Kitchen Confidential (television series)
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Kitchen Confidential, the television series based on Anthony Bourdain's New York Times bestselling book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, is a sitcom which debuted on September 19, 2005 on the Fox network. Bradley Cooper played the Anthony Bourdain-inspired lead character, Jack Bourdain.
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[edit] History
The show's first two episodes on Fox in the U.S. did not earn strong ratings, and its run was then interrupted by Fox's coverage of the Major League Baseball playoffs. On November 11, Fox announced only 13 episodes would be produced[1]. Four days after the fourth episode aired to dismal ratings on December 5, 2005, Fox cancelled the series outright.
[edit] Airings outside the U.S.
In June 2006 the show came to Paramount Comedy 1 in the UK, which aired all 13 episodes, and the network has since been airing the show again in repeats. The series has also been aired on Seven Network in Australia around March 2006, but the thirteen episodes were aired out of order due to various Easter specials in April. In December 2006, TV3 in New Zealand started to air the show to mixed reviews but good ratings. Starting in February 2007, the show began to air on The Comedy Channel in Australia.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Season 1: 2005
| Episode # | Title | Date Aired in USA |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exile on Main Street | September 19, 2005 |
| 2 | Aftermath | September 26, 2005 |
| 3 | Dinner Date with Death | October 3, 2005 |
| 4 | French Fight | December 5, 2005 |
| 5 | You Lose, I Win | Unaired |
| 6 | Rabbit Test | Unaired |
| 7 | The Robbery | Unaired |
| 8 | Teddy Takes Off | Unaired |
| 9 | Let's Do Brunch | Unaired |
| 10 | Praise Be Praise | Unaired |
| 11 | An Affair to Remember | Unaired |
| 12 | Power Play | Unaired |
| 13 | And the Award Goes to... | Unaired |
[edit] DVD Release
| DVD Name | Image | Release Date | Ep # | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete Series |  |
May 22, 2007 | 13 | This two disc boxset includes all 13 episodes of the series, including 9 that were never aired in the USA. Bonus features include interviews from the cast and crew and a trailer. |
[edit] Trivia
The fourth episode "French Fight" guest-starred actor Michael Vartan as a chef with whom Jack and his colleagues start a feud. Vartan and Cooper had previously worked together on Alias, and paid homage to this in a character in joke whereby Bourdain says: "It's like we worked together before or something."
John Cho was originally supposed to be a regular cast member rather than a recurring character.
Oddly, the names of the characters includes two unexplained literary references: Jack's second-in-command is Stephen Dedalus, while his great rival/lover, a woman chef, is Becky Sharp.
Kitchen Confidential was nominated for an IVy award for worst cancellation; the award went to Arrested Development[1].
