In March 2021, FX ordered a pilot for The Bear to be written and directed by Storer, and the series was given a full season order in October 2021. Filming for the season began in February 2022 in Chicago, and wrapped in March of that year. The season consists of eight episodes.
The season received critical acclaim. It received ten Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series and acting wins for White, Moss-Bachrach, and Edebiri, making it the season of television with the most wins in a single year for a comedy series until the record was beaten by the series' second season. The season was the most-watched comedy series in FX's history.
In the summer of 2022, James Beard Award-winning chef Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto returns home to Chicago to manage The Original Beef of Chicagoland, a rundown River North restaurant owned by his brother Michael, who recently died by suicide. His brother's best friend, Richie Jerimovich, and the stubborn staff resist Carmy's efforts to modernize the restaurant. Carmy hires Culinary Institute of America-trained chef and Chicago native Sydney Adamu, who wants to help him fix the restaurant because it was her father's favorite.
2
2
"Hands"
Christopher Storer
Christopher Storer
June 23, 2022 (2022-06-23)
In a flashback, Carmy works at a fine dining restaurant in New York City where his boss verbally abuses him. In the present, Carmy attempts to overhaul the menu as he faces continued resistance from the staff members who fail to show him respect. Carmy's sister, Natalie "Sugar" Berzatto, attempts to help but struggles to connect with him. After a health inspector discovers multiple safety and sanitation issues, the restaurant is given a "C" rating. Carmy discovers how poorly the restaurant has been managed, and that his brother owed $300,000 to their family friend, Jimmy (referred to as "Uncle Cicero"). Cicero offers to buy the restaurant from Carmy, who refuses the offer but promises to pay back his brother's loan. Sydney wants to be paid as a proper sous-chef. Richie reveals to Sydney that Michael wouldn't allow Carmy to work in the restaurant when he was younger and that he shot himself in the head four months earlier.
Carmy attends an Al-Anon meeting in an attempt to better understand his brother's struggles with addiction. At the restaurant, he introduces a brigade de cuisine-style kitchen and relies on the ill-prepared and increasingly frustrated Sydney to manage it. After initial failures, the staff begins to connect to their new roles – particularly Marcus, the passionate baker. Sydney confronts Carmy about being missing most of the day after not listening to her reservations about the new hierarchy. Carmy agrees that they need to collaborate and listen to each other if the business is going to succeed.
4
4
"Dogs"
Christopher Storer
Sofya Levitsky-Weitz
June 23, 2022 (2022-06-23)
Carmy and Richie cater a children's birthday party for Cicero. Carmy creates homemade Ecto cooler, which is accidentally spiked with Richie's Xanax, causing the children to fall asleep in the yard. When Carmy tells Cicero about the Xanax, Cicero responds that he actually doesn't mind the quiet. Meanwhile, Sydney butts heads but eventually bonds with the restaurant staff and begins to earn their respect. Marcus becomes passionate about his new chocolate cake program.
5
5
"Sheridan"
Joanna Calo
Karen Joseph Adcock
June 23, 2022 (2022-06-23)
To try to increase profits, Carmy and Sydney agree to create a new dinner menu. As they prepare to open for lunch, a toilet backs up. Carmy calls Fak, Richie's friend, to fix it. Fak wants to be an employee but his informal interview with Richie culminates in a fight which Carmy breaks up. Fak reveals that Richie has been selling cocaine in the alley behind the restaurant; Richie explains that this got the business through the COVID-19 pandemic but agrees to stop. Marcus experiments with fermentation, but neglects his baking duties. As he rushes to catch up, he overloads the mixer and causes a fuse to blow. With the power out, the crew scramble to save their perishables. When Fak informs Carmy it will cost over $5,000 to replace a damaged condenser, he asks Richie to get the money by selling cocaine one final time. Sydney saves the day by running an outdoor lunch service using a makeshift barbecue setup, causing her to reflect on her failed catering business.
Sydney develops a risotto meal for an upcoming dinner menu, but Carmy rejects it; Sydney serves it to a customer anyway. Natalie comes to the restaurant to figure out the restaurant's unpaid taxes and she and Carmy search for the missing documents. Marcus continues to work hard on developing donuts but finds himself behind on restaurant work. The restaurant has its windows shot out by stray gunfire, and Richie asks the local gangsters to find out who did it. Later, the gangsters get into a scuffle, which Sydney breaks up by offering them leftovers; Richie feels left out and unneeded because of Sydney's success and calls the police on the gangsters.
Ebraheim reads aloud a very positive review of the restaurant, which especially mentions the risotto that Sydney served (unknowingly) to a food critic. Tina's son gets suspended from school and she brings him to the restaurant to learn culinary skills. Just before the lunch rush, the team learns that Sydney left the preorder option active on their newly computerized to-go service, generating more orders than they can fill. Carmy gets angry with Sydney and Marcus. Sydney accidentally stabs Richie in the chaos and announces her immediate resignation as Carmy begins to mentally deteriorate.
Carmy attends an Al-Anon meeting and shares that he started in the restaurant business because his brother didn't let him work at The Beef. Sydney and Marcus meet at her apartment and discuss their futures after they both quit due to Carmy's outburst. The Beef hosts a bachelor party, where a fight breaks out and Richie is arrested for nearly killing a guest. The man recovers and Richie is charged with aggravated assault. Marcus returns to work and Carmy apologizes. Carmy accidentally starts a stove fire and takes no action, and the other chefs extinguish it. Richie gives Carmy a letter left to him by Michael, which includes a spaghetti recipe with the direction to use smaller cans of tomatoes because they taste better. Carmy opens one of the cans and finds hundred-dollar bills hidden inside; they close the restaurant for the day, open all of the cans, and find more hidden money. Sydney returns after Carmy sends her a text with an apology and suggestions for improvements to her risotto dish. Carmy hangs a sign announcing that The Beef is closed and that a new restaurant called The Bear will be opening soon.
Production
Development
FX ordered a pilot for The Bear in March 2021, to be written and directed by series creator and co-showrunner Christopher Storer.[2] In October 2021, FX greenlit the series for a full-season order, scheduled for a 2022 premiere date.[3][4] The season was produced by FX Productions (FXP), with Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson, Joanna Calo and Josh Senior serving as executive producers. Matty Matheson, who portrays Neil Fak in a recurring role in the season, serves as a consulting producer.[5] The sandwich shop interior is copied from the Chicago restaurant Mr. Beef on Orleans Street, in River North. Storer was a frequent patron and a friend of the owner's son.[6]
Storer wrote four of the eight episodes, and co-showrunner Joanna Calo wrote two. The rest of the episodes were written by Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Karen Joseph Adcock, Catherine Schetina and Rene Gube. The scripts for all the episodes in the season were submitted to the Writers Guild of America on May 6, 2022.[10]
Filming
Principal photography for the season began in February 2022, and wrapped on March 31, 2022, in Chicago. Storer directed five of the eight episodes, with the other three being directed by Calo.[11] The seventh episode of the season, "Review", features an 18 minute long take.[12]
Release
The season released on FX on Hulu in the United States on June 23, 2022, with all eight episodes.[13] Internationally, the season became available to stream in the Star hub on Disney+.[14]
Reception
Audience viewership
The first season of The Bear was the most watched program during the week of July 22, 2022,[15][16] and the second-most-watched program across all platforms during the weeks of July 3, and July 13, and July 17, 2022.[17][18][19] According to FX, the first season was the most-watched comedy series in the network's history.[20][21][22]
Critical response
The first season received an approval rating of 100% with an average rating of 8.7/10, based on 80 critic reviews on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critics consensus reads, "Like an expertly confected sandwich, The Bear assembles a perfect melange of ingredients and stacks them for optimal satisfaction—and thankfully keeps the crust-iness for extra flavor."[23] Metacritic gave the season a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on 24 critic reviews.[24]
The season received critical acclaim, with multiple awards nominations and wins. The season won ten Primetime Emmy Awards for its 13 nominations, making it the season of television with the most wins in a single year for a comedy series, until the record was beaten by the series' second season.[29] The following is a list of awards the first season of The Bear has been nominated for or won.
^Nordyke, Kimberly (January 15, 2024). "Emmy Awards: Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
