We've Got a New Drug

Aaron and I have a new addiction. It started just over a week ago and we are helpless to its draw. The focus of our addiction only occurs on Mondays. Monday evenings at 9, to be exact.

We are addicted to Hell’s Kitchen.

First of all, let me tell you that I love food. I love everything about food. I love reading about it, planning it, shopping for it, eating it, but most importantly I love creating it. My dream job (if it had better hours and a more certain outcome) would be to own a restaurant. A very fancy restaurant. Hell’s Kitchen is about twelve people competing to run a very fancy restaurant in Las Vegas.

I happened on the season premier last Monday and we were instantly sucked in, even though we were doing something else—I think it was a fierce cribbage battle, but it could have been scrabble. I’m not sure. What ever it was, it instantly ended as we were now staring helplessly at the glowing box that was showing us this show.

The show is funny, humiliating, and just simply intriguing. I don’t know what we Americans love about a mean British man, but the main guy on the show (I think his name is Gordon, but for some reason I can’t remember his name this morning) is captivating. He swears at the 12 (now 8, actually) hopefuls; “Move your ass!” is about the mildest it gets. He puts up with no excuses, and insists on perfection. Now, I’ve worked in a fancy restaurant before, so I know how crazy it can get, but I’ve never seen anyone so insistent that everything is just so. It definitely makes it harder to complete the tasks he sets forth. Well, that and the fact that the contestants seem to be fairly incompetent at times.

So, yes. We’re addicted. Completely and hopelessly. Anyone else?

(As a side note, did anyone else watch Treasure Hunt on Sunday? And if so, were you as disappointed in the show as I was?)