The Chopping Block (American TV series)

*The Chopping Block*
The Chopping Block
Presented by	Marco Pierre White
Theme music composer	Duffy (Mercy)
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producers	David Barbour and Julian Cress
Producer	Granada America
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	11 March –; 24 July 2009
Related
	The Chopping Block (Australian version)

The Chopping Block is an American reality television series, based on the Australian 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.^[1] The series completed "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.^[2] 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.^{[citation needed]}

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 Manhattan. 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.^[3]

Contestants

The first season consisted of 8 teams of 2 participants each:

Angela Brown-Johnson & Samantha Johnson from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Alex (Zan) McCoy & Nate (Than) McCoy from Cabin John, Maryland
Panya Rice & Michael Holmes from Atlanta, Georgia
Mikey Torres & Chad Phillips from Washington, D.C.
Lisa Stalvey & Michael Anapol from Los Angeles, California
Denise Nguyen & Khoa Nguyen from Washington, D.C.
Kelsey Henderson & Vanessa Henderson from Los Angeles, California
Dean Della Ventura & Shari Della Ventura from Millbury, Massachusetts

Episode results

Teams	Relationship	1	2	3¹	4²	5²	6²	7²*	FINALE²
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]
Kelsey & Vanessa	Sisters	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	WIN	WIN	WIN	WINNER
Anapol & Lisa	Ex-Husband & Wife	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	WIN	WIN	FINALIST	RUNNER-UP
Dean & Shari	Married	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	IN	OUT
Angie & Samantha	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

^Note 1 : The show was cancelled after three episodes.
^Note 2 : 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.

^Note * : 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

US Nielsen ratings

U.S. Ratings

Order	Episode	Rating	Share	Rating/Share (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

References

^ "The Chopping Block cancelled | TV Series Finale". Archived from the original on 2009-03-31. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
^ http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/the-chopping-block-cancelled-coming-back/ ^{[dead link]}
^ Knox, David (2008-03-18). "NBC re-heats 'improved' Chopping Block". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 2009-03-27.

External links

[1] "The Chopping Block cancelled | TV Series Finale". Archived from the original on 2009-03-31. Retrieved 2009-03-28.

[2] ttp://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/the-chopping-block-cancelled-coming-back/ ^{[dead link]}

[3] Knox, David (2008-03-18). "NBC re-heats 'improved' Chopping Block". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 2009-03-27.

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