LOS ANGELES — First Gordon Ramsay came for the sous-chefs and the sour managers. Now he's here for the home cooks.
Ramsay, the infamous British chef and host of two reality shows on Fox, Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, has added a third competition this summer, MasterChef, for amateurs who have dreams of fine-dining careers. It is the standout reality show of the summer, and Fox is on the verge of ordering a second season.
"He is our version of CSI," said Mike Darnell, Fox's president of alternative entertainment, referring to the three-legged CBS crime franchise. Presuming that all three shows continue, Ramsay "won't be off the schedule for more than a couple weeks at a time," Darnell said.
The volume says a lot about the TV and business savvy of Ramsay, 43, a stove-top tyrant who saw in MasterChef an opportunity to show off a more tender, nurturing side.
"It's just a different string to my bow," he said.
MasterChef owes much to the American fixation on food that supports the Food Network and its new spinoff, the Cooking Channel, and Top Chef on Bravo. On MasterChef, Ramsay instructs contestants, who include a bartender, a software engineer, a doctor and a marketing executive. The top prize is $250,000 and a cookbook contract.
"It's for people who love food and see it as a pathway into a new life," said Howard T. Owens, a managing director at Reveille, a co-producer of the show.
Owens and Ramsay said the recession had made the show particularly relevant. As Ramsay put it, the kitchens that were largely just "showpieces" in people's homes "are actually working kitchens now."
Fox essentially seeded MasterChef by putting it on in July in the time slot after Hell's Kitchen, which was Ramsay's first show for that network. That 5-year-old show features professional chefs passing and failing Ramsay's tests. Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times wrote last year that he counsels contestants "in the spirit of the British Navy circa 1800 — with ritual floggings and pungent insults."
On broadcast television, Hell's Kitchen is the highest-rated show this summer among the 18- to 49-year-olds that the networks covet, with about 4 million viewers. Ramsay's second show, Kitchen Nightmares, wherein he tries to reform failing restaurants, is 3 years old. Its most recent season ended in the spring.
Asked what explains the more nurturing Ramsay on MasterChef, he referred to the cooking lessons he has given his children.
"There's different heads for different levels of professionalism," he said.
Supplanting Ramsay in the mean-judge role on MasterChef is restaurateur Joe Bastianich. The third judge is chef Graham Elliot.
The original MasterChef format has been around for decades — Ramsay was even a guest judge once on MasterChef in Britain. It was tried in the United States once before, in 2000, on PBS, but did not gain much traction. This time, Ramsay is the secret ingredient.
"I wouldn't do a cooking show without him," Darnell said in an interview Monday.
MasterChef was brought to Fox by Shine Group, the production and distribution company owned by Rupert Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth, which entirely revamped the format about five years ago. Networks in the United States took notice of it when the Australian version set ratings records last summer. Shine said the format is now locally produced in 15 countries.
The MasterChef rights holders want to spin off a set of branded businesses, not unlike the peddling of T-shirts and kitchen knives by Top Chef. Those efforts will happen much more aggressively in future seasons, Owens said, ALthough the first MasterChef cookbook arrived in bookstores this week. The winner will have a separate cookbook.
For his part, Ramsay said he is more interested in grooming talent than in selling products. He has an exclusive contract with Fox that remains in effect for "one more year," he said in the interview. Asked about the prospect of a contract renewal, Darnell said, "Our door is always open."
