Created by Christopher Storer, The Bear was a runaway television success story when it first premiered the summer of 2022. The story of Carmy Berzatto (White)—the prodigal son chef returning home from years in the fine dining world to run his family’s beef sandwich shop following his brother’s death—clearly resonated. It was both a poignant excavation of grief and lively, crackling entertainment, with an ensemble cast of characters that was easy to love: type-A sous chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), cousin Ritchie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), gentle pastry wizard Marcus (Lionel Boyce), mechanic Neil (Matty Matheson), and old heads Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson) and Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas).
It nabbed 13 Emmy nominations, while White won a Golden Globe, a SAG, and a Critics Choice award for lead actor.
By season two, The Bear had become one of the hottest properties on television. The storyline focused on the crew building out a new, inventive, and upscale restaurant in the place where The Original Beef of Chicagoland once was (called, yes, The Bear). Hollywood seemed to get their agents on the phone en masse for a role, with Olivia Colman, Will Poulter, John Mulaney, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, and Gillian Jacobs all guest-starring. Molly Gordon also joined the cast as Claire, Carmy’s love interest.
Two episodes in particular were standouts: episode four, a tender saga of Marcus on a trip to Copenhagen for pastry school directed by Ramy Youssef, and episode six, a Christmas flashback and master class in family dysfunction. It ended with Carmy locked in a walk-in freezer (sans NN07 patchwork jacket).
More on June 27th. In the meantime, you know we have to say it: yes, chef.
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