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Chef Gordon Ramsay has not only built himself an empire on the back of his cooking prowess, but has become one of television’s most recognizable personalities. His sometimes fierce criticism and comical insults have granted him a place in the spotlight, and rightfully so. He’s downright hilarious. You may have already been watching Ramsay as one of MasterChef’s three co-hosts or as the sole host of Hell’s Kitchen on FOX, but Ramsay has also embarked on a new endeavor.
The F Word, which has been on British television since 2005, recently debuted in the States in May of this year. The semi-live variety show features home chef competition cooking, interviews, and food tutorials by Ramsay himself. Even a few pranks along the way. Overall, the series seems to be a combination of Hell’s Kitchen and MasterClass with painfully awkward celebrity and restaurant guest interviews conducted over loud background noise and restaurant chatter.
Each hour-long episode centers around two teams of home chefs that consist of families, friends and coworkers, competing for a chance to face off with one other finalist for the grand prize. In between checking on the two teams, Ramsay sits down with a V.I.P. guest or two to chat about the food, the show, and their current projects. He also roasts people’s pictures from Twitter of their attempts at cooking one of his famous dishes.
The very first episode features both Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey and Snoop Dogg, as well as a non-V.I.P. couple on a first blind date. When Ramsay approaches the couple the conversation between the two is super awkward, which is not a great sign that the date was going well, and Ramsay’s passive jabs don’t seem to help. Ramsay later sits down with Snoop and his children and the viewer is treated to a casual conversation between two people that would probably never hang out in real life, all while Snoop and his family chow down on their dinners.
The second episode, features James Corden and celebrity couple Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney, who co-star on FXX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Ramsay approaches the two television personalities and chats mostly with Olson about her new FOX series, The Mick. While the camera zooms in and out on a smiling McElhenney, the conversation shifts to Olson’s lackluster pork chop cooking skills prior to Ramsay giving Olson a brief tutorial on the technique in the kitchen.
The F Word, which is produced by Studio Ramsay and All3 America and executive-produced by Ramsay himelf, as well as others, airs Wednesdays 9/8c on FOX but can be streamed on both Hulu or FOX NOW. If you’re a Ramsay fan, you should get a kick out of it and even find humor in the awkward interviews. One of Ramsay’s best qualities is that he never takes himself too seriously but always hold himself and his competitors to the highest of standards. The F Word is a true culmination of his cooking and television career.
Michael is a music and television junkie keen on most things that are not a complete and total bore. You can follow him on Twitter — @Tweetskoor
