Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong was half fun, half terrible

    by Bob Sassone, posted Dec 16th 2009 12:29PM
    Email This Print
    Gordon RamsayThis was not what I was expecting.

    I don't think I've ever been as confused by a TV show while I was actually watching it. Maybe because Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong was live or maybe it was because Chef Gordon Ramsay had to move at such a frantic pace to get everything done in an hour.

    Whatever the reason, I found myself hating the show at first, then kinda liking it, then hating, then liking it, then finding it a little stupid, and then kinda liking it. On a scale of 1 to 10, which 1 being "I hated it" and 10 being "I loved it," I'll give it a 5.

    How's that for a politician-like decision?

    But as I said, it wasn't what I was expecting. I thought regular people were going to come on stage and Ramsay was going to teach them how to cook. But it wasn't that. Instead, we got celebrities like Alyson Hannigan, LeeAnn Rimes, and Cedric The Entertainer cooking along with the frantic Ramsay (which I'm now trademarking as the name of a new dance I'll invent).

    And while that gave us the only real fun of the night, with Cedric getting off some good quips and Hannigan almost burning her hair off when they poured alcohol into the pan), I was expecting ordinary folks getting help from Ramsay. I was wondering if he would try to teach these ordinary folks how to cook and get frustrated and FOX would have to bleep him, but this was celebs so the whole night was more relaxed. Not that Ramsay would have sworn. This was the kinder, gentler Ramsay, not the guy who barks on Hell's Kitchen.

    Though I did notice that the sound on the show dropped off for several seconds twice in the first half of the show. Was that because of something that was said or a tech glitch on my end?

    As for the cooking, I don't know if anyone at home really learned anything. I was getting antsy just listening to Ramsay talk really fast and with a higher-pitched voice than usual. Sure, he had people cooking via Skype (I think he had someone cooking in every state in the union), but there was very little interaction beyond Ramsay looking at the food on the screen and yelling "Alabama!" and "Missouri!" He did focus on two women whose husbands were in the military, but we also got Whoopi Goldberg and her daughter cooking via Skype and that was one celebrity too many.

    So the show has potential as a once-in-a-while special with different celebrities (and let's get regular citizens in the mix next time). Last night's show could have acted as a good drinking game though. Every time Ramsay said "amazing!" you'd have to take a drink. You would have been drunk very, very early.

    Link Squad

    Comments

    Follow Us

    TV Squad Hot Topics

    All Categories | All Tags | All Shows

    Meet the Editors

    See All Editors

    From Our Partners