Nightmare.

Whilst money is scarce, it appears that our British formats are fleeing to more affluent climes. It seems I can't turn over to the last bastion of decent British television that is... E4... without seeing my 'favourite' reality TV shows suffixed with 'US'. This, to me, a guarantee that they'll be even lower brow than they were before.

We have a full-scale national crisis on our hands. That is, that Gordon Ramsay will not stop until his name (and scarred, melted Stilton-like face) is on every TV show, book, game, CD and bottle of gin in the country. And abroad. Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA is in its second season, and is showing no signs of stopping. Fortunately for those who enjoy watching it, the participants seem to prioritise the thrill of an hour on telly over their own livelihoods, especially when taking into account that 50% of the restaurants shut down less than a year after Ramsay took his sweaty ham fists to their businesses.

It's arguable as to what is being achieved in each episode anyway. If you squint hard enough and press the pause button at the right moment, you'll notice that:

'Someoralloftheguestsfeaturedmayormaynothavebeenpaidtoeatatthefeatured
restaurantandtheshowmayormaynothavebeeneditedtogetherinacompletely
differentordertothatinwhichitwasfilmed.'

So, in short. The entire episode was fictional. Do you feel robbed? I can understand how many hearts went out to the restaurant manager with 'daddy wasn't there' issues. Luckily they solved it with a Rocky-esque montage. Forget the food. Teach that man to box.



Speaking of which, do they cook? Actually, I can't remember. Maybe that's where they're going wrong.