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Worst TV Show of the Week

Hell’s Kitchen on Fox

Gordon Ramsay returns for another heaping helping of profanity in the sixth installment of Hell’s Kitchen (Tuesday, 8:00 p.m.). There is certainly no other cooking-related show on television today as profane as this one … except perhaps Gordon’s other offering, Kitchen Nightmares. While Ramsay’s impeccable cooking and high service standards have garnered him numerous culinary awards, his foul-mouth and cruelty have earned the July 21st two-hour season premiere of Hell’s Kitchen the title of Worst TV Show of the Week.

Within the first twelve minutes of the broadcast alone, Ramsay and his cast of uncouth chefs managed to rack up twenty-five bleeped expletives. Phrases like, “The chicken is pinker than your [bleeped 'f***ing'] lipstick…Get out, you [bleeped 'f***ing'] donkey…There’s no excuse for [bleeped 'f***ing'] undercooked vegetables,” escaped Ramsay’s lips at an average rate of one curse word every 28 seconds. Again, it cannot be stressed enough that this happened before the first commercial break of a two-hour special! By the end of the night, a whopping 146 bleeped expletives aired, mostly bleeped "f-words" which occurred 111 times!

There are two especially troubling aspects of the new season of Hell’s Kitchen. First, Fox has inexplicably moved the show from its normal 9:00 p.m. timeslot to 8:00 p.m. In the Central time zone, it airs as early as 7:00 p.m. This move is more alarming given the fact that this show, consistently rated TV-14, L for foul language, now precedes the new dating reality series, More to Love, which is rated TV-PG, D,L. Thus, Fox has willfully opted to air the more offensive show when it knows more families will be watching.

The second troubling aspect (and perhaps the more pernicious one) is the fact that the contestants seem increasingly willing to match Ramsay’s vulgarity and crudeness. The two-hour premiere ended in a cliff-hanger in which Joseph – a bellicose ex-Marine – rips off his jacket and challenges Ramsay to a fight in the parking lot. Sadly, this was actually the third incident that almost ended in violence. Van – another chef with an uncontrollable temper – nearly exchanges blows with the maitre d’ and another contestant on two separate occasions. On the female side, Tennille also challenges Ramsay’s authority when a preview of her screaming match with him is shown.

Apparently, the chickens aren’t just undercooked; they are also coming home to roost. What did Ramsay expect given that fact that he has based his television persona on the backs of four-letter words? What is he really teaching these young chefs? Since the menu on the show never changes, he isn’t teaching them recipes. Instead, he’s encouraging them and the viewers at home to be … forgive the pun … foul.

For a constant barrage profanity and for promoting barbaric behavior the season premiere of Hell’s Kitchen rightly deserves the title of Worst TV Show of the Week.