The Bear season 1

The first season of the American comedy-drama television series The Bear premiered with all episodes on June 23, 2022, on FX on Hulu. Christopher Storer and Joanna Calo serve as showrunners for the season. Jeremy Allen White stars as Carmy Berzatto, an award-winning chef who returns to his hometown of Chicago to manage the chaotic kitchen at his deceased brother's sandwich shop. The supporting cast includes Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, and Abby Elliott.

The Bear
Season 1
Promotional poster
Showrunners	Christopher Storer Joanna Calo
Starring	Jeremy Allen White Ebon Moss-Bachrach Ayo Edebiri Lionel Boyce Liza Colón-Zayas Abby Elliott
No. of episodes	8
Release
Original network	FX on Hulu
Original release	June 23, 2022 (2022-06-23)
Season chronology
List of episodes

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.

Cast and characters

Main

• Jeremy Allen White as Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richard "Richie" Jerimovich
• Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu
• Lionel Boyce as Marcus Brooks
• Liza Colón-Zayas as Tina Marrero
• Abby Elliott as Natalie "Sugar" Berzatto

Recurring

• Matty Matheson as Neil Fak
• Jon Bernthal as Michael "Mikey" Berzatto
• Joel McHale as David Fields
• Edwin Lee Gibson as Ebraheim
• Corey Hendrix as Gary "Sweeps" Woods
• Oliver Platt as Jimmy "Cicero" Kalinowski
• José Cervantes as Angel, a dishwasher at The Beef.
• Richard Esteras as Manny, a dishwasher at The Beef.
• Chris Witaske as Pete, Natalie's earnest and buoyant husband.

Guest

• Christopher Zucchero as "Chi-Chi"^[a]
• Carmen Christopher as Chester
• Gillian Jacobs as Tiffany "Tiff" Jerimovich (uncredited^[b])
• Amy Morton as Nancy Chore
• Molly Ringwald as the meeting leader at the Al-Anon meetings that Carmy attends.

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"System"	Christopher Storer	Christopher Storer	June 23, 2022 (2022-06-23)
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.
3	3	"Brigade"	Joanna Calo	Christopher Storer	June 23, 2022 (2022-06-23)
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.
6	6	"Ceres"	Joanna Calo	Catherine Schetina & Rene Gube	June 23, 2022 (2022-06-23)
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.
7	7	"Review"	Christopher Storer	Joanna Calo	June 23, 2022 (2022-06-23)
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.
8	8	"Braciole"	Christopher Storer	Christopher Storer & Joanna Calo	June 23, 2022 (2022-06-23)
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]

Casting

Jeremy Allen White portrays chef Carmy Berzatto in the series.

On May 21, 2021, it was announced that Shameless star Jeremy Allen White would be starring in the pilot for The Bear in the leading role, alongside co-stars Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Lionel Boyce, Abby Elliott and Matheson.^[7] In October 2021, Liza Colón-Zayas was announced to be joining the main cast, with Matheson and Edwin Lee Gibson starring in a recurring capacity.^[8] The season features many guest stars, including Oliver Platt, Joel McHale and Jon Bernthal.^[9]

Writing

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 American Film Institute named the first season one of the ten best television programs of the year.^[25] The Guardian named the season number one of the best 100 TV shows of 2022, describing it as "the best workplace drama since Mad Men".^[26][27] The Bear appeared in the top ten on numerous publications' "Best of 2022" lists, including first for The A.V. Club, BBC, People, and TVLine, among others.^[28]

Accolades

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.

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2022	American Film Institute Awards	Top 10 Programs of the Year	The Bear	Won[c]	[25]
	Gotham Awards	Outstanding Performance in a New Series	Ayo Edebiri	Nominated	[30]
	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Bingeworthy Show of 2022	The Bear	Nominated	[31]
2023	AACTA International Awards	Best Drama Series	The Bear	Nominated	[32]
		Best Actor in a Series	Jeremy Allen White	Nominated
	American Film Institute Awards	Top 10 Television Programs	The Bear	Won[c]	[33]
	Astra TV Awards	Best Streaming Series, Comedy	The Bear	Nominated	[34] [35]
		Best Actor in a Streaming Series, Comedy	Jeremy Allen White	Won
		Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Series, Comedy	Ebon Moss-Bachrach	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress in a Streaming Series, Comedy	Ayo Edebiri	Won[d]
		Best Directing in a Streaming Series, Comedy	Christopher Storer (for "Review")	Nominated
		Best Writing in a Streaming Series, Comedy	Christopher Storer (for "System")	Won
	Astra Creative Arts TV Awards	Best Casting in a Comedy Series	The Bear	Nominated
		Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Jon Bernthal	Nominated
	Black Reel Television Awards	Outstanding Supporting Performance, Comedy Series	Ayo Edebiri	Nominated	[36]
	British Academy Television Awards	Best International Programme	The Bear	Nominated	[37]
	Cinema Audio Society Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Series – Half Hour	Scott D. Smith, Steve Giammaria, Patrick Christensen, Ryan Collison, Connor Nagy (for "Review")	Nominated	[38]
	Critics' Choice Awards	Best Comedy Series	The Bear	Nominated	[39]
		Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Jeremy Allen White	Won
		Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Ayo Edebiri	Nominated
	Directors Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series	Christopher Storer (for "Review")	Nominated	[40]
	Dorian TV Awards	Best TV Comedy	The Bear	Nominated	[41] [42]
		Best Supporting TV Performance – Comedy	Ayo Edebiri	Won
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy	The Bear	Nominated	[43]
		Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy	Jeremy Allen White	Won
	Golden Reel Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Broadcast Short Form	Steve "Major" Giammaria, Jonathan Fuhrer, Evan Benjamin, Annie Taylor, Leslie Bloome (for "Review")	Won	[44]
	Independent Spirit Awards	Best New Scripted Series	The Bear	Won	[45]
		Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series	Ayo Edebiri	Won
			Ebon Moss-Bachrach	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Comedy Series	The Bear	Won	[46] [47]
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Jeremy Allen White (for "Braciole")	Won
		Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Ebon Moss-Bachrach (for "Ceres")	Won
		Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Ayo Edebiri (for "Review")	Won
		Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series	Christopher Storer (for "Review")	Won
		Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series	Christopher Storer (for "System")	Won
	Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Jon Bernthal (for "Braciole")	Nominated
			Oliver Platt (for "Dogs")	Nominated
		Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour)	Sam Lisenco, Eric Dean, and Emily Carte (for "System")	Nominated
		Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series	Jeanie Bacharach, Jennifer Rudnicke, Mickie Paskal, AJ Links	Won
		Outstanding Picture Editing for a Single-Camera Comedy Series	Joanna Naugle (for "System")	Won
		Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation	Steve "Major" Giammaria, Evan Benjamin, Jonathan Fuhrer, Annie Taylor, Chris White, Leslie Bloome, Shaun Brennan (for "Review")	Won
		Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation	Steve "Major" Giammaria, Scott D. Smith (for "Review")	Won
	Producers Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy	The Bear	Won	[48]
	Satellite Awards	Best Drama Series	The Bear	Nominated	[49]
		Best Actor in a Drama / Genre Series	Jeremy Allen White	Nominated
	Set Decorators Society of America Awards	Best Achievement in Décor/Design of a Half-Hour Single-Camera Series	Eric Frankel, Merje Veski	Nominated	[50]
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, Ayo Edebiri, Abby Elliott, Edwin Lee Gibson, Corey Hendrix, Matty Matheson, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Jeremy Allen White	Nominated	[51]
		Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series	Jeremy Allen White	Won	[52]
	Television Critics Association Awards	Program of the Year	The Bear	Nominated	[53]
		Outstanding New Program		Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Comedy		Won
		Individual Achievement in Comedy	Ayo Edebiri	Nominated
			Jeremy Allen White	Nominated
	Writers Guild of America Awards	Comedy Series	Karen Joseph Adcock, Joanna Calo, Rene Gube, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Alex O'Keefe, Catherine Schetina, Christopher Storer	Won	[54]
		New Series		Nominated
		Episodic Comedy	Joanna Calo and Christopher Storer (for "Braciole")	Nominated

Notes

1. Zucchero is erroneously credited in season 1's "Hands" and "Brigade" but does not appear in those episodes.
2. Though uncredited, Jacobs also provided Tiffany's voice when Richie reaches her voicemail in season 1's "Braciole".^[1]
3. This award does not have a single winner, but recognizes multiple programs.
4. Tied with Christina Ricci for Wednesday.