On Monday Fox will air the 300th episode of “Hell’s Kitchen” — or its 300th hour of chef Gordon Ramsay cursing at a group of competitors over their sloppy skills — which will mark the first time the show has featured Ramsay and boxing legend Mike Tyson cursing at the show’s contestants over their sloppy skills.
In TheWrap’s exclusive sneak peek at the hour, titled “Temping the Meat,” shows Ramsay is in the kitchen with one of the two teams of “Young Guns” — chefs from across the country, all aged 24 or younger at the start of the competition — as they work to prepare their first dinner service at Ramsay’s restaurant at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Watch the video, above, to see Tyson yell, “Come on, Blue Team, it’s time to take the f—ing gloves off,” and more things at this crop of “Hell’s Kitchen” contestants, who are only in their second week of the competition, as they work to prepare his meal.
Ahead of tonight’s landmark 300th episode, TheWrap spoke with executive producer Arthur Smith about how the “Young Guns” premise makes not just this hour, but the entire season, such an event.
“This whole season is a special season,” Smith tells TheWrap. “The 20th season to me is the big headline of the season. Yes, the 300th episode happens to be in the 20th season. But, really, it’s more of a celebration of the 20th season than the 300th episode.”
The reason 20 is so significant to Smith and Ramsay — beyond being an impressive milestone to reach in broadcast television — is because of where the food industry is at as they introduce the “Young Guns” concept to “Hell’s Kitchen”
“Food in America has changed dramatically since we premiered,” Smith, who founded “Hell’s Kitchen” production company A. Smith & Co., says. “The idea of doing a food show on network television was also groundbreaking, because there had never been one that worked. And, quite frankly, no one knew who Gordon was then. So if you think about what has happened during the course of our run: No. 1, Gordon is the most famous chef in the world. So that’s great. And the other thing is the show is now in a zillion countries and that’s great. But also, the food has changed. And also what happened is that not that long ago, when a child or a young person would tell their family that they wanted to work in a kitchen or be a chef, it was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know.’ But now, being a chef is a very distinguished profession because of Gordon Ramsay and other celebrity chefs and how food has evolved in America and how our palates have changed in America and how we’re more adventurous with what we eat. And I think in some ways, ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ and shows like ‘Top Chef,’ which also has been on for a long time, they have contributed to changing how people look at food.”
Smith said waiting to do “Young Guns” in Season 20 “is a recognition of that and the fact that the people who want to be chefs are a whole different group of people than they would have been 15 or 16 years ago.”
The 300th episode of “Hell’s Kitchen” airs tonight, Monday, at 8/7c on Fox.