Product Description

Jack Bourdain had it all but messed it up going wild. Four years later, he ends up with a crappy job in Pizza Chain. Then, he gets an offer to get back in the game as the chef of a famous restaurant.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12320 in DVD
• Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
• Released on: 2007-05-22
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 22 minutes

Amazon.com
Having been described as "wicked" and "debauched," Anthony Bourdain's culinary memoir was bound to be a tough sell for network TV. In Kitchen Confidential's sitcom incarnation, dark-haired Anthony becomes blond, blue-eyed Jack (Bradley Cooper). In the pilot, the recovering alcoholic moves from a pizzeria to a brasserie. The catch is that he has to hire a staff in 48 hours, so he turns to pastry expert Seth (Nicholas Brendon, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), seafood genius Teddy (John Cho, Smiley Face), and sous-chef Steven (Owain Yeoman). He also inherits kitchen worker Jim (John Francis Daley, Freaks and Geeks). In reality, Bourdain ran the shop at New York's celebrated Les Halles. In the show, Jack oversees the kitchen at the fictional Nolita. Pino (Frank Langella, terrific as usual) manages the joint, while the wait staff includes his tightly-wound daughter, Mimi (Bonnie Somerville, NYPD Blue) and the bubble-headed Tanya (Jaime King, Pearl Harbor). As in producer Darren Star's Sex and the City, the central character narrates, there's no laugh track, and more of the comedy revolves around sex than work.

While Cooper (The Wedding Crashers) isn't the most obvious choice to play Bourdain--and although Kitchen Confidential would've made more sense on cable--he does a surprisingly credible job, even if the writing lets him down on occasion. Realistic or not, severed fingers and singed eyebrows tend to play better in print than on the screen. Of the 13 episodes produced, FOX only aired four (back-to-back with Arrested Development), which is a shame as it was just starting to hit its stride. Guest stars include Bitty Schram ("Exile on Main Street"), John Larroquette ("Dinner Date with Death"), and Cooper's Alias co-star Michael Vartan ("French Fight"). --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

Sexy And Fun, "Kitchen Confidential" Was Cooked Way Too Soon
It's just so difficult for me to find a television comedy that really stimulates my interest, my intellect and my funny bone. Face it, we live in a world where "Arrested Development" can't find an audience but "King of Queens" stays on for nearly a decade. But such is life. It just seems that, more often than not, when a new comedy hits the air--if it doesn't perform immediately, it's gone. I credit FOX for sticking with "Arrested" as long as it did and NBC for nurturing "The Office" into a hit--but those are rare examples! I mention "Arrested Development" specifically for a reason. While FOX was trying to save that show, it introduced another high profile (and highly advertised) comedy based on the escapades of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain called "Kitchen Confidential." However, when ratings expectations were not met in its initial airings--"Kitchen" was dumped with only 13 episodes made (many to never see the light of day, until now).

It's really a shame, too. While I won't contend that "Kitchen Confidential" was brilliant, it was a show I felt had real potential to evolve into greatness. Breezy and sexy, particularly for network TV, "Kitchen" succeeded as a bawdy workplace romp. Turning Anthony Bourdain into a fictional character named Jack Bourdain, the show gave us a glimpse into a world where chefs have become rock stars. With rivalries, groupies, and big egos--this comedy explored territory that seemed fresh. Relying on real humor and not encumbered with a laugh track, "Kitchen" wasn't perfect--but it was different. Maybe that was its curse, its ultimate downfall.

Heading up everything as Jack was Bradley Cooper. So unnecessary in "Alias," Cooper proved himself a real star here! Charismatic and commanding, he played Jack as a likable dog. Surrounded by an able supporting cast including Nicholas Brendon ("Buffy"), John Francis Daley ("Freaks & Geeks"--dead before its time), Bonnie Somerville ("Grosse Point"--also killed too soon), Jamie King, and Frank Langella--this was an appealing lineup. The characters became more defined as the show progressed, but everyone contributed to the spirit of the proceedings--it was well balanced and witty. But we'll never know what was to become of them. In a bit of irony, one of the episodes was nominated by the Writer's Guild for Best Writing In An Episodic Comedy. So check it out for something a bit different. It's a show I think might have found an audience in a different time and/or a different place. You could do a lot worse--just flip on your TV now. KGHarris, 04/07.

Stop them before they kill again! Fox once again cancels a great show
"Kitchen Confidential" had the misfortune of being aired in the fall of 2005 just before the end of the baseball season. The pennant and series came along and interrupted whatever audience it had built and it never had a chance to build a committed audience.

This is getting to be routine for the Fox network. Take a great program, market it badly, give it a lousy time slot (why start a new show right before you know you're going to show the World Series?!), show episodes out of order, and then cancel it after just a few shows are aired. One would think that there should be some heads rolling at Fox. (I doubt it.) I digress - it's just infuriating to discover another great program only to discover that some morons canceled it while utter crap remains on the air.

"Kitchen Confidential" shares some of the same basic traits (beyond being canceled) with "Wonderfalls." It's tightly edited, funny, cutting edge, and pushes the envelope for network television. A few tweaks on language and nudity and it could easily be a quality show you'd find on Showtime or HBO. With that in mind, KC is a comedy for adults. If you like the humor on "Boston Legal" you'll probably enjoy this show.

Another extraordinary show cancelled by Fox's quick trigger finger
In Kitchen Confidential, Bradley Cooper stars as Jack Bourdain, a NYC chef who is working at picking up the pieces of his lackluster career after years of drinking and drugging. In the first episode, Jack is working as a chef at a Chuck E. Cheese-esque kid's Italian restaurant and living with his girlfriend--also the restaurant's manager. When he's offered the position of head chef at hip bistro Nolita, Jack sees his chance to rebuild his name as a great chef, and get out of the rut he's in.

He assembles his kitchen staff from his old coworkers including: Steven, a British thug who's been known to cause plenty of mischief and will serve as Jack's sous-chef; Seth, a pastry chef with a crush on the hostess and a penchant for wearing bandannas as neckties; Teddy, an Asian seafood genius who has a volatile relationship with Jack; and Jim, the nerdy newbie who Jack inherits from the old chef. Together, the team creates an inspiring menu and helps put Nolita on the map as one of the new hip NYC restaurants.

Kitchen Confidential takes all of the best parts of Anthony Bourdain's memoir and twists it just enough to make it entertaining fiction rather than verbatim retelling. Bradley Cooper plays the part of Jack Bourdain with just enough wit and candor to remind viewers of Anthony, but with enough of his individual style to make the role his own. The supporting cast are nothing if not hilarious, and the stories of life inside a kitchen will provide fans of shows like Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen with a little fictional fuel for the culinary interest fire. As always, Fox cancelled the show after only 4 episodes aired, but hopefully with the success of the DVD sales (a la Family Guy) viewers might be in store for more Kitchen Confidential in the future.