So, who watched Kitchen Nightmares last night?  Of course, I felt personally obligated to as a Gordon Ramsay fan.

Anyway, I’ve seen the BBC version of this show, where Gordon does the same exact thing in British restaurants.  Let’s just say that Fox certainly “dramatacized” and ”reality-TV-ized” this show.  The corny announcer, the suspenseful music, the fist fights… I was almost certain that the entire show was staged until I read the message boards on Fox’s website.  Apparently the crazy people in the Babalon restaurant were not faking it.  

The self-involved restaurant namesake (I think the restaurant was called something like, “Peter’s place”), did absolutely no work on the failing restaurant but had no problems buying a Mercedes, Rolex, and 3 thousand dollar suits and walking around the restaurant pretending he was on the set of the Godfather.   Let’s punctuate this with a suitable New Yorker expression— “Oy.”

Though the show was a little overdramatic, I’ll still be watching.  It’s a lot more entertaining than the British blokes standing there dumbfounded while Gordon yells at them.

In other TV news, I’m really looking forward to the Ugly Betty season premiere next week.  I re-watched last season’s finale tonight and was overcome with emotions yet again. (Yes, I know it’s just a stupid TV show.)  The series of events combined with the West Side Story soundtrack are just a little bit much for me to bear.  I need to know what happens next!

Posted by Carrie on Thursday, September 20, 2007
Categories: celebrity chefs, culture, television · 3 Comments »