Product Description

Meet Britain's finest -- and most ill-tempered -- chef, Gareth Blackstock (Lenny Henry), of the prestigious Le Chateau Anglais restaurant. Each meal is a masterpiece. Just don't ask for salt. Chef Blackstock rules his kitchen with an iron ladle and puts up with no slacking. The trouble is that his underpaid and overworked kitchen staff is littered with slackers. Tuck in and prepare to double over in laughter with this hilarious and much loved comedy series from the BBC!

DVD Features:
Biographies:Cast bios
Interviews:Interviews with Lenny Henry and Caroline Lee Johnson
Other:Appearance by Lenny Henry on "The Good Food Show"

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4437 in DVD
• Brand: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2005-08-30
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 582 minutes

Amazon.com
Hungry for a laugh? The BBC serves up more than a few chuckles in this engaging sitcom about imperious chef Gareth Blackstock (Lenny Henry), a stern taskmaster who runs his kitchen with an iron fist, a lightning tongue, and a silver palate. The show combines some of the best elements of episodic drama and zany comedy, generously seasoned with sensual splashes of fine French cuisine. (Picture Julia Child crossed with Fawlty Towers' John Cleese following a script by the creators of thirtysomething and you get the general idea.) Blackstock is a brilliant, egotistical black chef running an all-white kitchen--until, that is, his wife maneuvers him into hiring an old school chum. Challenges mount as the restaurant faces bankruptcy and Blackstock decides to risk everything to buy it. Could fulfilling his dream wind up costing the king of the kitchen his home and savings? Supported by a talented ensemble cast, the dramatic story arc develops gradually enough to keep viewers wanting more, while individual episodes rest on more traditional sitcom gags--like when the new apprentice chef loses a Band-Aid somewhere in the kitchen but can't tell which gourmet dish it landed in. Later, Blackstock, the ultimate perfectionist, devises his most perfect mouthwatering meal and scours the shady underside of England's green and pleasant countryside for the perfect closer... the king of cheeses, an illegal unpasteurized stilton. Gradually the supporting characters are given more room to grow--especially charming young Everton (Roger Griffiths), the bumbling, insecure prep cook. When Blackstock's boorish Jamaican father (Oliver Samuels) browbeats the "serious professional" into abandoning haute cuisine for a night featuring Caribbean food, it's Everton's legendary dumplings that save the day. (Watching him carefully prepare his Guinness punch might be worth the price of the set alone.) Those expecting the surreal hysteria of Monty Python or similar classic British comedies might not care for Chef's subtleties, but those interested in quality television mixed with fine food and sprinkled with a few decent laughs will be more than satisfied by what this show has to offer. --Grant Balfour

Customer Reviews

One of the funniest shows around. The actual DVD set is a little bit of a letdown.
Let me start off by saying that I'm a big fan of Chef. I run a Chef fan website, and have done so since August of 1996, before the third series of the show was aired. I know these episodes like the back of my hand. This show is utter brilliance. There's little weakness here. If that's the case, then why didn't I give this 5 stars?

The reason for that is that this DVD set misses a huge opportunity, and that's to be an archive of Chef! material, and ultimately that's a bit of a letdown. This is a 3 DVD set that does include all the episodes of Chef. However, there's not much else. Discs 1 and 2 have nothing more than the episodes themselves. Disc 3 has only a few extras on it, and they are:

1) A text based description of some of the careers of the three lead actors (Lenny Henry, Caroline Lee Johnson, & Roger Griffiths).

2) An interview with Lenny Henry that aired two weeks before the premiere of the first series of Chef! (3:45)

3) An interview with Caroline Lee Johnson that aired halfway through the first series of Chef! (8:36)

4) A making of/Interview with Lenny Henry about Series 3 of Chef! (7:24)

5) A bunch of trailers for other British Comedy series on DVD.

That's it. No text commentaries, no audio commentaries that are so prevelant these days on DVD sets. I would have loved to have heard Lenny Henry, Roger Griffiths, or any of the other actors talking about the episodes. Commentaries are a great way to get additional value out of a set, and much more enjoyment for fans of the series, like I am. You know there has to be more material lying around the vaults than that. Lenny could have done a commentary for each episode, or saving that at least a couple. The fact that the set is barebones really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Additionally, there is an error in the packaging. If you look at the external box for the set which has all three DVD's in one package, the list of episodes for Series 1 is missing two. Some promotional materials claim there are only 18 episodes in this set (including Amazon's own incorrect listing information at the time of launch of this set). However, I've looked - there are definitely all 20 episodes of Chef! in this set. Disc 1 does indeed have all 6 episodes plus the Christmas Special.

But enough about the DVD's themselves. This show is one of funniest British comedies I've ever seen.

Chef! is a show about a cook named Gareth Blackstock (Lenny Henry) who is the head chef at a restaurant in England the Chateau Anglais. Gareth (usually just called Chef on the show) is a very good, extremely good cook, and is not afraid to show it. He is married to a woman, Janice Blackstock, and together, the two of them run the restuarant (in the first two series - In Series 3, the arrangement is a bit different). The show is based around their life running the resturant, and Gareth's rather overzealous and very loud personnel management of the people in his kitchen. Gareth, while the best cook in England (or so the show says, anyway), is an extremely high strung person, and loses his temper constantly. It's very funny when he does, and they actually manage to convey very strong emotions while staying away from actual swearing. Part of the thrust of the comedy here is that Gareth is so sure of himself, and blunders into situations and has to get himself out of them.

That's the best way I can think of to describe the show. Gareth doing his rants reminds me a lot of Basil Fawlty and his rants. There's a certain controlled "out of controlness" to the comedy here that appeals to me. This show is incredibly funny, if you like British Comedy at all, you'll really enjoy this. Even if you aren't a big britcom fan, I urge you to check it out. I think you'll like it.

Some of my favorite episodes are "The Big Cheese" (Favorite overall), England Expects, & Paris? Jamaica?. Series III takes a hit from some fans, but that's because it's not exactly like the first two. In Series 3, a bit more attention was paid to character interaction than it was in the first two series. It has a different feel, but I think it's stronger for that.

STILTON!

I am happy to finally have this culinary comedy on DVD
I was so excited when I heard that the complete series of Chef! was being released on DVD. I first discovered this show on PBS when it would air on Saturday nights. At first I didn't quite get the show, but the more I watched it began to grow on me and it became one of the funniest shows I had seen. And as a trained chef myself I can relate to this show. The writers have done an excellent job of portraying what life is like in a professional kitchen and Lenny Henry is excellent as Chef Gareth Blackstock. While Series 3 is not quite as funny as Series 1 & 2, it is still funny and worth watching. This is a great show and I am very happy to have it as a part of my DVD collection.

Serious Profession?
Am I completely off my rocker when I make the observation that this series began with so much originality and intensity that one could not help but enjoy the sarcastic wit of Lenny Henry. I loved the first season of Chef!, in fact, I thought that we were going to served a plate of classic Fawlty Towers with a side dish of Hell's Kitchen. To my surprise, we were. The first season demonstrated the comic genius of Henry and his ability to bring humor to the kitchen. Sadly, unlike most other reviews of this series, it is lost after the first season. The second season is watchable, while the final season is so glossy with obvious financing that you completely loose the characters, the structure of the original series, and everything that one could fall in love with. I had to check the box to with the final season to ensure that I picked up the right series. I nearly didn't recognize it. I have always wondered why most of the BBC's television programs only last a couple of seasons, and Chef! explained it to me perfectly. If this had continued further, we would have only deepened our loss for Henry's original obnoxious character and would have filed through nearly all of Britain's finest "would-be" actors to play the part of the ever-changing staff. It would have been a debacle of grand proportions that would have left this series with a horrible hangover that could never have been remedied.

I will state it one more time. I loved the first season of this television series. It was fresh, it was funny, and it had so much imagination that one could simply watch this first series over and over again while experiencing the same enjoyment they had the first time they viewed it. I loved watching Henry argue with the staff, continually sleep on his days off, while still showing quite a human element to his wife Janice. While they did argue throughout the program, I thought that it was nothing more than "love" spats between the two. I felt, at least in the first season, that Gareth and Janice knew each other, accepted each other, and supported each other. Similar to Fawlty Towers there was a bond between them that could not be broken. In fact, they wanted to go in to business together to support each other. This was the beginning of a great series. While this drama happened outside in Gareth's personal life, it was what occurred inside the kitchen that provided most of, if nearly all, the laughter. The connection with the staff, the education of the inexperienced and Henry's obsession with perfection created a very original program. It was bright, it was intelligent, and it was ... to sound repetitive ... funny. This was not a show that could succeed in America, and I think that is what I loved about it. Then ... as if the forced that be were against this program ... the second and third season were created.

The second season isn't bad. It does falter a bit at times, perhaps giving us a subliminal indication of what is to come, but it still can stand on its own. Gareth and Janice have their restaurant and are attempting to boost their business. They argue about the finances and the staff, but the love is still there. The staff has completely changed, but I was willing to ignore that for this time. Everton was still present in the kitchen, so I felt a bit comfortable with the lack of familiar faces. Henry is still obnoxious and himself. He stays true to his character from the first season constantly yelling sarcasm to institute perfection from his staff. The timing seems a bit off, but overall it feels like the original. Henry is determined to be the greatest chef in England and takes his profession seriously, two qualities that you cannot fault a person for. As we chuckle (not quite laugh) our way through this season, there is no way to prepare ourselves for the horrid disaster that we shall simply call, "How Money Ruined Chef!" also known as season three.

The final season was a disaster. The characters that we fell in love with are gone again, even Janice and Gareth are not the same. We are introduced randomly to new characters that we are forced to laugh at and enjoy. There is no indication of this at the end of the second season, so it felt like hitting a brick wall. Lenny Henry is not funny. I would go so far as to say that he completely lost his character from the first season. He isn't angry, his sarcasm is very weak, and he does things in the kitchen that I would have never imagined him doing in the first season. Gareth Blackstock lost his spine in this season. While he has a personal crisis happen near the beginning of the season, that does not have to be the central focus of the show. What made this show fantastic in the beginning was the kitchen, and somehow in this season we completely disregard the kitchen (the basis for the show) and bring the comedy out into the "real world". For me, that didn't work. It is obvious that this season had more money due to the crisp visuals and Americanized standards. The music was a horrid choice and displaced any humor that tried to escape. Food was not important any longer, and the structured themes that created this series were torn down with cliché lines and childish acting. This final season ruined this series for me because it wouldn't stay true to itself.

Overall, thanks to the final season, this was a mediocre television series. Lenny Henry is funny, but as the monetary dollars rose, his sense of humor seemed to fall. What began as lyrical humor eventually devolved into physical humor that wasn't funny. The changing of the kitchen staff became annoying, Everton's character never seemed to grow with time, while it only became obvious that Gareth and Janice were not cut out to run a restaurant. Janice became bitter, which wasn't funny, while Gareth threw his original food obsession out the window in lieu of personal issues. This series sank and never had the opportunity to resurface. If you must watch Chef! stick to the first season, you will be pleasantly surprised, while if you continue you may find yourself pleasantly angry by the results. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Grade: *** out of *****