They’ve been showing Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares USA here in the UK recently, and the difference between the UK and the USA versions is very striking. In the UK version, he visits very different restaurants, run by some very individual people, in different circumstances and situations.
Conversely, the USA version seems very formulaic. It’s nearly always a faux-Italian restaurant, run by a tough and disfunctional American family. You can guarantee that the owner won’t realise that he’s driving the rest of his family up the wall. While they seem to be going broke (otherwise why call Gordon Ramsey in - unless, of course, the whole point of the program is just to act as an advertising campaign for all involved), they never recognise that they might be at fault.
When Gordon Ramsey first visits the restaurant, it’s always empty. Subsequently, it’s always full. They seem to be able to get people to come without too much trouble. I have visions of a massive local advertising campaign trumpeting the fact that Gordon Ramsey is filming at the restaurant, so come along and be on (inter) national TV.
We always find that the kitchen is disgustingly dirty, that there’s no communication between family members and staff, that the customers have to wait ages for their orders,and that the menu is over long and is made up of frozen and bought in ingredients. Ramsey simplifies the menu and does some redecorating, the family gasps at the miraculous transformation, kisses, makes up, and everyone, customers and staff, love themselves, each other and Gordon, and we all live happily ever after.
Oh - and everyone calls him *Chef *Ramsey. That doesn’t happen here: he’s either Gordon Ramsey, or ‘that foul mouthed bastard.’
I adore the US version of Kitchen Nightmares. It is so bad, it’s brilliant.
The overly dramatic voiceovers (in the proper US version. The US version that airs in the UK has that redubbed), the overly dramatic music and the editing to make scenes even more dramatic is fantastic.
The best editing was as the show was going into a break and had the voiceover guy doing his stuff, with shots of a fire engine pulling up. That would have got people to stay tuned and watch the place burn down. Turns out it was the fire fighters polling up for a meal.
Another good editing trick they do is to splice diner’s reaction shots into the middle of argument scenes. Which they do even if the argument is taking place after the diners have all gone home.
My absolute favourite thing about it is the crying. That has me cracking up every bloody time.
However, I think NineToTheSky’s description underestimates the ways in which the British version works - Gordon doing vox pops or giving out free samples on the high street is in itself a ‘massive local advertising campaign’ to get the restaurant full, for example. However, it’s true that they don’t follow a single formula when it’s not necessary, not redecorating the place when it’s not needed, sometimes acknowledging that the existing chef has the ability to create good food already, and so on. Perhaps it’s helped by the way it’s only punctuated by advertisments every 10-15 minutes, allowing each episode to follow a different narrative more easily.
The US version seems to involve an expensive makeover paid for by the producers and done by professionals after hours. On the UK version, any makeover is by the restaurant owners and staff and is more minimal.
Ramsay seems to curse more on the US version. I agree that the kitchen is always a mess, but the amazing thing is that this appears to come as a surprise to the owner and general manager. Either the show is faking it or they never go into the back.
I agree, the US version is positively scripted. Every show follows the same dramatic arc, down to the anxious reopening night, when things always go OK at first, then they wobble on the brink of disaster, then recover for a fairly good showing.
I also don’t like that it’s much less about how to run a restaurant and more about interpersonal conflict. The replacement of VO’s by Ramsey about running a restaurant with VO’s by a melodramatic narrator about what an asshole the owner is to his stafff or whatnot is a prime example.
Regarding filling the restaurant, I’ve read that they advertise on Craigslist and pay people to come. Of course everyone is encouraged to voice their unvarnished opinions of the food and service.
Even though I greatly prefer the UK version, I still religiously watch the US version whenever it’s on. I like how the UK version is narrated by Ramsay, seems calmer, focuses more on the food and other restaurant issues (rather than just violent blow-ups), and often shows the softer side of Ramsay. The US version has a tacky narrator and focuses on the arguments and scuffles (with overly dramatic music) rather than the issues that Gordon is trying to fix.
I think the US version suffers from lousy editing undoubtedly pushed by Fox to maintain the constant hot-tempered image of Ramsay popularized by the US version of Hell’s Kitchen.
I agree that the UK version is much, much better, but honestly I love The F Word more than both of them put together. My daughter has a huge crush on Gordon Ramsey, and she DVRs all three shows. One day she made me watch so much Ramsey that I had a dream that night that he came to my house and was trying to convince me to eat my cats!
Agreed, The F Word is great. I like the broken-up pacing of the show - segment on cooking at home with someone, something about his own home food raising, split between courses at the restaurant that day - and he’s more mellow than the over-the-top performances on his US shows. You can tell he cares about food, cooking, and his customers on that show.
I forgot about that part; I love it when they send his food vs. the guest’s food out to be judged by the group.
Did you see the episode where the women from “How Clean Is Your House?” came on as guests? They checked out the cleanliness of the place, including a look at the toilets, and practically molested the man in the kitchen.
The other part of the F Word I like is the segments shown at his house. In three subsequent years, he raised turkeys, pigs and lambs in his backyard, and then had the animals slaughtered and then served at his restaurant. The idea was to show his children (and by extension the audience) where food comes from. It’s a little brutal to watch the animals being slaughtered and butchered (which is shown) but it’s real. It’s funny because his wife clearly doesn’t seem to enjoy having her back garden be torn up. But his children are charming.
I think you’re very slightly overstating things for the US version. It’s not always an Italian joint, for example. He’s done diners and general menu shops. You probably notice the Italian thing because they are, indeed, disproportionately represented, but then again here in the states Italian restaurants are like Indian joints in the UK. You can’t throw a rock without hitting one.
The US version is indeed more formulaic and scripted, and it bugs me. In the UK version, he rarely has to go head to head with the owner over ever little change. In the US version, that’s 50 percent of the show.
One thing I like about both versions is the fact that Gordon finds the beaten down but talented staff members and tries to build them up. That’s more played up in the UK version, but for all his faults I admire the man’s dedication to nurturing genuine talent. I think my favorite example was the young cook at the Gondola in the UK and the Scottish girl he brought over for the vegetarian joint in Paris. When the owner flaked out and the place folded, Gordon hired her for one of his own restaurants.
To be honest, I adore the UK version so much that I can’t even watch the US version – I saw two episodes and was disgusted, it’s just so tacky and formulaic. Whereas the UK edition is up there in my list of favorite shows ever; Gordon is just brilliant, one of the most natural TV personalities/showmen I’ve ever seen. He can be an utter bastard but also immensely likeable, smart, passionate, funny, has a total flair for the dramatic, and for some bizarre reason dead sexy.
I recently saw the special “Great British Nightmares” episodes, and they surprised me – I thought I wasn’t going to like them, as they split his focus between two different restaurants and I feared the format would be a big departure from the one I love, but in fact they turned out to be the most fascinating episodes yet. Gordon was at his absolute best with that screwed-up family restaurant, especially his sympathy towards the wife and the nurturing of the daughter’s role at the restuarant. The father was just a trainwreck. Plus it was fascinating to see Gordon’s angle about the “credit crunch” (what a delicate way of putting it!) and how important it is to support local businesses. And then with the other restaurant, he was fabulous with the frustrated and ill-treated chef. An astonishing couple of hours of TV.
Does anyone know if he plans more, or is the series kaput? I’ve read that he’s planning to do a revisit to the Indian place from the last series, but no word on new episodes. I imagine the US version is stretching him thin. And possibly he’s gotta tend to his real business too. (IIRD I believe he closed one of his restaurants for a few days a week because of the economy.)
I’ve seen one U.S. RKNs and have to say that when Ramsay arranged for the cook(No way was the man a chef) to propose to his longtime girlfriend in the diner,sorry resteraunt in front of all the staff and customers I had to reach for a bucket.
But maybe that wasn’t representative of the series as a whole.
I’ll never know …or care.
I enjoy the UK version much better. The UK version seems to be less slick, more documentary style while the US version seems more slick reality show style. The UK participants for the most part seem to be more natural while the US participants seem more like they are mugging for the camera.
You have to admit, the UK has somewhat of a formula as well. Gordon almost always says something like “You need to cut down the menu, you need to lower the prices, the food needs to be simple, rustic, and using fresh ingredients bought locally.” My family jokes that he is just creating the same restaurant with different local ingredients.
Hey, we like things formulaic and scripted over here. We also like drama, crying, and cussing, and we don’t give much cred to geniuses unless they are hot-tempered and have violent blow-ups.
