Hell's Kitchen

Sixteen chefs compete in the premiere of the eighth season of Hell's Kitchen. Chef Ramsay divides the chefs into teams of women and men, and their first challenge is to create their signature dishes. An early injury sends one chef to the hospital. Massive delays during dinner service lead customers to exit Hell's Kitchen.

The 14 remaining chefs receive a lesson in preparing sushi from Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto before they must do it themselves. One competitor in particular can't seem to learn it.

The 13 remaining chefs must prepare breakfast for 50 hungry EMTs. At dinner service, dover sole bollixes up both the blue and red teams.

The 12 remaining chefs must make ravioli from scratch. And the dinner service features Italian dishes, but it's overcooked salmon and undercooked chicken that prove to be the bugaboos.

The challenge facing the 11 remaining chefs: devise tasting menus for a retro-themed high-school prom, with the losing team having to set up for the prom. Then, appetizers and fish bedevil competitors at dinner service.

The challenge facing the 10 remaining chefs: prepare entrée salads, with the winner to be featured in Bon Appetit magazine. Dinner-service bugaboos: scallops and garnishes.

The 9 remaining chefs create dishes using five ingredients selected at random. The winners visit Las Vegas while the losers peel 1000 potatoes. Guests at the "Family Night" dinner service include Jerry Springer and members of Chef Ramsay's family.

The teams must shop on a budget and prepare elegant dishes for four judges. The winners go sailing and dancing while the losers fumigate Hell's Kitchen. Guests at the black-tie dinner service include four previous winners and cast members of "Glee."

The 8 remaining contestants face a women-vs.-men blind taste test. The winners dine at the L.A. restaurant XIV while the losers sort trash. Undercooking and one chef's overheated conversation with Chef Ramsay mar the dinner service.

The 7 remaining chefs are tested on their cooking precision and communication skills, but dinner service proves disappointing to Chef Ramsay and his guests, L.A. restaurateur Josiah Citrin and the NFL's Matt Cassel. In the end, six chefs remain.

Chef Ramsay challenges the six contestants to create "a single bite" to make a bold first impression on the Michelin-starred L.A. chefs who do the biting. But dinner-service diners leave disappointed and hungry. Later, one chef is asked to leave.

The 5 remaining contestants prepare and serve their signature dishes in downtown-L.A. food trucks at lunchtime. The winner receives a Beverly Hills makeover by hairstylist José Eber and fashion guru Steven Cojocaru, while the losers scrub their trucks and prepare Hell's Kitchen for a dinner service that won't go well.

The 4 remaining chefs must re-create a dish without a recipe, using only their eyesight, their noses and their senses of taste. The winner gets a day at a spa while the losers do the Hell's Kitchen laundry before it's time for another dinner service.

The challenge: create a balanced fusion dish. The judges: Top L.A. chefs Philip Dubose (Asia de Cuba), Helene An (Crustacean) and Lee Hefter (Spago). Then, at dinner service, tempers flare and Chef Ramsay must intervene.

In the Season 8 finale, the final two chefs must prepare five-course meals to be judged by five L.A.-area executive chefs and food-service executives. The winner receives a head-chef position at LA Market at the JW Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles.