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Gordon Ramsay will be bringing his popular Kitchen Nightmares program to an end after one final U.K. season. And who can blame the guy really? From Variety:
“I’ve had a phenomenal 10 years making 123 episodes, 12 seasons, shot across 2 continents, watched by tens of millions of people and sold to over 150 countries. It’s been a blast but it’s time to call it a day,” Ramsay wrote in a post on his personal website.
The cooking reality show premiered in the U.K. in 2004 and the U.S. rendition bowed on Fox in 2007, featuring Ramsay’s visits to struggling restaurants. The chef would spend one week using his expertise trying to help the owners rehabilitate the business.
The format allowed Ramsay to show off his restauranteur bona fides as well as his attempts at family and couples counseling. Last year, the show hit its peak of pop culture buzz with an episode revolving around an Scottsdale, Ariz. eatery, Amy’s Baking Company, run by an over-the-top couple who produced plenty of Internet-friendly viral vid moments.
Ahh, Amy’s Baking Company. The gift that just kept giving and giving until we all got plump, fat, and full of diabetes. It’ll be a shame Ramsay won’t be making another trip back there, just for fun.
But honestly, who can blame him for dropping Kitchen Nightmare’s? He has like four other shows on American television alone and has people willingly signing up to have him scream at them for being sh*tty cooks. He doesn’t need to go traveling around to local restaurants, turning them from dumps into foodie paradises.
I know if I had a chance to bark at willing participants like a drill sergeant in the heat, I’d drop everything else and rush into work. You couldn’t stop me and I’d do it for half the pay that Gordon Ramsay does it for. I can cook well enough.
Do you get what I’m saying, Fox? Call me up, let’s have lunch. I’ll curse out a waiter and throw my food in her face. Here’s an example (NSFW):
(Via Variety)
![[avatar]](https://profilecdn-woven.netdna-ssl.com/photo/52/profile)
I’d rather Ramsay dumped “Hell’s Kitchen.” I stopped watching after each season seemed to become more cliched and filled with stereotypes (the arrogant person who isn’t as good as he/she thinks, the timid one, the loud black person, the overweight one, etc., etc.). Of course, that’s not going to happen. Though I must admit, I did like when he kicked off an arrogant guy early and commented: “He calls himself a Sous Chef. All Sous Chefs know how to do is paperwork!”
Is anyone gonna notice? BBCA will continue running them all into the ground along with that episode of Star Trek where Worf finds a Klingon/Romulan colony. GET SOME GODDAMN QI DAMMIT
Alan Davies recently pointed out why QI will probably never be shown in America. It’s apparently because it would be too expensive to get copyright clearance on all the photos shown behind the contestants.
The British version was much better, it was more spontaneous. The American version lost the appeal on the 3rd season or so. Very formulaic, same set up every single time.
Exactly… The only show I would ever watch with him on it. Need the swearing, it’s that much more effective.
I agree. It was the better program. Then he just went full ass and got all this other work.
All his shows are pretty brutal. They’re not about cooking, they’re about “stories”. Check out Top Chef on Bravo if you want to watch a decent cooking competition.
I’d love to see him revive the F-Word.
Nothing is better than the UK version, “Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares” ….the pace, cadence, tone, and the nonchalant swearing make it a magical hour of documentary television. The US version is a prime example of how Americanizing a show for the US audience turns it into a totally different animal. Peep it on Netflix or BBC America if you get a chance.