The Chopping Block (American TV series)

Last updated
The Chopping Block
Presented by Marco Pierre White
Theme music composer Duffy (Mercy)
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8
Production
Executive producersDavid Barbour and Julian Cress
Producer Granada America
Original release
Network NBC
Release11 March (2009-03-11) –
24 July 2009 (2009-07-24)
Related
The Chopping Block (Australian version)

The Chopping Block is an American reality television series, based on the Australian reality television series of the same name. The series aired on the NBC network and followed participants in an attempt to open a restaurant. It is hosted by British celebrity chef Marco Pierre White.

Contents

The first episode premiered on March 11, 2009 to low ratings. Two more episodes aired, each with worse ratings than the last. On March 26, 2009, NBC canceled the series, choosing to run repeats of Law & Order: Criminal Intent in the timeslot. [1] The series completed "airing" on NBC.com and Hulu, releasing one a week.

On April 24, 2009, NBC announced the series would return to television in Friday, June 19, despite airing on the internet already. [2] After the fourth episode aired on the 19th, it was pre-empted on June 26 by television coverage surrounding the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson the day before. The show returned Friday, July 3. It then proceeded to air until Friday, July 24, the day the final episode aired on NBC.

On April 27, 2009, British TV began showing the series on ITV2, immediately following the finale of Hell's Kitchen , also hosted by Marco Pierre White, on ITV1 of which 6 of the episodes being aired, although episode 7 was not shown on Monday at 8 o clock as would be expected, and there has been no explanation as to what has happened to the series in the UK or why the episode was not shown.[ citation needed ]

Format

Eight contestant pairs, each consisting of a chef and a front-of-house member with an existing relationship, are divided into two teams of four pairs each. The teams are each assigned an empty restaurant space, across the street from each other in downtown Manhattan. Each week, the teams are given a task, and open their restaurants for a service. The team judged to have lost that service has its weakest pair eliminated from the show by chef White. Each week, the teams also have a challenge to compete in (sometimes relating to the kitchen, and sometimes relating to front-of-house), the winner of which gains an advantage during the subsequent service.

The format of the American version differs markedly to that of the original Australian version. [3]

Contestants

The first season consisted of 8 teams of 2 participants each:

Episode results

TeamsRelationship123 1 4 2 5 2 6 2 7 2 *FINALE 2
Head Chef
Lisa [Red]
Than [Black]		Michael [Red]
Dean [Black]		Kelsey [Red]
Dean [Black]		Lisa [Red]
Than[Black]		Kelsey [Red]
Angie [Black]		Lisa [Red]
Dean [Black]		Lisa vs.
Kelsey		Kelsey [Red]
Lisa [Black]
Kelsey & VanessaSistersWINININWINWINWINWINWINNER
Anapol & LisaEx-Husband & WifeWINININWINWINWINFINALISTRUNNER-UP
Dean & ShariMarriedINWINWINININOUT
Angie & SamanthaMother & DaughterINWINWININOUT
Zan & ThanBrothersLOWWINWINOUT
Panya & MichaelEngagedWININOUT
Mikey & ChadFriendsWINOUT
Denise & KhoaCousinsOUT

^Note 1 : The show was cancelled after three episodes.
^Note 2 : The remaining shows are broadcast each Wednesday night on NBC.com. These episodes then air on NBC with Episode 4 having started off the airing of the episodes on June 19, and a break on June 26 because of the Farrah documentary.

^Note * : This episode had no elimination.

  Hotpink background and WINNER means that team was the winner of the competition
  Cornflowerblue background and RUNNER-UP means that team was the runner-up of the competition
  Green background and WIN means that the team was crowned winner for that week
  Blue background and LOW means that the team was up for elimination
  Orange background and OUT means that the team bowed out
  Brown background and OUT means that the team was told to take off their aprons and was eliminated
  Violet background and WIN means that the team was a finalist and won the challenge, but there was no elimination in that episode
  Black background means that the team is a member of the black team
  Red background means that the team is a member of the red team
  Lightgrey background means that the couple(s) were the final two

US Nielsen ratings

U.S. Ratings

OrderEpisodeRatingShare Rating/Share
(18-49)		Viewers
(millions)
1"Episode 101"TBA41.5/43.98
2"Episode 102"2.441.3/43.46
3"Episode 103"1.830.9/22.60
4"Episode 104"TBATBA0.6/21.94

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References

  1. ↑ "The Chopping Block cancelled | TV Series Finale". Archived from the original on 2009-03-31. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
  2. ↑ http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/the-chopping-block-cancelled-coming-back/ [ dead link ]
  3. ↑ Knox, David (2008-03-18). "NBC re-heats 'improved' Chopping Block". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
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