September 20, 2005

TV: Kitchen Confidential

And Fox completes Monday's set of new sitcoms with this entry, based very loosely on Anthony Bourdain's memoir about life as a chef in an upscale restaurant.

It's Jack Bourdain (played by Bradley Cooper of Alias and Jack & Bobby) here, and he's hired to run the kitchen at Nolita. He's got only two days to hire a staff and put together a menu (this is not a particularly realistic look at the restaurant world). And so we rapidly assemble a team: British sous-chef Steven (Owain Yeoman), pastry chef Seth (Nicholas Brendon), insecure novice Jim (John Francis Daley), and bimbo hostess Tanya (Jaime King). Waiting for Jack to fail so she can take over is Mimi (Bonnie Somerville), the owner's daughter.

First episodes are tricky; you've got to introduce the characters, set up the premise, and tell an interesting story. This one shortchanged the characters; they're even less well-defined than usual for a first show. The show's got potential, though it's a bit frantically paced for my taste. Certainly the weakest of the night's new comedies, but worth giving a few weeks to see how it develops, I think.

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