Suspicion Confirmed: Gordon Ramsay Isn't Always Completely Insufferable
Tuesday, July 10, 2007 | posted by Mike
First off, for those of you who have been following Hell's Kitchen closely, the individual who received an inordinate number of online wagers is still in the running. Should be interesting...
As you know, we at TVFF like Gordo. Although we suspected that we might be deluding ourselves, we always believed that the whole "abusive personality" thing was just an act and that -- deep down inside -- there was a heart of gold. The only thing that kept us going was tales of a show called Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.
Much like the Loch Ness Monster (supposedly from Gordon's homeland of Scotland) and the Jackalope, we had heard about this elusive show but never actually witnessed it. This was because, for a while, we lived in a location that didn't receive BBC America. Then, after we moved, I was just too lazy to find BBC America among the 1,084 cable channels we now receive.
But I can now assure you, dear reader, that Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares does exist, and that our faith was well-founded.
Actually, we've had quite a number of commenters weigh in on this and the consensus is correct...RKN shows a side of Gordon Ramsay that bears only a passing resemblance to the character that we see every week during Hell's Kitchen and which we will undoubtedly see on the version of Kitchen Nightmares coming to US television (they've begun running promos for it on HK and it looks like more of the same).
Let me be clear that this is not a warm and cuddly version of Ramsay. There's still the cursing, the frustration and the quick temper. But the tone is just so different. You do honestly get the feel that he cares about the restaurant owner that he's trying to help. It's a good show, and the voice-over provided by Ramsay gives insights into his character that you'll never get from his 30-second dissertation on why the latest contestant was shown the door on HK.
Enough of this...why listen to me recap the show when you can just check it out for yourself? I wish you better luck in tracking it down than I initially had. They feature RKN on Thursday nights on BBC America.
The one question I do still have is this: Why the different personalities? Is there some sort of transformation that takes place when you cross a line of longitude somewhere over the Atlantic?
At the risk of letting Ramsay off the hook (I'm sure he deserves some criticism for allowing producers to play up his worst traits), I think it might be a safe bet to point the finger at the FOX Network -- the folks who brought you Temptation Island and Joe Millionaire. I'm no snob, and I completely enjoy some lower-brow television programming every now and again, but I wouldn't count on any FOX reality shows taking home a Peabody any time soon.
This has always been the puzzling thing about FOX for me. The same network that stayed with perhaps the smartest comedy on television (Arrested Development) for three seasons despite sub-par ratings regularly serves up some of the most intellectually deficient programming ever.
Labels: Gordon Ramsay
