Archive through August 04, 2003
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TV ClubHouse: Archive: The Restaurant (ARCHIVES): Archive through August 04, 2003

Pamy

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 02:47 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
LOL KL!! I read that they advertised for actors to be waiters and patrons. Maybe that is why this feels scripted.

Scorpiomoon

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 02:52 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
What??? Even the patrons were hired actors? So I suppose the obnoxious plus-sized Italian guy with the big mouth from last week was making his big break into showbiz?

Pamy

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 04:03 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
LOL Scorpio!! Yeah, he is hoping for Sopranos, the movie!! I think I read the article in TV Guide of Entertainment Weekly.

Kellirippa

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 04:16 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
LOL Pamy

Pamy

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 06:59 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Any eastcoasters watch it yet?

Abby7

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 07:07 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Hi Pamy: I've only seen the last 10 minutes of this show (the first episode). Forgot all about the second episode.

On Sunday's I tape Sex and the City, and Project Greenlight.

I'm going out tonight at 8:30pm, so won't be able to watch. Is this show worth watching or taping?

Abby7

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 07:21 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Well, Pamy, I hope some eastcoasters respond to you.

Nathalia

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 07:37 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Pamy...this one is a nightmare! LOL They make Rocco out to be a jerk in this one. I'm sure it's just the editing..lol A food critic from the NY Post comes in and first all her food gets sent to the wrong table and then when she finally gets it..it's cold! Meanwhile..Rocco is taking pics with everyone in the restaurant and feeling women's thighs..getting aroused...you have to watch it to believe it!

Everyone is complaining tonight..that is the theme of tonight's show.

Pamy

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 08:00 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks Abby! From Nathalia's comments sounds like a good one!! LOL Thanks for the heads up Natthalia!

Scorpiomoon

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 08:10 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
This show takes the cake!

I sat here with my mouth gaping open for most of the hour.

I counted 7 product placements.

Nathalia is right. They made Rocco out to be a cold-hearted, arroganct egocentric ass. Did you guys see how he was totally blowing off Gideon or when he referred to the gay waiter guy (I can't remember his name) as a "f-ck up" to the waiter's friends no less!

And did you hear the lame jokes he was saying to the NY Post columnist and how he was getting her last name wrong? And the part of him with his groupies was hideous.

Speaking of hideous, so was the part when the wait staff went out and all groping each other. Ugh.

The thing that bothers me is, because we don't know how much of this is "reality" and how much is staged, it's hard to know how to approach this show. Is Rocco really a total jerk or just a really good actor?

Pamy

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 08:35 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I am guessing the being a jerk part would be real. Why would he want to 'act' that way? This restaraunt has his name on it and if people hate him why would they go there? I am thinking this show might actually hurt his business. Although, I have heard the hottest spots in hollywood are full of rude people, so maybe it's a good thing! lol

Scribe

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 08:51 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Just finished watching - could be scripted but it does keep your attention - one thing though - I have no desire to eat there - it does need an identity - and after watching Mama kneed the meetballs - ugh - couldn't eat there ever - Rocco has a good rep (before the show) as a chef (which he seems not to be here). Service looks horrid - and paper baskets for initial food is odd with heavy silverware - and the food is all cold and Rocco confirms - says its the airconditioner and the distance from the kitchen to the tables - whatever - hate cold food in a reataurant - stick to the local diner - or even MacDonalds

Love the show though - but the restaurant looks like a mess.

This episode ends with Roccos's only conern being what teh NY Post critic wrote about him -

Ryn

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 09:02 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Can anyone search the NY post for the review????


hmm = let me go look.

I watched this for the first time tonight and Rocco seems more caught up in the idea of being popular than the thought of actually running the place.

I know editing plays a part but man - this guy is rather full of himself.

Scorpiomoon

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 09:05 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Pamy: But that's the thing! IN this episode Rocco looks like a jerk, but as the show goes on, do we get to see him save the day and save his restaurant? It's like, is this all part of the plot?

Re: will this show hurt his business: I wondered the same thing. But like you alluded to, people can be so freakin' rude and fickle that maybe his attitude might boost his career. (Now he can be thought of Rocco the "bad ass" chef.)

Ryn

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 09:06 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Sorry if this has been posted already - here is her review of the show - I am still digging for the actual review:

http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/869.htm

Ryn

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 09:12 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Ok - I found it on a newsgroup so I am posting it here in full.

NY POST/By LINDA STASI
-----------------------------------
WHO'D imagine that TV could turn me into a zen master - and I'm not talking
about watching reruns of "Kung Fu." I'm talking about cheesy reality TV that
has forced me into asking cosmic questions like, "What is reality, really?"

Is reality washing my workout socks out in the sink, or is it being stuck on a
desert island with 10 fat-free bartenders who can get eight weeks off, no
problem?

Yes, Grasshopper, I'm here to say that I, a TV reviewer, am now part of a
reality show. And I didn't act real.

Let me explain. NBC is filming a reality show called "The Restaurant" in, yes,
a Manhattan restaurant - or more precisely, a flashy celeb joint opened by
handsome, celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito a few days ago and called,
appropriately enough, Rocco's. The show, which starts airing next month, will
be a kind of real-life "Upstairs/Downstairs."

Soon as I got there, I knew I was in the middle of a reality show. Everyone was
thin, no one had cellulite, there were a lot of bartenders, and I couldn't' get
a drink out of any of them.

Let me say right off, that if I hadn't been invited I would never have gotten
in (not underweight or under 30). But once in, I wouldn't have wanted to stay.


Rocco's is very big, very bright, and so loud that you literally have to scream
at the person sitting next to you. This is not a negative in New York.

The Italian food is very good however (being a certified Italian I know good
Italian food), even if our first course was served piping cold.

I was told a guy proposed in there that night. I hope he brought his own sound
system with him.

And since he's apparently not fabulous, he wouldn't have gotten in the place
either, one of the producers told me. But he promised he'd propose on-camera.
So much for reality.

Me? I had invited three friends to dinner that night -a group I figured would
relax in front of the cameras. As exec producer Mark Burnett himself told me
earlier in the day, sooner or later everyone forgets that cameras are there.
No.

Maybe later, but not sooner especially if you're there for one night and the
camera crews are lurking about like armed terrorists.

In fact, when the cameras showed up at my table, I felt forced to be clever -
and failed miserably I might add.

My Love Interest, attorney Sid Davidoff, got fed up with the noise level and
asked if he could vote some of the patrons off the show.

Radio talk show host Mark Simone, with whom I do a TV show on NY1, didn't have
the patience for any of it - starting with being forced to sign releases
outside in a tent in the rain, and ending with not being seated - so he split.

Zarela, my friend, a celebrity chef herself and owner of restaurant Zarela, was
the only one who kept her cool - and actually evaluated the food. "If it can
taste good cold as we had it," she said, "I imagine it will be delicious once
it's served at the right temperature and pace - without camera crews around."

Don't count on the pace slowing down, although I assume the meatballs will be
heated up sometime in the future.

I doubt if my reality in the future will include another visit to Rocco's. For
one thing, I'll never get in again. And for another, this is one of those
places where thin people eat pasta and drink Martinis and never get fat or run
out of (sorry) dough.

It's not my scene, but everybody will want to be seen there.

Scorpiomoon

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 09:12 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I think this is the review:

Whine and Dine

By: LINDA STASI
Source: NY Post

WHO'D imagine that TV could turn me into a zen master - and I'm not talking about watching reruns of "Kung Fu."

I'm talking about cheesy reality TV that has forced me into asking cosmic questions like, "What is reality, really?"

Is reality washing my workout socks out in the sink, or is it being stuck on a desert island with 10 fat-free bartenders who can get eight weeks off, no problem?

Yes, Grasshopper, I'm here to say that I, a TV reviewer, am now part of a reality show. And I didn't act real.

Let me explain. NBC is filming a reality show called "The Restaurant" in, yes, a Manhattan restaurant - or more precisely, a flashy celeb joint opened by handsome, celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito a few days ago and called, appropriately enough, Rocco's. The show, which starts airing next month, will be a kind of real-life "Upstairs/Downstairs."

Soon as I got there, I knew I was in the middle of a reality show. Everyone was thin, no one had cellulite, there were a lot of bartenders, and I couldn't' get a drink out of any of them.

Let me say right off, that if I hadn't been invited I would never have gotten in (not underweight or under 30). But once in, I wouldn't have wanted to stay.

Rocco's is very big, very bright, and so loud that you literally have to scream at the person sitting next to you. This is not a negative in New York.

The Italian food is very good however (being a certified Italian I know good Italian food), even if our first course was served piping cold.

I was told a guy proposed in there that night. I hope he brought his own sound system with him.

And since he's apparently not fabulous, he wouldn't have gotten in the place either, one of the producers told me. But he promised he'd propose on-camera. So much for reality.

Me? I had invited three friends to dinner that night -a group I figured would relax in front of the cameras. As exec producer Mark Burnett himself told me earlier in the day, sooner or later everyone forgets that cameras are there. No.

Maybe later, but not sooner especially if you're there for one night and the camera crews are lurking about like armed terrorists.

In fact, when the cameras showed up at my table, I felt forced to be clever - and failed miserably I might add.

My Love Interest, attorney Sid Davidoff, got fed up with the noise level and asked if he could vote some of the patrons off the show.

Radio talk show host Mark Simone, with whom I do a TV show on NY1, didn't have the patience for any of it - starting with being forced to sign releases outside in a tent in the rain, and ending with not being seated - so he split.

Zarela, my friend, a celebrity chef herself and owner of restaurant Zarela, was the only one who kept her cool - and actually evaluated the food. "If it can taste good cold as we had it," she said, "I imagine it will be delicious once it's served at the right temperature and pace - without camera crews around."

Don't count on the pace slowing down, although I assume the meatballs will be heated up sometime in the future.

I doubt if my reality in the future will include another visit to Rocco's. For one thing, I'll never get in again. And for another, this is one of those places where thin people eat pasta and drink Martinis and never get fat or run out of (sorry) dough.

It's not my scene, but everybody will want to be seen there

Ryn

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 09:15 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
not sure if that is the review he will read - but it gives you a sense of how she felt.

Ryn

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 09:16 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
lol - deja vue ;)

Scorpiomoon

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 09:18 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
LOL! Ryn!

It's dualing Google searches! And you won, damn it!

She points out the noise level in the place. I have to admit, I noticed too and wondered how people kept their sanity while being in such a crowded, noisy space.

I wonder why the proposal thing didn't air. (or maybe they will edit it in later).

Pamy

Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 09:39 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
ROTF about her love interest wanting to vote patrons off!! LOL
Thanks for finding the article, both of you!!!

Babyruth

Monday, August 04, 2003 - 07:31 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks for finding and posting the review! :) I was hoping to read it somehere. It was one of the few interesting parts of last night's show for me.

As much as I am eager to like this show, two things make it difficult. One, the excessive product placement. Way over the top compared to other shows. It's distracting and annoying.

The second (and much bigger) thing is the fact that this show, despite the abundant interesting chaos of the situation to draw from, is so heavily scripted. I wanted to throw something at the TV when they showed the female employee talking on the phone with the waiter who was trying to organize a meeting. Gee, how lucky they were to happen to have a cameraperson in her apartment when he called! Much of last night's "the boss is a jerk" theme felt very planned and scripted, and that was a turnoff for me. I was hoping to watch some real behind the scenes drama in this show.

It's one thing to create a story from throwing people into a contrived situation, and then editing interesting events and conversations after the fact, as Mark Burnett does in the show, "Survivor". It's another to plan the entire storyline first, hire a bunch of actors, and then present it as "reality". It's not working for me.

I guess I was hoping for a "real" reality show, and would have preferred a show created from footage, not for it. Yuck. Pass the Tums.

Bastable

Monday, August 04, 2003 - 08:05 am EditMoveDeleteIP
It's embarrassing, but I know one of the guys who was responsible for the product placement! He's exactly the type of person you probably imagine him to be--charming, together, with it, but not at all appealing. I agree that the product placement makes the entire show reek of falseness.

Realfan

Monday, August 04, 2003 - 09:02 am EditMoveDeleteIP
The worst product placement in the history of product placements has to be Rocco on the phone with American Express, saying he was bleeding money (what, he just realized this after THREE DAYS?), then saying how wonderful it was that he would be getting an "American Express Short-Term Bridging Loan" or whatever. It sounded WAY fake, like right out of a commercial, and not a good commercial. Maybe the waiters are actors, but Rocco isn't.

My son and his friends came in during the Gideon segment. Why did he go home early? Last I saw, Rocco was telling him to answer phones. And how annoying was it to hear Rocco say, "He SAYS he broke his elbow. But he's not wearing a cast." Talk about trusting your employees' word. Uh, Rocco, they don't ALWAYS put casts on breaks. My son broke his wrist, and he wore a brace. Gideon probably had a hairline fracture or bone chip--obviously it isn't a complete break. Duh.

Rocco and feeling up the women's thighs was just unnecessary to see on my TV. UGH.

That restaurant is SO loud, made worse on TV by the LOUD music they play over the conversations. I wouldn't want to eat there. Sounds like I'd never get in anyway, not being one of the "beautiful people." I still don't get the paper baskets and linen napkins/silverware--glad to see one of the waiters didn't either. I hate getting my food cold. Ugh.

Ocean_Islands

Monday, August 04, 2003 - 09:46 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I decided I don't like this show at all. I'm sick of 'Rocco' and his name dropping smarminess.