“Hell’s Kitchen” Review

If a relaxing evening after a hard day’s work is what you are after, then Hell’s Kitchen is not the show to watch on Tuesday nights. However, if watching 16 wannabe chefs get ripped up by head chef Gordon Ramsay, then it’s definitely worth checking out.

Season 6 of Hell’s Kitchen premieres July 21 on FOX and promises to bring pain, tears and of course the yelling and screaming that audiences have come to expect from Ramsay.

The contestants are competing for a head chef position at a well-known restaurant in Whistler, Canada. There are the stereotypical contestants so arrogant and with such big egos that it’s a wonder how anyone else can even fit in the same kitchen, but there are also the loveable contestants viewers will inevitably support.

The show opens as the new contestants arrive at Hell’s Kitchen. They are introduced to Chef Ramsay and are quickly put into two groups. Each week contestants will face different challenges and serve real customers in the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant. The team that does worse will choose two members, one who Ramsay will send home.

In the first challenge, Ramsay makes the new contestants each prepare their signature dishes. The 16 competitors, who range from sous chefs to diner owners, think they are bringing their A-game, but Ramsay quickly puts them in their place.

Opening night in the restaurant is a disaster ― which is expected for the first episode. Highlights include a ditzy woman mistaking a freezer for a refrigerator, which ruins all the salmon, and another woman having to re-cook pasta eight times.

The anxiety and stress jump out of the TV screen as Ramsay turns these cooks into babbling idiots who can’t even cook pasta.

Tensions intensify as early conflicts arise between the contestants and between Ramsay and a certain hot-blooded ex-military man.

Although one can’t help but scratch one’s head and wonder what the producers were thinking when they chose contestants for the show, watching the show is about sitting back and enjoying the constant verbal abuse Ramsay dishes out. Besides, the produces know that, like most reality shows, the crazy people are what make it fun to watch. One contestant even describes himself as “a beer drinker with a sophisticated palate.”

With enough bleeps to rival a Jerry Springer show, Hell’s Kitchen is similar to other shows on FOX ― It is a guilty pleasure you can’t help but get sucked into.
Drama, suspense, humor and shock, along with other special surprises, are in store for the season 6 premiere. It’s worth a watch on Tuesday, July 21, to get the real flavor of Hell’s Kitchen.

― Jillian Fredenhagen

Students among ‘Model’ hopefuls

Girls lined up outside the RITZ Ybor to try out for Cycle 14 of ANTM. ORACLE PHOTO/FERDIE GARCIA

Taking a semester off school for a game show might seem ludicrous to some students, but for model hopefuls, it is only one step closer to realizing a dream.

An open casting call for Cycle 14 of the popular TV show America’s Next Top Model were held in Tampa at the RITZ Ybor on Wednesday, drawing 18- to 27-year-old girls 5’7” and taller from Tampa and the surrounding area.

College students and Tampa residents alike have competed on the show in the past.

Alysa Miller, a freshman majoring in biomedical science, was one USF student who attended the casting call.

“(I am) so excited to finally be 18 and try out for the show,” she said.

She was among an estimated 1,500-2,000 girls at the casting call, according to a worker at the event.

Shana Hoyt, a hopeful from St. Petersburg, said she was ecstatic to be at the audition.

“It’s a long process, but it’s all worth it in the end,” she said.

Sarah Callahan, from Fort Lauderdale, said she was “energized, pumped and ready to go” while waiting a line that wrapped around the building.

Contestants were required to bring a completed application and three photos to the event, where they waited in line to speak with judges.

“Its so crazy — so many people of different shapes and sizes,” said Alex Dumrauf from Clearwater.

— Reporting and photos by Ferdie Garcia

— Hannah Feig

“Glee” review

Glee, a new Fox television show, is about opening up to joy

Fox’s new comedy musical series from Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy, Glee follows Spanish teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) as he tries to improve the high school’s show choir and take them to Nationals. Schuester has his work cut out for him because the glee club hasn’t won a competition since 1993, and it has deteriorated into a haven for musical misfits.

The show takes place in present-day Ohio and reflects the current economic times as the school is hit with budget cuts. After the glee club teacher is laid off, Schuester volunteers to take over the task to help inspire the students. The glee club is made up of talented school outcasts: a fast-talking street chic diva, a nerd with retro fashion sense, an alternative punk, a snorting dork in a wheelchair and a celebrity wannabe with big dreams and an even bigger voice.

The show focuses on high school cliques and even goes as far as describing high school as a “caste system.” Glee club is for the losers — the talented, popular kids would never be caught dead joining. Will knows he needs some fresh talent to get the team to nationals, so he blackmails the school’s star quarterback into joining, hoping that if a few popular kids join, more will follow.

A quirky cast of teachers, including 40 Year Old Virgin actress Jane Lynch as a feisty cheerleading coach, and a lot of drama in the story line will appease adults. The humor is meant to be more about character interactions, so don’t expect the same comedic timing and quick wit found in Nip/Tuck.

The series is being marketed as a family show but will probably be most successful in the tween market where the High School Musical craze hit the hardest. The series will differ from typical musicals or the High School Musical fad because the students never randomly burst into song and dance. Each musical number is written into the story line as a rehearsal or a performance.

The series features songs popular today as well as golden oldies from every genre — with a pop twist. The cast is made up of a talented group of actors who also sing and dance. The musical numbers are entertaining and watchers will find themselves singing and bopping along.

The series will ultimately focus on the underdog show choir and how they battle their way to the top. The show poses a strong message of following dreams and respect for the kids who are different. Popularity of the show will depend on whether a market saturated by High School Musical sequels has room for a show choir full of misfits in prime time.

Sing along when Glee premiers Tuesday, May 19, at 9pm.

Amanda Moore

Leverage Review

It’s a bank job, only slightly funnier. Leverage, a new series due to premiere December 7th on TNT, is adding a playful air to the often over dramatized story arcs of shows and films about pulling off multimillion dollar heists.

The show stars seasoned, yet rarely recognized, big-screen vet Timothy Hutton as Nate Ford, an insurance investigator turned criminal mastermind. Ford assembles a team of 3 of the world’s greatest thieves to partner up and rule the criminal underground.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

The storyline is overused, yes, but Leverage diverges from the genres ultra-macho, nothing but business predecessors by adding a flare of comedy. Leverage’s tone isn’t like the tough guy sarcasm of Reservoir Dogs or the debonair antics of the Ocean’s flicks. Rather, the show is more reminiscent of the playful and goofy yucks of USA’s Monk… only not as smart.

Leverage’s comedy focuses on the ridiculous. But this isn’t John Ritter slap-stick ridiculous. It’s more like the over the top “why am I still watching this” kind of ridiculous. That’s not to say Leverage’s story isn’t intriguing though.

Leverage is an entertaining show, but all the new elements it’s bringing to television are less than spectacular and forgettable. Leverage offers enough to keep hold of one’s attention on a show-to-show basis, but it’s doubtful this will be on many people’s weekly Tivo schedule.

Leverage airs Sunday, December 7, at 10/9c.

24: Redemption Review

Jack Bauer is back on 24, airing this Thursday at 8 p.m.

This season of Fox’s 24 offers the same as ever: same Jack Bauer, different looming terrorist threat.

But in a show that’s known for jumping the shark with hypothetical international crises that have a less than one percent chance of even being imagined, 24 is taking on the real issues this season.

The season opener, a two-hour special titled “Redemption,” is set in the slums of Zambia where genocide is common and children are handed a gun as soon as they can lift it. Obvious parallels to the war in Uganda make this season of 24 seem even more socially relevant than previous years.

Though the show has always tried to stay up to date on global problems, it’s had a track record of distorting the real issues and perpetuating negative stereotypes of people of Middle Eastern decent. It’s made apparent this season that the only stereotypes 24 continues to promote are those of the shows protagonist Jack Bauer.

Over the past few years 24 has managed to fade into obscurity not unlike that of extreme American action show Walker Texas Ranger. Jack Bauer’s voice is raspier than ever and his heart seems just as tattered, but Kiefer Sutherland’s overacting almost seems appropriate for the role.

What matters this go around is that 24 finally has a solid storyline that is more enlightening than it is offensive. Fans of the series will love the new season and, though they may need a debriefing on old characters beforehand, new viewers should pick up on the show easier than in years past.

24: Redemption airs Thursday, November 23 at 8 p.m. The series will continue in full-swing this coming January. — Matt Ferrara