich guy that hosts the thing -- he's insane. There's no two ways about it. The fact that he created the show is a good enough reason. Second, the special ingredient that each competition centers around. I saw one with grass that only grew in a certain area of Japan and cost something like $200 a pound. That's just as insane as the host. Yet somehow they made like ten dishes, all of which had grass as a main ingredient. Who the hell eats grass?!
What is the deal with the UPN? Here in St. Louis our local WB network covers some of the shows, but they're scheduled in some kindof random fashion. You might have one UPN show on a saturday night, and then the same show on at 3 a.m. on a tuesday.
"Todd English, Iron Chef American; Jean Francois Meteigner, Iron Chef French; Alessandro Stratta, Iron Chef Italian"
Is this the way the Japanese Iron chef works? Why am I getting visions of some 60's superhero team; each with their own super power?
Iron Chef American was surely doomed until the arrival of his comerad Iron Chef Italian who saved the day with his bottle of soi.
Iron Chef. William Shatner. Americaniz'd.
About the only way I'm going to watch this is if the beef 'o the day is Shatner's thigh and the chefs have to turn it into Donairs.
W9x:Thanks for the make-work project Bill.
he has no sense of what comedy is. i don't know, maybe boorish is the right word. something along those lines. he doesn't understand the essence of the show. either that, or he doesn't trust americans to understand and like the show as it is. i don't know, maybe you're right. maybe lowest common denominator is the only way to be successful in this country. if that's the case i should be leaving now before it gets any worse.
I can hear the collective screams of the souls of all former iron chefs calling out from across the oceans. What a travesty.
I've been through the website, checked out the images, and read the bios of the chefs. Have you SEEN the nicknames they've given them? "the Italian Scallion". "Captain America". HELL0! I'll admit that 'The Prince of Pasta' is kinda cheesy, but not to THIS degree. they could have at least put some effort into coming up with something original.
The Ota replacement (with the unfortunate name of Sissy Biggers and no I'm NOT joking) is the flighty chick from "ready, set, cook!'. Frankly, anyone who can be described by the word 'effervescent' just BEGS to be smacked. Not to mention.. girl.. this is HOLLYWOOD. You CAN use a stage name. GAH!.
I won't even START on shatner. that's just too easy.. sigh.. hard to believe we have the same home town. I expect i'll spend most of the premiere waiting for him to launch into priceline.com songs. (ok, so i had to get one dig in).
The stage (which looks like someone gave liberace an unlimited budget and let him indulge his wildest fantasies) completely lacks the tasteful opulance of the original kitchen stadium. The "Judges" barely rate a glance in the hollywood echelon. I mean really.. in Japan they get House Members. Japanese leaders. Culinary and cultural icons. in the US, you get a playboy bunny and the star of a short-lived teen drama.
Frankly, I'm going to tape the opening show (so i can go out and watch Harry Potter, which has much more promise), and watch it on sunday afternoon when there's NOTHING on. But I don't hold out much hope.
Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo - H. G. Wells
So your contention is that any foreign show jumps the shark after it's been raped and dumbed down by American TV executives?
By jove, I think you've got it!
- Las Vegas screaming fans venue (they did have a live audience on some (IC Specials)
- Female floor reporter
- Bogus tasters / judges
- Non-bizzarro theme ingredients
- UPN
OK, the last one sent me over the edge. Think about it - what type of show would UPN try to sell to its advertisers given their viewership demographics? But wait a minute. They are also the Star Trek network and IC USA is hosted by William Shatner! I'm willing to give it a shot.One problem with
"set taste buds on stunned!"
"You...cuisine bastard... you killed my son"
"Bean me up"
"todays guest host, James cahn, KAAAAAAHN!!!!!"
"Whip speed now, or we're all dead!"
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
For anyone in Philadelphia who doesn't know, the Iron Chef Japanese is opening a restaurant on the 13th of November. More information:
click me
How are they going to tie in the story about kitchen stadium? How will it work with the glitz and show of the original without the storyline behind it? Of course, Big Bill Shatner is excentric enough to fill the part. I just hope he doesn't sing the theme song.
And for god sake, please don't tell me that Shanter is going to bite into a yellow pepper. A doughnut or a handfull of McDonalds fries would be more fitting.
Sorry to highlight the obvious bias towards Japaneese shows here at /., but this show sucked from the beginning.
Let me be blunt.
Never serve me anything that includes semen as an ingredient.
I seem to remember insulting food by saying that's an incredient, now they want to squeeze sea urchins for it.
Genius schedule since they know that nerds are stuck home alone on Friday nights
I, for one, could never eat a plate of tribbles. After all, by the time you finished half the plate the ones still ther would've bred and filled it back up!!
"Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."
This show can't be good
They will surely kill the theme
UPN Bites It
---------
Fuck you, motherfucker. Fuck yous to: Rob "Taco-Snotter" Malda, Homos, Kowboi Kneel, and RMS.
Barbecue!
FoodTV already tried their own "Iron Chef" wannabe - it was called "Ready-Set-Cook!"...
I think it only lasted a season or so - but it had to be the cheesiest of cheesy cooking shows: Picture two "chefs" on a set from "Price Is Right" , in front of a studio audience (behind the camera, though always panned to, and on cheap bleachers or chairs, or something) given (30?) minutes to cook the "theme" ingredient for judging. Add in a ditzy, flat-chested blonde bimbo for a commentator, making rude and obviously non-insightful comments ("and now contestent one is doing...are you coring an apple?!") - and you get the American equivalent of Iron Chef.
But this setup is sooo American - it wasn't taken seriously, but you could see the contestant "chefs" (they were apparently real chefs for real restaurants - but sometimes they would have "theme chefs" - think firehouse and navy ship cooks) were sometimes annoyed - some were even somewhat distraught or something - a very wierd look in their eye...
I don't ever think I will forget the time the theme ingredient was SPAM - IIRC, there was some sorta "famous" chef as a contestant (not from FoodTV, but supposedly had a few restaurants or something) - and he damn near looked like he was going to faint, as in "HOW IN THE F--K AM I GOING TO COOK THAT?!"...
Oh, the joy...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Energetic Announcer: This is the ultimate battle of who's Cuisine Reigns supreme!
[Cut to Opening credits, cue Theme]
[musically:]"It's been a long time..."
Am I Over-Moderating??
l oved the orginal iron cheif it seems so Exotic with the wacky voice overs, exotic food from around the world (mostly live octopus battles) and the Insistent bantering of one japanese guy going a mile a minute deliver the action from the kitchen. why did they have to Bastardized a cult classic. my be if they dubbed it n spanish and they forced the cooks to hunt for there food... just , may be it might be Palatable.
Me and lunchbox here are going to kick your ass.
Is this really news for nerd? I'd rather read about working at WorldCom ;-)
Iron Chef White Trash presents four dishes showcasing the theme ingredient of squid.
First, a deep fried squid, served with ketchup and a side of fires.
Second, a squid and peanut butter sandwich, served on Wonder Bread (tm) with the crusts carefully trimmed.
Third, a delicious squid Jello salad. The squid is chopped and suspended in lime Jello with carrots. The Jello mold is topped with Miracle Whip.
Fourth, squid nachos. Hunks of squid are spread over Doritos, covered with Velveeta and Pace Picante sauce and nuked.
Is it just me, or is anyone else's palatte "sophisticated" enough to handle the food they serve on that show? Minus the one episode with Bobby Flay, I can't think of a single dish I would let near my face. Octopus ink soup, lobster heads, etc, etc. Gross!
If you fall off a building, go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will be like hey, free dummy
Okay, American, French, Italian, and... Asian. Three countries and an entire freakin' continent.
"Iron Chef Asian." How... American. Makes me proud to be a citizen. Gods bless the empire.
Karma: T-rexcellent.
I'm reminded of a line from Spaceballs:
"What's that coming out of it's nose?"
"Spaceballs!?!?!"
"Oh shit, there goes the planet..."
-er
"Jesus saves, but everyone else in a 10 foot radius takes full damage from the fireball."
True foodies recommend you check out Chef! with Lenny Henry as Gareth Blackstock, proprietor and chef of the Chateau Anglese. In the US you can find it on PBS from time to time. Favorite lines:
Chef (instructing a kitchen menial who has just disappointed him again): "What's the most important element of cooking?"
Kitchen menial: "Ingredients?"
Chef: "Timing. Ingredients was 5 minutes ago. You're supposed to peak together. Hasn't your wife explained this to you?"
Oh, yeah, it's not easy to pad these out to 120 characters.
Guess it wasn't news til one of the COOL people posted it...
Here are your recent submissions to Slashdot, and their status within the system:
2001-11-08 17:14:05 Iron Chef USA!!!!!!! (articles,tv) (rejected)
2001-11-09 19:36:44 Iron Chef USA! (articles,tv) (rejected)
Summary:
rejected (2)
--- Jump!! Fire!! Bullet time!! - Lego version of the Matrix
"He's reaching for the ramen! It looks like it's going to be Mountain Dew and ramen!"
They either assume that people don't read subtitles (which is probably true, lazy fucks
that we all are), or need some Americanization (e.g. dumbing down to joe six-pack) of
every fucking show or product that is imported to this country.
Maybe we should just get direct feeds from other countries and hope that they have closed captioning.
Your best bet then would be to learn a minor language, such as swedish. In Europe, the really big countries like France, Germany and Italy use dubbing extensively. While the smaller countries hardly ever dub. So dubbing is not a typically american phenomenon. It's size that matters. There are millions of Joe Sixpack's just because there are 200 mill americans, and millions of Hermann EinBisschenUnterMittel just because there are some 80 million Germans.
Small countries can't afford to dub just to accomodate Svenn MuchLessThanAverageMedelSvennson, because there's only a few thousand of them.
-- Another senseless waste of fine bytes.
The Iron Chef is definately highly dependant on that energy and excitment. I love the show and watch as often as possible but 10pm Fri + Sat are difficult times to remeber or even be home. If you watch carefully you can notice that the dubbing adds alot that isn't there in the poeple's speech or movements. The editing/dubbing adds alot of that excitment and, jokes and the urgency (get it done within the time limit) that I don't see in the peoples actions. The editing definately makes the show that much more interesting. Its interesting that the dubbing has been done in a casual manner with people making bad guesses on what the dishes will be, bad jokes, and other mistakes in speaking too fast that make the show seem that much more real and lively. Not like Martha Stewart taking in that slow monotone drawl. They must be editing after the taping is over but they still have the commenators making bad guesses and speaking to fast etc... which could be cleaned up, but they insert all that and add some to make it really exciting and lively.
"Fukui-san?" "Yes, Ota?" "The challenger has in his pot one Salisbury Steak, and is now adding five boxes of crushed croutons to it. I also see one of his assistants preparing two blowfish, while the other appears to be getting a bag of silver from the other side." "Wow, I heard this Jesus guy was a skilled somallier, but I didn't know he had this in him..."
"You're never ready, just less unprepared."
I bet by the 3rd show the producers will make Shatner say "Where no chef has gone before"
How the hell do those chefs get anything done in such a short period of time (1Hr). They supposedly don't even know what the "secret" ingredient is before the show, although they immediately seem to know what their dishes are going to be and have special ingredients that they have brought with them to the show (certain type of flour, oil, spices etc ...) that are key to the dishes that they didn't know they were going to make, so that seems a little fishy. But how the hell can they possibly get 5 gourmet dishes done in such a short period including masterful presentation. I can't seem to heat a can of soup in 1Hr and these guys are cooking lamb, making ice cream, making pasta from scratch, etc... . Just 1 dish would take me 2 hrs and they pull off 5 in half the time and they seem to have at least 5 servings, all perfectly arranged with garnish, sauces, real art works. I have trouble keeping the peas from rolling off the plate and they are creating masterpieces!!! The show does hide the fact that they have 3 or 4 helpers but still how the hell can they get that much done in 1 hr???? I realize that these guys are professional chefs and this is an every night sort of thing for them, but I still find this amazing and they never seem to accidentally added too much salt or overcooked something or made a bad guess in creating a new dish. Again I understand that they have much more experience than me and they probably couldn't write code to save thier lives, but it still blows my mind what they do. I do make one hell of a PB&J, but beyond that they got me beat by a mile (light year).
There is a lot more variance between Italian and French cuisine than between Japanese and Chinese.
That sould be the other way around!
Takahashi Rumiko made beats! DON, taku, DON, taku. . .
...but will they let him sing?
/*drunk.. fix later*/
Roy Yamaguchi rules. If you've never been to Roy's on any island in Hawaii, you haven't lived. I can't wait to see his first battle...
Can your IM do this?
This will forever be the best episode
3 69 9,460262,00.html
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilm/product/film_info/0,
Fucking cowardly piece of shit.
Like they are ever gonna give Bin Laden a trial...
The CIA cannot possibly allow him the chance to speak. He could reveal SOOOO much of the CIA's dirty secrets. If he gets a trial it will be sealed for 'national security' or he will be reported as missing or killed and never see trial.
Prosecuter, Where did you acquire the weapons and the training to use them...
Bin Laden, Why Langley Virginia Sir, in 1970 when I was a guest of the US government.
hahahaha thank-you for the late afternoon laugh needed that :)
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
eats corned beef and hash to celebrate, that is DEPRESSION/FAMINE food. Only wannabe Irish in the states celebrate that way.
Hey, I like cooking too, but theis isn't where I expect to read about it. Let's keep this to technology issues, not movies, cooking, and games, eh? THANKS
Well...there are a couple things that make it doable.
a) a chef will prepare for this battle, they will have ideas for recipes that could go well with lots of things
b) The cooking equipment they have is meant for fast cooking (convection oven, gas stove, etc..) This can reduce the cooking time by huge amounts.
c) Their helpers know the kitchen fairly well, this means that the chef can rely on them to help if he has no clue where things are
d) Most of the time consuming parts are already done, eg: Fat netting (used a lot on TOS) takes a long time to prepare because you need to soak it, yet it was ready for the chefs. OR a ceramic pot, these need a LOT of care before being used like they are, and it is done before.
This helpful insight has been brought to you by a Canadian, yes...a canadian.
UPN's got a great new strategy. Since they couldn't come up with a decent show besides Star Trek (anyone remember "Homeboys in Space" or "The Watcher" starring Sir Mix-A-Lot?), they just bought a bunch of other popular shows - Buffy, Roswell, Senfield reruns, and Iron Chef.
Roy Yamaguchi is Iron Chef Asian
If you haven't eaten at Roy's you're really missing out. He specializes in a fabulous Hawaian Fusion dishes. I've eaten at his resturants on Maui and in Carmel. Also, the desserts are incredible.
The Iron Chef show is fun, but we American's would rarely have the opportunity to sample food from one of the "Iron Chef's". You should check out one of Roy's locations in the US for a great meal.
-Steve
All that blackened-whatever shit was just made up by a fat-ass chef in new orleans. real cajun people never ate most the shit that gets passed off as "cajun cuisine"
And let me say... sad. My expectations were probably too high, but seriously. When the announcer yaks up a spoonfull of caviar on camera, something's wrong. For those of you who will read this before it airs in the U.S., it's at about the 30 minute mark. I loved this quote: "if you can't stand the heat, change the damned channel". heh. In my experience of watching season after season of the real iron chef, this is a poor ripoff. Sensationalized, but weak.
As for the chefs themselves, maybe they're hot stuff in America, but world class? please. I'm waiting for the day when the REAL iron chefs get one of these chuckleheads to challenge one of them. My money's on the japanese crew any day of the week. You've got about 10 mintues till it airs for you. You make your own judgement...
William Shatner's little speech at the end reminded me of Jerry Springer's Final Thoughts at the end of each episode.
Reality has a liberal bias
Q: Why William Shatner?
A: Just so happened he was within earshot when they were looking for a washed up has-been.
Q: Why wasn't Emeril one of the Iron Chefs?
A: Couldn't find the right Japanese translation for "BAM!"
I actually didn't mind Shatner. The audience pissed me off, though. Not only did they make too much noise, detracting from the decorum of Iron Chef, but I swear I saw a "RAW is WAR" sign in the audience.
Pax Digitalia
well, after the first fifteen minutes i perhaps saw 9 minutes of cheesy video effects. it looks like someone decided to use every transition effect in premier. Plus the seizure inducing pallette cycling when they display the names, looks like a bad shareware game. they could have at least put some production values into the show, instead of making it a mishmosh of horrible video effects.
I guess they spent all their money on shatner.
Guys, no offense, but I'm getting a little tired of everyone saying that Americans have no cuisine. To be sure, American cooking is less well known, but I'm getting a little pissed at everyone saying "American food- what is that a hot dog?"
the announcers are awful, they look and sound like they came from a baseball game. at least get someone who knows something about food. I mean with comments like 'What is that, a blender with ice?' when reffering to an ice cream maker. and 'It looks like sauteed ho ho's' when the chef was obviously frying the item.
this is turning out to be one awful show.
News for nerds, stuff that matters.
Sure nerds have to eat, but seriously its a BIG stretch to consider this topic to be relevent to anything here.
.... for that stupid "Battlebots" arena-cheering track. I also couldn't see anything for the poor camera editing - they loved showing headshots, but what about the food? Oh well. At least Shatner was looking fabulous!
Also, *William Shatner*? how much does he really know about food?
Got through the first segment in horrified fascination, and the first commercial break freed my eyeballs. Aggghhh. This is so bad. Stay away.
[Full disclosure - my company provides co-location services for williamshatner.com.]
OMG, what is up with Iron Chef American dancing
around like that?
This is one of the worst shows (yes, even worst
than Hot of the Grill with Bobbly Flay) I have
ever seen!
The first 20 minutes featured almost no cooking. There was alot of getting into the chefs, seeming more like a documentary that I would title "Behind the cooking." This probably will change for the second episode. But this show has an uphill climb. Between the purist attitudes of many viewers and the difficult Friday night timeslot, this may not make the cut.
Dear Shatner:
Can you stick to the script, and tell the guys who's doing the special affects to cut half of 'em out?!? And get some culinary experts and identify the panelists while cutting down on the crowd. I becha you'll get better dishes that way.
--
# Canmephians for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.net";
It sucked so hard! Even Jerry Springer looks good now.
Anyone like the English dubbing of Kaga?
:)
Personally I think his voice actor doesn't
do him justice and I would prefer the hearing
him in Japanese.
On the other hand, one of the voice actresses
for the female guests on the panel has got the
sexiest voice I have ever heard.
9. Show is more concerned with obnoxious video effects than with food.
8. William Fatner is a pompous ass, not a dignified chairman.
7. Can't hear the commentary through the crowd noise. (What you say again?)
6. Commentary sucks anyway -- not enough substance about the food, but plenty of information about who cuts the chef's hair. Anthony Dias Blue should be ashamed of himself.
5. Judges are obviously two-bit no-name losers from failing UPN shows (no wait a minute -- all UPN shows are failing...) that are about to be canceled.
4. No drama. No logic behind why the theme ingredient was chosen. Doesn't matter, nobody seems to notice anyway. (Since when is Dungeness crab "unusual"?
3. Chefs are more concerned with playing to the camera than with cooking -- talking on the cell phone in an obviously set up call (you could hear both halves of the conversation!) and throwing caviar to the commentators? Puh-leeze! Escoffier would roll over in his grave....
2. The three "Iron Chefs" watching the competition look like the Three (fat) Stooges.
1. Commentator's yellow blazers look like they were fished from a dumpster behind the local Century 21 office.
0. Sissy Biggers.
Maybe this was all just a bad Priceline ad. We can only hope. The show was so bad that it made Shatner's toupee look good.
On a clear disk you can seek forever
Whoever thought it was a good idea to have constant music in the background shouldn't be allowed to own a television, let alone work on a show.
Do you want to be goatse'd?
Man, I don't know who can even think that Iron Chef USA can even compete on the same level
as the original...
Myself, I wanted to see a crossover from South Park and have Iron Chef... Chef. I can see it now:
Chef: "And for my first dish I have... Salisbury Steak with Vegetable Medley"
Commentator, "Wow, I've never seen Salisbury Steak made with dungeness crab before"
Chef: "And I'm finishing it off with Salty Chocolate Balls. And let me tell you kids what all the good parts of a Sea Urchin are"
They obviously went for camp. I mean, the the Idea of "American cuisine" has only begun to be specable in recent years.
There is, for example. this guy, who claims to be Iron Chef Kentucky:
http://jeffholland.tripod.com/food.html
Worth checking out on his own. - - Some of the recipes are truly scary.
Kentucky Bourbon Deviled Crab
Bacon-Burger-Fried Okra
Chocolate Steak
Survival Biscuit Casserole
Bubblegum Sauce
and there's more!
And I wonder if the chairman in the original Iron Chef was the Japanes equivalent of William Shantner from an earlier Japanese TV show
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Theguy from the SF Chronicle is totally clueless!
He obviously has no clue whatsoever about Iron Chef.
Chill guy! Take a few bong hits and mellow out! Jeez.....
Todd English is probably the best known chef in Boston (now that Julia Child moved to California), where he's opened quite a few very popular restaurants, including Figs, Olives, and KingFish Hall.
In the past few years, he's been spreading his restaurants to New York and DC...
His restaurants varies from high-end pizza joints, and others dip into "fusion". (ugh.) He definitely makes some interesting stuff, though..
A season? No, Ready-Set-Cook (US) lasted 4+ 'production cycles.' The first two or three seasons had people bring in 10USD worth of any food they wanted, and that admittedly was far superior to a theme ingredient. The first season even showed the recipes at the end of the show and had a different host. The last two seasons or so led to the introduction of a 'theme ingredient' and a significant change in the set, as well as a reduction in time from 20 to 18 minutes. In any case, each team had one real chef and one contestant.
People are droning on and on about how CAMPY this American show will be. Hello! The CAMP makes the fucking show! Chairman Kaga is at least as campy as William Shatner. And if they have Miss Cleo, Jennifer Lopez, Ted Koppel, and some crank from a newspaper restaurant review column judging the dishes, it won't be all that different from Iron Chef in Japan!
And good god man, do you think Iron Chef is taken seriously??
That show was the funniest thing I have seen in months (mind you, I don't get you much, and I used to watch the Japanese version on FoodTV religiously), but the American twist on this Japanese crackpipe had me rolling on the floor during the opening credits. The other interesting thing I noticed about the show was the amazing ego battle between the two competitors. They threw in these preshow interviews and clips of the chefs and these guys were real jerk-offs. It was the funniest thing to watch them puff up thier heads and try to cook at the same time. Plus the announcers were complete joe-sixpack morons (at least one of them kept quipping with things like "I sure to love me some crab legs"). I couldn't stop watching until the end and I actually felt like these two buffoons were serious about this competition. And then there was Shatner, the man, the myth, the legend. He has really mellowed since his hissy fits about being typecast in sci-fi for the rest of his career, and only being famous for his role as the Kirkster. His interview on Conan O'Brian earlier this week was one of the funniest displays of someone purposely trying to make as big a fool of himself as possible and succeeding better than anyone. He does not take himself seriously anymore. Someone must have slipped him some SOMA or something because he has become one of the coolest Hollywoods personalities out there. I sure hope this gets through at least one season so I can record them all on my Tivo and rip them to DVD. Man, talk about classic comedy.
Don't Ask Questions. I don't know the answers and even if I did I wouldn't tell you.
Well, we are at the halfway point of the show here... And I find it hard to believe just how *badly* this show is done. The 'special effects' detract from the flow of the show as does the idiot bimbo commentator. The whole thing is aimed at the WWF crowd, the lowest common denominator. *Everybody* involved in th show, Shatner, the commentators, the 'Iron' chef's and the challenger are from the the second or third tier.
The good points:
The two chefs really kind of got into it.
Shatner's natural cheeziness is perfect for this sort of production.
I thought the audience screaming, cheering, and holding up signs like it was a SmackDown! taping was hysterical.
The motorcycle entrance.
The suckitude:
Lame secret ingredient.
The announcers absolutely blew goats. Big-time.
Way too much computer graphics to distract from the action.
And not enough attention was paid to the food itself - the sheer exoticness and detail is one of the key things that makes the original Iron Chef so cool.
There's a fine line between the kind of cheeziness that comes from good intent and earnestness, and the kind that comes from a calculated effort to be cheese. Iron Chef (classic) is the former kind - the US version, while watchable, is more like the latter. I'll watch the second one, but I'm not sure I'd watch it regularly if it became an ongoing series.
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
For those that did not see it: dungeness crab. Iron Chef American won (unsurprisingly, for the pilot).
Not too bad an adaptation, IMO, though there was showboating by both sides - more from the Iron Chef than his opponent. A little excessive explanation of the rules, though that can perhaps be forgiven for the pilot. Even the commentators got involved at one point (Chairman Shatner was tasting some caviar, the commentators made a quip about getting some themselves, and the Iron Chef obliged, tossing it up to them).
Overall: it could have been a little more faithful to the original - but at the risk of being nothing more than a clone/ripoff. They had fun with it, and it showed. If they can keep that up, they may well have enough audience for at least a few seasons' run.
I didn't like it either. But though I had higher hopes, I'm not really surprised either. This is a familiar experience to anyone who's ever fallen in love with something from abroad only to see the American remake pale so badly in comparison.
The problem is that American producers are in love with their set pieces...the hosts, the sets, the gimmicks, the gadgets...all the superficial things that you notice in the first minute you see something. These are the things that make something "cool", but not what makes them great.
The true star of the Iron Chef concept is not the chairman, it's not the ingredient, or the kitchen or even the chefs... it's the mastery of skill and the struggle to parlay every ounce of that skill into accomplishing something that seems impossible.
When I watch the Japanese version, I love hearing about the ingredients and the techniques and the kitchen stadium is cool, but what really holds the space in my heart is watching these great masters of their craft with a dozen things going at once and somehow pulling a gourmet banquet menu together as the hour ticks away... like Iron Chef Sakai redefining minute rice.
I mean, that's why we love it, right? If the chefs just did something that seems perfectly feasible like create a single course for judging, we wouldn't care as much. If they made less than gourmet meals, we wouldn't care as much. It's the skill and the struggle, in the context of passion for food, that made the fans.
For Iron Chef USA, however, it was more about the host and the kitchen and the commentators and the motorcycle..even for people who've never seen the original Iron Chef, these things get old really fast.
Another thing too... as an Asian, I think we (generalizing over Asians) like to hold esteemed people up on pedestals as "ideals" to look up and aspire to. To give us an example of greatness to aim for. On the other hand, Americans tend to prefer bringing esteemed people down off of the pedestal to be "one of us". That kind of accounts for some of the difference in tone between the two versions of Iron Chef. In Japan, the Iron Chefs are like stoic masters of their craft, models of professionalism. In the USA, I think Americans prefer their Iron Chefs more juiced up and doing antics like some cool guy or something. It's a matter of taste, of course, but possibly another reason the soup didn't taste like we thought it should.
-- John Truong
About the only thing i'd keep from that show is the sets. Everything else was just awful. 45 minute "clap" track, annyoying commentators, phoney showmanship, WWF atmosphere, celebrity judges (a.k.a. hollywood squares rejects)... the list goes on and on. What an insult to the original, heaven forbid Amercian TV tries to go the classy route when remaking something.
0. Sissy Biggers
This is reason enough for me not to watch.
Sissy:
"Hey, Todd, what are you putting in that pot?"
Todd (clearly distracted from cooking):
"I'm putting tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar & crab in this pot."
Sissy:
"Todd says he's putting tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar & crab in the pot."
Commentator:
"Thanks Sissy. Do you think it's some kind of a sauce?"
Sissy:
"Yes, I think it's some kind of a sauce."
Commentator 1: "What is balsamic vinegar?"
Commentator 2: "It's a special type of vinegar that comes from Italy."
Commentator 1: "Oh."
Commentator 2: "Wow, look at Todd light those sparklers!"
Sissy: "Hey guys, Todd is now lighting some sparklers!"
and it continues to plod on and on like this..
unbelieveable.
The show was awful. The music was to loud. The announcers don't know anything about food. That fat guy from Hollywood Squares is scary. (Why is he a celebrity anyways?) The crowd cheering constantly for an hour was annoying. They had too many interviews where the chefs spew out BS and not enough coverage of the ingredients and the cooking. I'll stick to the food network's version.
"FUKUI-SAN!"
I think I just got misdirected to fooddot.org
I really hate Dan Patrick.
But in a matter of 9-12 months the fad passed and as more and more McDonalds opened, people in Mexico started to realize they were fooled.
The food is just as bad as any other McDonalds, but the "newness" and the "Americanness" of the place fooled everybody into trying it.
Nowadays, McDonalds and Burger King are locked into a price war and each offering "Mexican" versions of their burgers (dont even ask!), to try and attract more people into them...
No sig for the moment.
WRONG. They should've gone with San Franciscan chef Ron Siegel. He already bested Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai! He could proabaly beat the pants off of this fuck.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
My main objection is that the judging does not seem to really care whether the chefs stuck to the theme ingredient, but rather they go more for the 'um, yummy' factor; what little sincerity shows in the Jap version is entirely lost in the USA one. I also like the Jap food expert commentary better.
One highlight: the announcers calling for a slow-mo replay of Brande Roderick chomping on a food sample... yep, it's definitely a UPN show...
I'd have a personalized plate on my car, but "toxic bachelor" won't fit into 7 letters.
What made the original a success:
1. Token 14yr old Japaneese actress.
2. Godzilla could storm in at any moment.
3. Chairman eats a bell pepper follwed by drueling.
Someone you trust is one of us.
Forget about Iron Chef. Did anyone see those crazy creatures in "Justice League"?
Is Wonder Woman and A-1 stone fox in show or what?
The system has failed you, don't fail yourself. --Billy Bragg