Long Overdue Props: Vol. Iron Chef

It's been almost 15 years since Iron Chef debuted, more than eight years since they stopped filming new ones, and about five years since I watched it regularly, so the props I am about to issue fit the theme of this feature, which is to say they are indeed long overdue.

The show's premise was simple, a chef from a nice Japanese restaurant faces off against one of the "house chefs," creating several dishes that feature the theme ingredient. The ingredient is chosen at the top of the show by the program's host, Takeshi Kaga, equal parts enigmatic, flashy, and fictional.

Ever since I saw Chairman Kaga bite into that pepper and stifle a laugh in the show's dramatic opening, I was in love with this program. It's hard to capture the excitement of Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai, who looked like he better belonged as an extra in a Dirk Diggler movie than in Kitchen Stadium, racing against the clock to beat an uppity challenger before the panel of celebrity judges.

And where would we be without the excitement of floor reporter Shinichiro Ohta, the precision of play-by-play guy Kenji Fukui, and the cool voice of experience from colorman Dr. Yukio Hattori. Dubbed, of course.

Iron Chef, it has been too long. Please accept these props, no matter how overdue they may be.