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| 2001 television program debuts | |
| 2000s american television series | |
| television spin-offs | |
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Like the original Japanese series, the show featured an eccentric chairman, played by William Shatner , who creates his own "Gourmet Academy" with four elite chefs who take on challengers in a specially-constructed "Kitchen Stadium" ("Kitchen Arena" in ICUSA). However, unlike the original, and the later ''Iron Chef America'' adaptation, Kitchen Arena was set in an auditorium in the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas and not on a Sound Stage . Fans of the series, and critics at large, point to many aspects of the show for the reason why the series failed. Among the most notable reasons was the audience factor: the original ''Iron Chef'' (and ''Iron Chef America'') had only minimal guest and VIP seating, while ''Iron Chef USA'' was shown in front of a larger audience. The audience also tended to be louder and rowdier, in sharp contrast to the relatively quiet audiences of ''Iron Chef''. Another sharp point of criticism was directed at the commentators, who often showed little in terms of their knowledge of food (with lines such as "''What? It's the Sperm ? We eat that?''"). However, critics saw Shatner's portrayal of the chairman in ''Iron Chef USA'' as a redeeming quality, as his performance paid homage to Takeshi Kaga and his antics on ''Iron Chef''. FORMAT Like the original ''Iron Chef'', chefs are given 60 minutes and a theme ingredient (called a "secret" ingredient) to create their culinary creations. Unlike the original, however, chefs bring in their own assistants, and are required to prepare five dishes. The dishes are judged by four celebrity judges (none of which are food experts or food critics), and the chef with the higher rating is declared the winner. Curiously, the scoring system used was different from the one used on ''Iron Chef'' and later on ''Iron Chef America''. CHEFS AND CREW In addition to Shatner as the chairman of Gourmet Academy USA, Michael Burger and Anthony Dias Blue played the roles of play-by-play and color commentator, with Sissy Biggers serving as the floor reporter. The four Iron Chefs are, presented from left-to-right when they are first introduced:
Of the four Iron Chefs, only Stratta and English saw action on ''Iron Chef USA'', both being victories in favor of the Iron Chef. English later competed on Iron Chef America , but no mention was made of his sole battle as Iron Chef.
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