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Kitchen Confidential
SERIES: Fox, Monday 8:30p (30 minutes)

Kitchen Confidential
Critic Score
Metascore: 64 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.0 out of 10
based on 20 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?
based on 17 votes
read user comments
rate this tv show

Starring Bradley Cooper, Bonnie Somerville, Owain Yeoman, Nicholas Brendon, Jaime King, and John Francis Daley

A single-camera, no-laugh-track comedy set behind the scenes in a big-time New York City restaurant, "Kitchen Confidential" is based on chef Anthony Bourdain's popular memoir.

GENRE(S): Comedy
FIRST AIR DATE: September 19, 2005
LAST AIR DATE: December 5, 2005

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

90
Variety Phil Gallo
One of the sharpest-looking comedy pilots in recent years.
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88
Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy
One tasty comic treat.
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80
Hollywood Reporter Ray Richmond
It embodies many of the same elements that made Star's HBO half-hour a winner. That means an energetic blend of sex, sophistication, outlandishness and rat-a-tat-tat dialogue spilling from the mouths of effortlessly attractive characters in a sleek setting.
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80
Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart
This is one smart, funny comedy that deserves better than the anemic time slot it’s getting.
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80
PopMatters Samantha Bornemann
So no, the jokes aren't as haute as the cuisine. But presentation, on the plate or on television, goes a long way, and Confidential has the look of a winner.
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80
San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum
The writing is sharp and sophisticated, avoiding the predictable sitcom cliches.
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70
Newsday Verne Gay
Anyone who wants to take a walk on the wild side and lose an appetite in the process, your show has arrived.
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67
Entertainment Weekly Gillian Flynn
Only a few scenes capture the swagger and passion that made Bourdain's memoir so enthralling.
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63
Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman
"Kitchen Confidential" holds more potential than tonight's decent if imperfect start, given Star's track record and casting.
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63
New York Daily News David Hinckley
The antics, though, are standard sitcom - and, refreshingly, many actually are funny.
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60
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
'Kitchen Confidential" is the kind of new TV show that fits perfectly beside the adjective ''promising." Pilots sometimes strain to set up the entire series, and tonight's episode of ''Confidential" has its share of forced material.
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60
Miami Herald Glenn Garvin
Cooper and Somerville... keep things moving.
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60
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
The biggest problem with Fox's "Kitchen Confidential" is that star Bradley Cooper... is far too appealing to play a bad-boy chef.
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60
Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker
The cast is attractive, the show's look is sleek, the pace is frantic, but Kitchen Confidential isn't especially funny.
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60
The Onion A.V. Club
All the elements of a first-rate show are in place.... So why isn't it funnier?
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50
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland
It isn't a laugh-a-minute free-for-all.
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50
The New York Times Frank Bruni
[Cooper's] presence [is] almost engaging enough to redeem an overstuffed, overbaked first episode.
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50
USA Today Robert Bianco
The writers seem to assume that life backstage at a glamorous New York restaurant is so inherently enticing, we'll just fall into the story on our own. Maybe, but a few sympathetic characters or amusing lines couldn't have hurt.
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40
Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm
Confidential is a comedy hash - lots of heat, little taste.
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40
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen
Backstage antics are what's supposed to make "Kitchen Confidential" hilarious, but instead the characters just come off as juvenile.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this tv show is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 17 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Tricia S gave it a10:
Puhleez bring it back! It's tasteful comedy without being boring. It's a laugh! It's refreshing after watching complicated plots within never ending plots of 24 or Lost. It has the potential to last as long as Friends did! It's a shame it was cancelled. What really happened?! There are shows out there that don't have the wit Kitchen Confidential has!

Audrey G gave it a10:
i thought this was wonderfully done and extremely funny. fox lost a viewer when they cancelled it!!

Scott J gave it a10:
Sad that Fox never gave this show a chance. It is another show that no one will see yet it was very, very good.

Cary H gave it a3:
Love the cast, but..........

Michael B gave it a10:
This is the first TV show that shows a lighter side to the fast paced, frantic life that we line dogs face, that is those of us that cook on the line in resturants on any given day or night. Please keep this show on.

niku n gave it a10:
love the show, love the concept and love the cast. perfect show, perfect combination that fox knows how to get attention from there audience. the humor began with the british man to the guy who was in buffy to the girl who played Ross' girlfriend on Friends. the show is perfect.

Jonathan J gave it a3:
Seems like a fake show.

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