Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Forgotten Tv Shows: CHEF




This BBC sitcom starring Lenny Henry was on when we were in England in 1994-95 and we found it very entertaining. Of course, this was long before chefs became a staple of TV reality series. Henry was king of the castle in his work kitchen, but at the mercy of his wife (Caroline Johnson) at home.

He was probably too unlikable to suceed on US TV then or now. We like more sugar in our recipes and only tolerate chefs as egotistical as this one on reality shows. But the Brits between Basil Fawlty and Chef seem to find nasty people quite charming--at least on TV.

This may have run here on PBS at one time. It seems like I have some memory of it.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Patti - Hmmmm, this is a new one for me. If it ran in the States I wasn't aware of it. Interesting

Anonymous said...

Lenny Henry's "The Lenny Henry Show" ran in the States for a season or so (probably on local PBS stations). One of our family's Christmas traditions is to watch "Bernard and the Genie," a holiday-themed British TV movie from the mid-1990s with Alan Cumming, Rowan Atkinson, and Lenny Henry (as the genie).

Deb

pattinase (abbott) said...

Oh, that sounds great. Will look for it.

Ron Scheer said...

PIE IN THE SKY is another BBC chef series, with Richard Griffiths as a retired police detective.

Charles Gramlich said...

Wow, a "never knew about" one for me.

Gerard said...

This did run in the U.S. A fantastic show.

Kieran Shea said...

YES!!!!!

Truth is, seasoning is one of the most difficult things to teach a cook. Properly seasoned food with salt and pepper done in the kitchen should provide the stage for the food's flavor to spring forth. There should never be a need for table condiments and S&P in any good restaurant. Moments like this for a chef are like when people order well done filet mignons or overcooked tuna. Next time, let me open you a can.

I love this show.

Kelly Robinson said...

I'm unfamiliar with this, but there's a more recent British comedy about a chef that I enjoyed a lot: Whites. It's streaming on Hulu, I believe.

Anonymous said...

It not only ran on some PBS stations but is running now on Channel 21 here. We saw a few but never really took to it. If you want nasty British characters a la Basil Fawlty my favorite is Victor Meldrew (played by Richard Wilson) in David Renwick's ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE.

Jeff M.

Anonymous said...

Second try: PIE IN THE SKY is also running currently on Channel 21. I don't think it ran here when it first played in England nearly 20 years ago so I'm not sure why it suddenly popped up now.


Jeff M.

Unknown said...

This is my absolute, all-time favorite television show.
For me, nothing else comes close.