Iron Chef USA: Showdown in Las Vegas

The original Iron Chef was a great thing to behold, both because of the competition and the intertwining of Japanese culture. In the original "Iron Chef" two chefs - usually Japanese - would compete using the main ingredient specified by the eccentric gourmet authority Chairman Kaga. Kaga was a warlord-like character that had specially constructed a cooking arena called "Kitchen Stadium" in his castle where visiting chefs would compete against his Gourmet Academy, led by his several master Iron Chefs. Chairman Kaga himself was a showpiece in flamboyant, heavily decorated coats and jackets. The show had a campy charm that evoked memories of the English-dubbed kung fu movies of the 1970s.

Iron Chef USA is entirely too....American. In typical us-versus-them fashion (Note- everyone who is not "me" is "them") competitors will stoop to anything. The judges seem more like competitors in "The Hollywood Squares" game show of yesteryear than the dignified characters of the original Iron Chef. The Japanese judges would do anything to keep the competitors from losing face in the original, and it was quite comical to see them wrinkle up their faces and try to find something to complement about dishes they obviously found hard to swallow. Making fun of the dishes seems to be the point for the judges in the U.S. version.

In short, skip this entry and hold out for the original "Iron Chef" to come out on DVD some day. It was truly a unique and fun show.

Iron Chef USA: Showdown in Las Vegas * Star

This lifeless cooking shootout is about as dumb as a wastebasket, Bruce Vilanch is wasted as the master of ceremonies, who with chefs battle against each other, Despite it's cool title and cooking showdown and the set looks great, the show is a mishmash of ridiculous, hey if you thought emeril's tv show lost it's power, this special may also lose it's power.

Be warned. William Shatner does NOT know how to run Iron Chef shows. This is "Iron Chef USA." The real show to watch (American version) is "Iron Chef America!" Still, the Japanese "Iron Chef" beats them both with little effort. The real Iron Chefs are Chen Kenichi, Hiroyuki Sakai, Masaharu Morimoto, Masahiko Kobe, and Komei Nakamura. When I saw "Iron Chef America", I thought the show could use an Iron Chef Chinese in Ming Tsai. I just love how he prepared the duck dishes. I think he should become Iron Chef Chinese in "Iron Chef America." I also agree with Bobby Flay's comment that cooking can become an athletic sport and it should be on ESPN2. I hope that "Iron Chef America" can serve to make people forget the atrocities of "Iron Chef USA", which is NOT the same as "Iron Chef America." Also, "Iron Chef America" should let Morimoto speak English.

I adored the Japanese version of "Iron Chef" and have watched every episode they aired in America. So, when I heard that production wrapped up, I was saddened...no more Chairman Kaga and no more Iron Chefs! However, soon after, there was an announcement that the show would be coming to America with a new cast and new Kitchen Stadium. I was excited. Then, sadly, it turned out that they tossed aside all the good elements of the original show and substituted it was an almost "Jerry Springer" and "Gong Show" atmosphere. Gone was the pageantry, subtlety and charm.

The single worst thing about the new show was that the chefs were no longer men you could admire and love. Kinichi, Sakai, Nokamura and the rest seemed like really nice people--skilled, yet honorable and humble. Now, in this bastardized version from America, the chefs were combination mega-celebrities AND GQ cover models. The worst of these was Todd English (who starred in this premier show). He seemed more like the wrestler Gorgeous George coming into the arena than a real honest-to-goodness chef. In the process, he came off as very obnoxious, self-assured and arrogant...and quite pretty. Because of his boorish antics (such as tossing food into the audience and prancing), I swore I'd never eat at one of his restaurants and I never will. I saw him recently on QVC or HSN and think that this is more fitting for his "talents". No one cooks THAT good that it's worth putting up with all this phony image that the show's producers no doubt convinced English to adopt.

The fact that English was so obnoxious was fortunate for the new chairman, William Shatner (who thought of Shatner!?!). While his performance was stupid, English so overshadowed Shatner that his wooden and dopey performance could be overlooked...a bit. Another problem is that when Americans watch the Japanese shows, they have no idea who Chairman Kaga is--and so it makes the idea of a real kitchen stadium seem almost possible. Most Americans don't know that Takeshi Kaga actually was a rather famous Japanese actor--famous for stage performances in plays by Andrew Lloyd Weber, TV and movies (such as the DEATH NOTE live action film). Not knowing all this actually was a plus in the States. You wanted to believe he really was the chairman of some mythic cooking arena!!

Apart from English and Shatner, the rest of the show had much more of a tacky Vega-style look to it. Too many crazy camera tricks, special effects and absolutely no charm. For fans of the original, there just wasn't anything to like. Fortunately, the Food Network version that appeared a few years later was much closer to the original. While still not nearly as good as the original, as least it did not look like a deliberate parody of the show!!

By the way, if you think I am being too rough on the show, Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle said of the show "'Iron Chef USA' an abomination". That about says it all!

Looks like I'm the only one, though.

I'm an addict of the original Japanese Iron Chef, and I never miss it. When I heard they were going to try an American version, I withheld my judgement. I heard they were getting Shatner for the Chairman, and I thought, 'This might have some potential'.

Potential it had, but the execution lacked. Shatner really seemed to be sincerely trying - if anything, his performance improved what the hack producers did to the format. I could be wrong, but it seemed like we see twice the cooking action on the Japanese show, whereas this version is peppered with annoying 'interviews' with the chefs and others that take up a lot of the time.

After reading the other user comments for this, it seemed to me that the elements of the American show they complained about were identical to the Japanese show, so I can only conclude that something about watching the show across a cultural divide that gives it its charm. People complained about the sportscasters in the booth, but Fukui-San is a baseball announcer, by trade. I don't find Shatner's overacting any less appealling than Kaga's, and their celebrities seem to be just as vapid as ours. Maybe it's in the dubbing.

I was disappointed with the show, but I wish it had been given a few more episodes to try to find its stride.