Hell's Kitchen

I hadn't seen the show since the beginning. For me, they've always had professional chefs & cooks competing. Watching season 1, I see that it didn't start out that way. They had a mix of home cooks & very few pros. Then he throws them into a restaurant kitchen to disastrous results.

This probably gave Chef Ramsey the idea to start Master Chef, a competition for home cooks, and made Hell's Kitchen a competition for pros.

Two teams compete for an ultimate prize, but this isn't "Survivor" or "The Apprentice".

The prize is a restaurant for the winner to operate. And Chef Ramsay isn't a mere host like Jeff Probst, nor a hands-off boss like Donald Trump. He's with the contestants all evening, as they attempt to operate their restaurant, "Hell's Kitchen". He serves as the order co-coordinator, with final say on whether dishes are presentable. And if one dish in an order isn't acceptable, back the whole order goes. He grating and foul-mouthed, and almost brings the contestants to tears. He's more drill instructor than chef at times, berating those who aren't performing well. Customers aren't immune to Ramsay's temper; he'll yell and curse at patrons who dare to "speak to the chef".

You feel so bad for those getting the brunt of Ramsay's wrath; you want to look away, but you can't. It's an interesting twist to the elimination-style "reality" show.

We've been watching this show for years and find the contestants get worse and worse and worse. Where do they find them and how in the world do they think they could possibly run a quality restaurant. The women are actually worse than the men when it comes to fighting, yelling, swearing and basically being as TRASHY as is humanly possible. We are almost to the point of not watching ANY Gordon Ramsey show. Gloria

This is not a creative cooking contest. It's not supposed to be. If you want a show where the chefs get to display their culinary ingenuity, hit up Top Chef or Iron Chef, etc. That being said, this is a great show if you take it as is: it's about people getting yelled at by Chef Ramsay for not working and cooking his way. The chefs are not there show that they have their own style of doing things, but to prove they can survive the stress of working in one of Ramsay's kitchens.

I'm a fan of both Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen. When I want to see innovative new dishes and salivate over the deliciousness on the TV screen, I watch Top Chef. When I want to watch people get yelled at (and live vicariously through Chef Ramsay because who wouldn't want to get paid to yell at people for doing dumb things? C'mon, admit it, there are people you work with who you'd love to yell at...), I watch Hell's Kitchen.

Enjoy it for what it is. Don't bash it for not being something else.

I hate reality shows. Always have and I probably always will. Hated Survivor since the 1st 5 seconds I watched of it. Came off as corny. Was forced to watch it again because my friends were addicts of it and that didn't change my opinion of it. The FOX goes and makes 20 of these every season. Remember Murder in Small town X or ever it was called? Cancelled after what, 2 episodes. Point is, the reality show is over done, specially the reality game show.

This said, I liked Hell's Kitchen. For once the contestants are involved with something that the viewers can relate to, working in a hot kitchen with a boss yelling down at us every chance he gets. The "we can relate" factor is very high in this show.

And Ramsey may be an jerk in the kitchen, but i get a little smile every time a customer is yelled at by him. It can warm the heart of anyone one that has had to deal with customers in a restaurant or retail job.