I give: What's "IOW"?

I do like Hell's Kitchen, a lot.

All reality competitions have an edited story line and a lot that goes on off camera, with whole other stories that actually happened but aren't as useful to the main story arc that aren't shown. They may have retakes on things that are important to the game when the shots get ruined, but those are basically, "Taste that again", and stuff like that. The reason these things work is that once the cast get to know the crew and they've been shooting a few days, or even hours, the cast gets used to the presence of the cameras, crew, cables, and all the rest, and just kind of ignore them. They actually forget they're there, even when they have appointments to sit with a producer asking them snarky questions one on one (you only see the responses, not the producer or questions) to provide commentary and to stir up trouble.

Basically, though, they don't actually script off camera. They tell them, and may even rehearse them, on where to line up, maybe what the structure of the occasion is (made up example, "Contestant X will take your covered dish to the tasting table."), but the manipulation is mostly through editing.

I don't think there's actually anything pre-ordained. If nothing else, that would be illegal because this is a contest with prizes. In the editing, they often telegraph where the story is going, but that's part of putting together a good story by choosing the clips and angles that pull the viewer into the particular episode.

Because I'm doing computer work at home all day, I tend to run the TV for company and love these kinds of shows because they're undemanding of my attention except for the approximately five minutes when something actually happens.

I totally agree that Gordon Ramsay is entertaining. He is a former soccer player and a very highly respected chef. He gained a reputation in England for being good TV by participating in shows where they needed a great chef, became a star and started doing a lot of shows both there and here. What you're seeing in Season 5 of Hell's Kitchen is the character he plays on TV. Foul mouthed, demanding, verbally abusive in a drill sergeant way, etc. Occasionally you'll get glimpses of him being a normal, caring, gentleman, which I'd guess is his at home self. I promise I won't give you rank spoilers, but I will tell you that, just as with drill sergeants and recruits, Ramsay gets the best out of the contestants. They learn a hell of a lot in Hell's Kitchen. But they don't get coddled.

Reasons why I respect Gordon Ramsay? He believes that the point of what they're doing is to please the customers with the food, and he demands that they produce dishes that are cooked properly, including to the amount of doneness requested. I can't tell you how angry hoity-toity chefs make me when they go on TV and insist that they know better than diners how they'd like to eat their meat. Ramsay demands immaculate kitchens and correct food handling. He demands that things be done right. He respects a good hamburger as much as a good quail's egg. And he will give compliments freely where they're due.

IOW = in other words

Thanks for that information!! That really does explain some of the stuff. I don't know if you remember what happens in season 5, and I hope I'm not ruining this for anyone who hasn't watched, but in episode 3, Ji sprains her ankle. She bravely participates in the evening's service anyway. At the end, the red team loses and has to pick two candidates to be kicked out. When Chef Ramsay is JUST about to say which one goes home, Ji raises her hand and volunteers to go based on her injury.

And that's what I mean by pre-ordained. I just figured that the docs looked and her ankle and said, no way, and then they staged the dramatic moment where she volunteers.

And yes... you can actually catch glimpses of Ramsay being a "normal" guy, both in this show and in the Kitchen Nightmares shows. So I figured his persona was mostly "put on" for the cameras. And I agree too that it shows that he cares about the right stuff. In Kitchen Nightmares, he really does turn these restaurants around. Yeah, he yells and curses a lot and even gets some people fired (deservedly so). But he also gives LOTS of constructive guidance and really seems to care if these restaurants make it.

I've watched his shows a little bit, but just can't stand him any more. I much prefer Top Chef and Top Chef Masters. The last season of Top Chef was the best ever, and Top Chef Masters is quite good, also. On that show, the Chefs are actual professionals, and behave accordingly.

DS worked with a chef that tried out for Hell's Kitchen. He didn't make it because he was too good of a chef.

Sally

Hm... Yeah, that thing with Ji resigning might have been been staged. They do have obvious down time between cleaning the kitchen and the eliminations, and she could have told a producer that she was done then, and been told to save it for elimination ritual. That sounds most likely from what I understand of how these things are shot, though it could have been as contrived as it appeared to you. The contestants are generally told how the TV show bit works, so she might also have just figured that the time to make her announcement was then. It's highly unlikely that she dind't decide until the line-up, so she would have gone in knowing that she had a piece to say whether or not anyone else knew, and whether it was discussed, staged, etc. It definitely could have been the producers declaring that their doctors or lawyers didn't want her to continue and telling her when and how to announce it.

What I don't think is staged is the actual cooking, tasting, judging, or even the crazy arguments where they go off on each other. (Not a spoiler--they're kept in that building for the duration and have very little outside access. Reality shows do this so that people have no choice but to talk to each other, get on each other's nerves, etc., and have no down time, love (family support), or any other way of reorienting themselves and recharging. They also work them fast and hard, no matter the show, partly because the compressed shooting schedule costs less, but partly because tired people are less even tempered and therefore more dramatic and interesting.)

As Sally alluded to, Top Chef Masters has a bunch of very successful, professional chefs, who tend to be mature and respect each other. They're not as isolated as on some other shows, and are well fed and well rested. There's very little drama. They help each other out, and share ingredients. They aren't there to play a game. They're there to challenge themselves, do their best, and win some money for a cause close to their hearts. And the outcome is more interesting because they all, by and large, do brilliantly. They have very experienced judges because the kind of nuance that they use to differentiate who did better is lost on a lot of the public. They have a group of "public" diners who also give a rating, but that's on the yummy factor. They don't score challenging and exotic very high, and don't score mistakes that don't make the food taste bad very low. And the chefs are shown having a convivial good time with each other, and enjoying each other's company, rather than scheming and clawing their way past the others. Love that show.

Yeah, that makes sense. Like I said, I've never watched a reality show before. I actually don't watch any television at all, haven't in years. I'm one of those crazy weirdos you only read about in horror stories that doesn't have cable! LOL So all of this is new to me.

What I really wanted to watch was just plain ol' cooking shows like Paula Deen and Rachel Ray and the like. Trouble is, hulu has a bunch of clips - 2 to 5 minute segments where they cook one thing. I was hunting for full shows. There are SOME full shows on there but not as many as I'd like. So, that's how I got caught up with Gordon Ramsay's series.

I will definitely check out Top Chef Masters. In addition to Hulu I plan to explore the Food Network site to see if they have any complete shows I can watch.

Cooking shows and old movies are the two things that would keep me glued in front of the TV if I did have cable!

LOL!! I don't think you're weird. I know plenty of people who don't have a TV at all, but if there's reception I don't think that's a good idea during tumult and emergencies. The TV does a better job of covering wild fires, for instance, which is a concern here. I think some of them might be inveterate couch potatoes who need to have no TV because they don't know how to turn it off. Like the guy who wrote an article some years ago about "simplicity" where he got rid of his home and all his stuff and moved out of communications range. We were laughing here because it's really not that hard to simplify at home. Get rid of stuff you don't want or need. Don't buy new stuff. Turn off the TV. Stop answering the phone. Stay off the 'net. Walk everywhere. You can do that in the middle of the big city. But you have to be able to say no.

Usually if Hulu only has clips the full show isn't available on the network's site. Food Network makes up those clips for things like phone apps, airport lounges and checkout counter entertainment. There are sites that claim to have full episodes that are just come ons for bad stuff. PBS has some cooking shows and I think they have full episodes online...though you probably get those on broadcast. Netflix has ones that have been put out on DVD, some of them on streaming video.

I do enjoy a lot of these contest shows as company while I'm working (I can't tune out music), but I rarely learn anything about cooking or whatever from them, even if I do pay attention. They're more about the people than what they're doing.

Yeah, I'm not that extreme. Just that when my kids were young and I was a single mom, I didn't want to get caught up in the routine of sitting in front of the TV night after night. I also found it addictive in a bad way. If I missed a show that I really liked, I'd get a stomach ache!! Ugh!

So, I just turned the TV off. I did watch movies on vhs at that time. But no network TV. Made readers out of my kids since that was the best evening's entertainment! And once I got out of the TV habit, I just never had the hankering to go back. Every once in a while I do turn it on for some reason and after watching 5 minutes of what I consider to be inane shows or ridiculous commercials I remember why I don't watch.

Good to know regarding the clips vs full episodes. I have watched no cooking shows at all, and in fact I was curious as to what some of these people sounded like! So... I'll probably watch whatever - it'll take me forever to catch up anyway because I don't have all that much time to watch.

I agree that there is nothing at all to be learned from the cooking contest shows. But DANG they are entertaining. Maybe mostly because I've never seen them before so it's all new to me. Which gets me to wondering how long it will remain interesting. I watched another episode last night and vaguely started thinking that it's the same thing every time. I do wanna see who wins though! LOL