The Bear (TV Program)

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    Cannonball with Wesley Morris: Has Dining Gotten Too Fine on ‘The Bear’?

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    Wesley Morris talks with Samin Nosrat, a chef and food writer, about her love-hate relationship with “The Bear,” a show that’s always racing against the clock. She says the best moments, in the show and in our own kitchens, happen when things slow down.You can listen to the show on your favorite podcast app, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and iHeartRadio, and you can watch it on YouTube:CreditsCannonball is hosted by More

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      ‘The Studio’ Ties Emmys Record for Most Comedy Nominations in a Season

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      Past winners like “Hacks” and “The Bear” lost some ground this year, making Apple TV+’s Hollywood satire starring Seth Rogen the one to beat.Season 1 of Apple TV+’s star-studded Hollywood satire “The Studio,” starring Seth Rogen as the beleaguered head of a fictional movie studio, became the comedy to beat on Tuesday for the 77th Emmy Awards, receiving 23 nominations.The nominations tie it with Season 2 of “The Bear” for the most-nominated season of a comedy series ever heading into the final voting round, which begins on Aug. 18. The award ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 14.Created by Rogen with his longtime creative partner, Evan Goldberg (along with Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory and Frida Perez), “The Studio” seemed, in many ways, perfectly engineered to succeed. For a comedy, it is exceptionally ambitious and well made — beautifully shot and elaborately choreographed, with most scenes filmed as extended single takes, or “oners” in the insider parlance of the show.The show is also, as befits a series from the comedians behind “Superbad,” “Pineapple Express” and “Sausage Party,” very funny, taking aim at the pettiness of executive strivers, the boundless self-regard of celebrities and the industry threats posed by Big Tech and Wall Street. Rogen’s character must fight to preserve his artistic integrity amid the often humiliating demands of his corporate overlords.“It knows its business well enough to be blisteringly entertaining,” The New York Times’s chief TV critic, James Poniewozik, wrote in his review of the series in March, adding: “When ‘The Studio’ is funny, it is funnier than most anything on TV now.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘The Bear’ Is Back, but Where’s the Beef?

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      The restaurant’s business challenge in Season 4 — balancing comfort food and haute cuisine — is also a metaphor for the show’s creative issues.This article discusses events through Season 4 of “The Bear,” now available on Hulu.The new season of “The Bear” is the story of a struggling restaurant and a successful restaurant. They are both the same restaurant.The struggling restaurant is, of course, the title establishment. Season 3 ended with the chef Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) speed-reading a crucial newspaper write-up. (There is no better way to flatter critics than to make your cliffhanger about the contents of a review.) Season 4 reveals that it was mostly a pan, and not the nice, carbon-steel kind. Now the Bear is on a ticking clock — an actual, physical clock — counting the seconds until the “parachute” of investment cash runs out.Bustling happily alongside is the beef-sandwich window, a legacy of the restaurant’s origins as the humble neighborhood joint the Original Beef of Chicagoland. Overseen by Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson), an eager, soft-spoken culinary-school dropout, it hands out dripping Italian beef sandwiches to an endless line of customers.Unlike the Bear, the Beef (if we can call it that) is not fancy. It does not change its menu daily. It does not serve flavored steam or desserts that double as magic tricks. It is not trying to dazzle you with technique. It does one satisfying thing, then comes back and does it again. And, Season 4 suggests, it could be the salvation of the foundering business, as Ebraheim’s new consigliere (Rob Reiner) steers it toward becoming a local franchise.When is a sandwich not just a sandwich? “The Bear,” like many shows about creativity, seems to contain its own critique. The dichotomy of the Bear vs. the Beef embodies an argument over how to make art, one that very much applies to this show — and one that is to some extent the show’s subject.It’s about ambition vs. accessibility, change vs. repetition, consistency vs. risk, complexity vs. simplicity. What do you want when you watch TV — a good sandwich or a challenging tasting menu? Beef or Bear?We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘The Bear’ Season 4: Here Are the Cameos

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      “The Bear” returned for its fourth season this week with high-stakes restaurant drama and high-wattage cameos.“The Bear” returned for its fourth season this week, including plenty of high-stakes restaurant drama along with another series trademark: high-wattage cameos.The 10 episodes are packed with surprise guests from both the food world and Hollywood. There is a master sommelier who appears to offer advice about wine pairings. There is an Oscar winner who stirs up chaos at a wedding.These celebrities drop in amid the continuing story of the tormented wunderkind chef Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) and his fine dining restaurant in his hometown Chicago. The new season opens with Carmy and his crew — including his professional partner, Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), and family friend-turned-colleague Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) — reeling from a mediocre review. There is a new ticking clock indicating how long before the Bear’s money runs out. There is also a big wedding and emotional reconciliations.Here’s who pops up throughout the journey.Alpana SinghIn the second episode, the Bear’s sommelier, Gary (Corey Hendrix), heads to the Chicago restaurant Alpana to meet with the proprietor, Alpana Singh. If you want to learn about wine, she is a good person to consult: Singh is the youngest woman ever to pass the master sommelier exam. Gary is having trouble figuring out pairings because Carmy constantly changes the menu. Singh tells him Pinot Noir is a “sommelier’s best friend.” She also offers the handy tip that you can drink red wine with fish, explaining that it’s not the redness that gets in the way, it’s the tannins. If you can see through a red wine, it should go well with fish. (Something to keep in mind for your next dinner party.)Rob Reiner plays a business consultant who could expand the sandwich operations.FXRob ReinerThe only stable part of the Bear’s business is the sandwich window. (Maybe Carmy should have just focused on serving great Italian beef instead of opening up a wildly ambitious fine dining restaurant!) Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson), who runs the sandwich operation, has big ideas for expansion and a new mentor to help him: Albert, played by Rob Reiner, the director of classics like “When Harry Met Sally …” and “A Few Good Men.” (Reiner is also a TV veteran, as the former Meathead from “All in the Family.”) Albert, who appears throughout the season, is a tough talker who wants to franchise out the beef operation — hopefully he’s as good of a businessman as he makes himself out to be.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Did ‘The Bear’ Bounce Back? Sort of, Chef

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      After a divisive previous season, the fine-dining dramedy regained some momentum. But other aspects of Season 4 might leave fans cold. Here, we recap it all.This recap includes spoilers for all of Season 4 of “The Bear.”Season 3 of the FX/Hulu series “The Bear” was generally well-received by critics and it will probably pick up plenty of Emmy nominations when they are announced next month. But there was a fair amount of fan grumbling when the season debuted last summer.The most common complaints were that the season felt unsatisfying and incomplete, with too much left unresolved, and that it heaped too much misery on the characters. There were fewer of the triumphant moments that made the first two seasons so beloved.It would be a stretch to call Season 4 a comeback because “The Bear” never stopped being top-shelf television — and because the ending of the new season might provoke more howls of frustration. For the most part though, these 10 episodes should give most fans what they want, as our heroes finally start notching some wins again, and, for once, they actually open up to each other.When Season 3 ended, the Chicago fine-dining restaurant the Bear was in big trouble, thanks largely to its co-founder and head chef, Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), whose emotional unavailability and fussy pursuit of perfection resulted in consistent kitchen chaos.The Season 4 premiere, “Groundhogs,” is named for the movie “Groundhog Day,” in which a self-centered man repeats the same mistakes until he learns how to be a better person. The episode begins with what ends up being a turning point for Carmy: a mixed-to-negative Chicago Tribune review of the Bear, praising some of its dishes (including the Italian beef sandwiches served at its lunch window) but blasting the overall “culinary dissonance.”As the season starts, everyone at the Bear is about as low as they can be. To make matters worse, the restaurant’s chief financial backer, “Uncle” Cicero (Oliver Platt) — and his number-cruncher, “the Computer” (Brian Koppelman) — present the kitchen with a large countdown timer. They say the business has enough capital to keep losing money for another two months, but when the clock hits 0:00, if the Bear is not making enough profit to cover costs, it closes.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘The Bear’ Is Back. Here’s What You Need to Know

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      The kitchen dramedy returns Wednesday, a year after its divisive third season ended on a cliffhanger. Here’s what to remember for the new episodes.The FX dramedy “The Bear” arrived on Hulu in the summer of 2022, and unlike a lot of award-winning TV, this series has stuck to a yearly release schedule, always arriving in late June. So get ready to start hearing “Yes, chef!” during everyday interactions.Season 4 debuts in full on Wednesday, returning viewers to the eclectic, vibrant Chicago food scene and the struggling restaurant at the heart of the story, the Bear. At the end of last season, Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), the Bear’s chef and co-owner, had just received a review in The Chicago Tribune that might determine whether or not his place stays open. But viewers still don’t know what it says.They almost certainly will find out in the new episodes, though Christopher Storer, the creator of “The Bear,” likes to keep the show unpredictable. Here are some things to keep in mind going into the new season.Chaos on the menuA quick reminder of how we got here: Carmy, suffering from self-doubt and burnout from his time working at high-end restaurants, returned to run the Original Beef of Chicagoland a few months after the suicide of his brother, Mikey (Jon Bernthal), who had inherited the restaurant from their volatile father. The first season ended with Carmy discovering Mikey had hidden thousands of dollars in tomato cans — enough to settle much of the restaurants’ debts, potentially.Instead, in Season 2, Carmy went deeper into debt with the family’s longtime backer, Jimmy Kalinowski (Oliver Platt), known variously as “Cicero” or “Unc,” to expand the restaurant into a new establishment called the Bear, serving sandwiches for lunch and a Michelin-level menu at night. The soft opening went well, despite a meltdown in the kitchen and a Carmy tantrum inside a walk-in refrigerator.Last season, the Bear built some buzz but still suffered from internal dysfunction, much of it because of Carmy’s persistent, restless reinvention of the menu. It all led up to the make-or-break review, which, based on Carmy’s reaction when he read it, does not seem to be the rave he and his team badly need.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      From ‘The Materialists’ to ‘The Bear,’ Pop Culture Takes Up Smoking Again

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      From movies and TV shows to music, the habit is no longer taboo. It’s even being celebrated for the way it makes characters look cool or powerful.In the new romantic dramedy “Materialists,” about 21st-century dating, Dakota Johnson loves cigarettes.Playing Lucy, a New York matchmaker, she’s puffing when she gossips with a pal during a work party. Later, she holds a lighted cigarette near her face while flirting with an ex. There’s no hand-wringing over her smoking. She’s just a smoker. And she’s wildly on trend. That’s because, at least in the world of entertainment, cigarettes are once again cool.“Materialists” is just the tip of the ash. The musicians Addison Rae and Lorde both mention smoking in recent singles. The stars of “The Bear” are smokers on- and offscreen. The “Housewives” count many among their ranks. Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd smoke in the big-screen comedy “Friendship,” while the chic Seema (Sarita Choudhury) on the series “And Just Like That” does as well. In the kitschy video for her track “Manchild” Sabrina Carpenter uses a fork as a cigarette holder. Even Beyoncé has lit up onstage during her Cowboy Carter Tour. In one instance, she throws the cigarette on a piano, which artfully ignites as she performs “Ya Ya.” If Beyoncé is doing it, you know it’s reached the upper echelon of culture.And these smokers are largely celebrated. The overwhelming sentiment is: Sure, cigarettes are bad for you, but they make you look good — as evidenced by Lucy, who keeps her smokes in an elegant silver case, perhaps to emphasize how sleek the habit is, and brandishes them to show just how effortlessly hot she can look bringing one to her lips.In a still from her music video for “Aquamarine,” Addison Rae wields not one but two cigarettes.Jared Oviatt, the man behind the Instagram account @Cigfluencers, which features photos of celebrities glamorously smoking, told me he had noticed an upswing in material recently. When he started the account in 2021 he had to look harder to find content.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Best Movies and Shows Streaming in June: ‘The Bear,’ ‘Phineas and Ferb,’ and More

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      “Phineas and Ferb,” ”The Bear” and “The Gilded Age” are coming back, and “We Were Liars,” “Hell Motel” and “Stick” debut.Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to their libraries. Here are our picks for some of June’s most promising new titles. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)New to Amazon Prime Video‘We Were Liars’Starts streaming: June 18This adaptation of E. Lockhart’s award-winning young adult novel of the same name follows Cadence (Emily Alyn Lind), one of a group of teenage relatives known in the family as “the liars.” (Their parents and their billionaire grandfather, Harris Sinclair (David Morse) called them that because of all of the mischief they got up to and then lied about when they were little.) When one of the summers together at the Sinclair family’s oceanfront estate goes tragically awry, Cadence is left with only vague memories of what happened. She has to piece together the details, with very little help from her bickering aunts or her suddenly and inexplicably aloof cousins. The mystery winds through a flashback-filled story, covering the romances and the regrets of the very rich.Also arriving:June 12“Deep Cover”June 15“The Chosen” Season 5June 25“Countdown” Season 1June 27“Marry My Husband”Eric McCormack in “Hell Motel.”Anthony Fascione for Shaftesbury/ShudderNew to AMC+‘Hell Motel’ Season 1Starts streaming: June 17In the opening scene of the Shudder series “Hell Motel,” a newlywed couple stops on a stormy night at a remote roadside inn, where they are ritually slaughtered by Satanists. Thirty years later, a handful of true-crime enthusiasts and influencers are invited to the motel to promote its reopening. When the guests start dying in gruesome ways, the survivors have to figure out who among them might be responsible. “Hell Motel” was cocreated by Aaron Martin and Ian Carpenter, whose anthology series “Slasher” paid similar homage to classic horror and mystery tropes. Eric McCormack stars as a creepy celebrity chef, whose snide attitude exemplifies the kind of questionable characters who have gathered at this place, any one of whom could be a potential victim — or a potential killer.‘Nautilus’ Season 1Starts streaming: June 29A reimagining of Jules Verne’s “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas,” this adventure series has Shazad Latif playing the infamous Captain Nemo. In this version of the story, Nemo has been held in a prison in India, forced to do slave labor in helping to design and build a technologically advanced submarine, the Nautilus, for a tyrannical British mercantile company. When Nemo and several of his cellmates break out of jail and steal the ship, they embark on a mission to the farthest reaches of the seas, to find treasure and infuriate colonialists. “Nautilus” plays a little like an ocean-bound, steampunk “Star Trek,” following a motley crew of honorable outlaws as they explore the unknown.Also arriving:June 1“Dead Silence”“Insidious”June 2“Relative Secrets”June 5“The Killer Clown: Murder on the Doorstep”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      “Shogun” Emmy Win Lifts FX Past Bigger Rivals

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      The network has been a darling among critics for years. But it hit a new high on Sunday, with “Shogun” winning best drama and “The Bear” picking up several awards as well.When the “Shogun” writer and producer Justin Marks stormed the Emmys stage after his show won best drama on Sunday night, his first order of business was to pay tribute to the people who helped bring him there: the executive team at FX.How, he wondered aloud, did the network approve a show that was extremely expensive, and would be mostly subtitled in Japanese?“I have no idea why you did that, but thank you for your faith in this incredible team,” he said.For roughly two decades, that team at FX has been a darling to television critics with series like “American Horror Story,” “The Americans,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Atlanta.” But the network, with less money at its disposal than rivals such as Netflix and HBO, had never won television’s most prestigious prize, best drama, until Sunday.And that’s not all it won.“Shogun,” an adaptation from a 1975 best-selling book centered on 17th century feudal Japan on the brink of civil war, had a dominant night at the Emmys. It set a record for most Emmys won by a show in a single year, winning 18 in all. It was also the first time a foreign language show (roughly 70 percent of the show was in Japanese) had taken the best drama award that is normally the domain of shows that take place in the United States, the United Kingdom or Westeros.Hiroyuki Sanada in a scene from “Shogun.”Katie Yu/FX, via Associated PressAnother FX show, “The Bear,” won several major Emmys on Sunday night, including three acting awards. But in an upset, Max’s “Hacks” defeated “The Bear” in best comedy series.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More