Look, you know the Gordon Ramsay style by now...let's see what he can do with The Apprentice...but it's "different"...somehow.
The hodge podge of contestants is bad enough, clearly brought in for their rage inducing qualities and maybe vague relatable personal appeal? Though that gets threadbare when the group is split up into teams and given ridiculous challenges neither utilize whatever skill set these contestants have or feel like they reflect anything applicable to running a business. We're still trying to pretend, in the current year, that you can manufacture something viral...and that its level of virality can then be judged? The complete boomer understanding of something like the TikTok challenge is a pretty good encapsulation of this shows ability to reach to a novel concept, but ruin it in execution.
The show needs to be retooled and really lean into the fact that it's a shameless The Apprentice knockoff. Let's continue to act as though Ramsay is a God King with increasingly crazier stunts, but add a couple of advisors...maybe a crusty old restaurantuer and one of Ramsay's fail children...to at least provide a veneer of "youth understanding of the world's ways".
The biggest problem of season one is that a lot of strong contestants stood up early to be team leaders and then were summarily destroyed by their lesser teammates. This happened so much that by the end of the show you clearly have a winner...and a bunch of talentless chaff hanging about. The Apprentice got like that at times, but usually the producers would milk the drama llamas JUST enough...then let them go. Not Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars... apparently Caroline's dad is his golf buddy or something because inextricably she has somehow survived the ENTIRE SEASON...having (to my anecdotal remembering) not once led any team challenge and predominantly being the cause of her teams demise in challenges. When the contestants' gameplay is so glaringly obvious (do poorly in challenge, immediately find someone to throw under the bus during hot seat segments) to the viewer, who is watching an edited version of the events, it leads to a very boring watch. At least Ramsay keeps The Apprentice vibe in check, seemingly not worrying himself with contestants previous challenges success and continuing to float turds to the next round.
Not to be outdone by the awfulness of the first season, season bolts on another couple of elements from other shows: Shark Tank and Ramsay's own Next Level Chef...with the latter kind of leaning more towards my suggestion of just ripping off The Apprentice in the addition of Lisa Vanderpump, a supposed magnate of the food and wine industry?
I would say Vanderpump's addition is indeed a plus. Sadly, the banter between her and Ramsay is forced and filled with childish insults. Her rampant Bravo Housewives shenanigans (read alcoholism) in challenges is also of note, considering that in the wine challenge she was overly effusive with her brand of assistance. I would personally consider that cheating, but it makes the hellish slog that is this show at least somewhat entertaining.
What does become starkly clear as the season progresses is that Ramsay's team...to a person...is woeful compared to Vanderpump's. It seems as though Ramsay was only interested in the brands his team was representing and nothing else. Never noting with any seriousness that several members of his team were abysmal in pitching or speaking in front of people....which seems to be like 80% of the show.
The challenges themselves are the same tired nonsense from The Apprentice...and last season...wherein not a single one really taps into the contestants strengths. The Mars Attacks episode is worth a mention here as the teams were apparently not made aware of the candy laws in the ol U. K. and that they couldn't market to children. This leads to a gloriously entertaining pivot fail. The cherry on top being one of the contestants labels themselves a "nutritionist" and rubber stamps a candy bar absolutely riddled with sugar! 80% worth!!!
This is by far the worst Gordon Ramsay joint by far. Yet it remains watchable due to the contestants that think way too highly of themselves and their abilities to do a business. I am not surprised by their inability to tackle any of this shows challenges due to their own failings as anything remotely relatable to running a company, even in the abstract.
Hopefully season three will bolt on yet another host and a surprise other show element to keep this Frankenstein's monster of a "show" on the air.
