Hello Era,
I consider myself a fairly cynical person. But I was still shocked (SHOCKED I tells yah) earlier this year when I discovered one of my favorite shows, the original Japanese Iron Chef, was not a legitimate competition but IN FACT a crooked reality show. All the trust I had put in this seemingly real institution known as Kitchen Stadium was for nothing! Suckered in by flashing editing and dramatic lighting. Even Chairman Kaga turned out just to be an actor!
And yet...it still works. Iron Chef is the strangest television show ever broadcast in the United States. Both blatantly false and endearingly sincere. Dramatically comfortable. It's a show that frankly could not exist outside of a very specific time and place. And I'll explain that in a second but first...
WTF Is Iron Chef?
It's a reality show themed as a cooking based game show and sport. Each episode is self contained. A chef enters Kitchen Stadium, challenges one of the three Iron Chefs, and they have a cooking contest judged by notable people, and usually the Iron Chef wins. That's it. That's the show.
And maybe you've seen some episodes hosted by Alton Brown or William Shatner or anyone speaking English. That's not the show we're talking about. We're talking about a live action Japanese television show from 1993.
Why Does This Exist?
Please stop for a moment and answer the following questions: What is YOUR favorite live action Japanese show? Did it air in America? And no, sentai does not count. Chances are, you have no answer. That's because dubbing over non English live action shows never really took off. And to air anywhere is so rare, I think Iron Chef may be the only example.
So there was a lot of damn money in the 90s and the internet was hardly a thing. Cable was drowning in money, creating networks on the fly, and desperate for content to sell ads. For this assumed reason, Food Network agreed to fund the translation and dubbing of a Japanese reality show. This was 1999.
Exquisite corpse
But here's where things get weird. For whatever reason, Iron Chef was given a lovingly well done translation. Leaving the original pacing in place while adding some much needed updated graphics. If you're a stickler for authenticity, it's all here. The original names and references were left in.
And yet, it was dubbed? That's right, English speakers essentially translating a sports broadcast. Any old weird thing some guest commentator said about a local restaurant was translated and then warmly preformed by an actor trying to replicate the vocal timbre of the original. Some people call this campy, and I get it, but darn it I really love this translation.
That's why the show is so special. The idea alone is cute but the method by which it was brought to America is cute. And this was not at all some cult show killed before it's time. SOME HOW Food Network paid for at least 189 episodes.
Where and Why To Watch It
There's some channels that host episodes and a pretty popular Twitch channel. But officially? Nope. There's a handful of episodes from a revival series from a few years ago. But the originals seem doomed to bootlegs for the time being.
Now why should you watch it? Because it's fucking great. Every episode is treated like gawd damn Rocky 4 by way of PBS. It is the most absurd concept treated with the utmost respect and dignity of the Olympics. There's so much laughter and charm without a hint of sarcasm. One episode a chef was bit by an octopus. That Earthbound creator is a judge sometimes. It's a lot of weird shit but mostly it's just a feel good show. I strongly recommend it.
