The Chopping Block (U.S. TV series)
Encyclopedia
The Chopping Block is an American
reality television series, based on the Australia
n 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
.
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. The series completing "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. 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.
On May 19, 2009, it was confirmed that NBC had canceled the series and would not be ordering a second season.
. 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.
: The show was cancelled after three episodes.
: 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.
: This episode had no elimination.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
reality television series, based on the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
series of the same name
The Chopping Block
The Chopping Block is an Australian reality television series which began airing on the Nine Network on 6 February 2008. Produced by Granada Productions, it was hosted by chef Matt Moran. Catriona Rowntree co-hosted the show with Moran in its first season...
. The series aired on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
network and followed participants in an attempt to open a restaurant. It is hosted by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
celebrity chef Marco Pierre White
Marco Pierre White
Marco Pierre White is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur and television personality. He is noted for his contributions to contemporary international cuisine, and his exceptional culinary skills....
.
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
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
in the timeslot. The series completing "airing" on NBC.com and Hulu
Hulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
, 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. After the fourth episode aired on the 19th, it was pre-empted on June 26 by television coverage surrounding the deaths of Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett was an American actress and artist. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels, in 1976...
and Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
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
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
.
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.
On May 19, 2009, it was confirmed that NBC had canceled the series and would not be ordering a second season.
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 ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. 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.
Contestants
The first season consisted of 8 teams of 2 participants each:- Angela Brown-Johnson & Samantha JohnsonSamantha JohnsonSamantha Carrie Johnson is an actress, filmmaker, and beauty queen from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who competed in the Miss USA pageant in 2007....
from Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,... - Alex (Zan) McCoy & Nate (Than) McCoy from Cabin John, MarylandCabin John, MarylandCabin John is a census-designated place and an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. The placename is a corruption of its original name of "Captain John's Mills."-Geography:...
- Panya Rice & Michael Holmes from Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
- Mikey Torres & Chad Phillips from Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
- Lisa Stalvey & Michael Anapol from Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
- Denise Nguyen & Khoa Nguyen from Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
- Kelsey Henderson & Vanessa Henderson from Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
- Dean Della Ventura & Shari Della Ventura from Millbury, MassachusettsMillbury, MassachusettsMillbury is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,261 at the 2010 census. The town is part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor.-History:...
Episode results
| Teams | Relationship | 1 | 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] |
|
| Sisters | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | WIN | WIN | WIN | WINNER | |
| Anapol & Lisa | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | WIN | WIN | FINALIST | ||
| Dean & Shari | Married | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | IN | OUT | ||
| Mother & Daughter | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | OUT | ||||
| Zan & Than | Brothers | LOW | WIN | WIN | OUT | ||||
| Panya & Michael | Engaged | WIN | IN | OUT | |||||
| Mikey & Chad | Friends | WIN | OUT | ||||||
| Denise & Khoa | Cousins | OUT | |||||||
: The show was cancelled after three episodes.
: 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.
: 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
U.S. Ratings
| Order | Episode | Rating | Share | Rating/Share Nielsen Ratings Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States... (18-49) |
Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 101" | TBA | 4 | 1.5/4 | 3.98 |
| 2 | "Episode 102" | 2.4 | 4 | 1.3/4 | 3.46 |
| 3 | "Episode 103" | 1.8 | 3 | 0.9/2 | 2.60 |
| 4 | "Episode 104" | TBA | TBA | 0.6/2 | 1.94 |