Cancelled – A Look Back: Kitchen Confidential

This column will be me focusing on shows that have been cancelled which really shouldn’t have been.  There have been many shows which I’ve got to like which have been shelved, so I’m here to rant about them and try and maybe give these untimely cancelled shows some new fans.

Kitchen Confidential was a sitcom that aired in 2005 on FOX.  The show was based on Anthony Bourdain’s critically acclaimed book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.  The show was about the daily life of people working in a top New York restaurant.  The lead of the show is played by Bradley Cooper who plays head chef Jack Bourdain, the character itself is loosely based on Anthony Bourdain.  Sadly though Kitchen Confidential was cancelled in December of 2005, only four episodes had aired but a total of 13 episodes had been produced.

The DVD of all 13 episodes was released in 2007 and this was how I saw the show.  It didn’t take me long to power through the episodes as I really enjoyed the show and watching one episode at a time wasn’t enough.  I was hoping though that the show would suck and FOX would actually get it right for once but that didn’t happen.  I got to really like the show and was pissed when it ended, FOX made another mistake, just like Firefly and Arrested Development.  I can imagine that this segment of Cancelled – A Look Back will feature many FOX shows.

I found the show easy to watch, it was a show like Friends or Scrubs which is perfect for when you just want a break for 20 minutes.  Most of the time I watched the show when I was having something to eat.  Though that’s because most talk in the show is about food.  What peaked my interest in the show was that it featured actors who I was familair with.  I knew Bradley Copper from Alias, John Cho who I really like who’s from American Pie and Harold and Kumar and of course Nicholas Brendon who was from Buffy, so I knew and enjoyed those actors past work.

The show isn’t the funniest sitcom ever to be made, it has it’s moments but never laugh out loud ones but what I find the most endearing thing about the show is the characters, all of them are unique and funny in their own right.  The show works due to the chemistry between the guys in the kitchen, you believe that these guys are friends, the rapport between them is outstanding.

Sadly the show ended abruptly so there was no resolve to the series which is quite sad.  Though don’t let that persuade you to not watch the show because trust me, your time will not be wasted.  I can only imagine what the show would be like right now if it was still on air.  I think if it got time to breathe then I think the show would have been successful but it’s cancellation can not be blamed on the viewing public, it’s blame is with FOX.  The show was distrupted by Major League Baseball playoffs so three episodes of the show had aired at the end of September, so FOX put the show on hold and didn’t show the forth episode until December.  It seemed obvious that the forth episode would get poor ratings because of the way the show was shelved due to the baseball.  Will FOX ever learn?  Probably not.  I’m already preparing Fringe and Dollhouse to be cancelled.