Ramsay's Restaurant Bullying (Ramseys Kitchen Nightmares)

Member Name: eyedo6789

Product:	Ramseys Kitchen Nightmares
Date:	27/03/09 (69 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Watch Human Beings Become Submissive Out Of Fear

Disadvantages: The End Results Are False

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares is a BAFTA and Emmy award winning Channel 4 reality television programme that first aired in 2004 and is still going strong in 2009.

The star of the show is Michelin Star awarded and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay who goes into failing restaurants and tries to grab the whole restaurant operation from top to bottom "by the short and curlies" and give it a good shake in the hope of reviving its commercial fortunes.

The programme used to be littered with swearing and "F Word" derivatives but since the Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross BBC swearing and bad taste incident the producers appear to have "bottled it" and the swearing has been toned down.

Each programme in the series follows a similar pattern. Ramsay finds poor standards of hygiene in the restaurant kitchen and usually unearths a piece of old food at the back of the fridge that will kill someone if served.

He finds that in his opinion the team of chefs are totally inept and not even fit to do up the buttons on his chef's jacket. But he always finds one chef from the group who with a little encouragement from him including calling him "Big Boy" can be taught and inspired to become a good chef, but of course never anywhere near as good as Gordon himself. Oh no, that would be wrong!

Then Gordon moves on to the owner of the restaurant who is usually the restaurant manager too. He tells them that they are a useless waste of space with no business acumen, no idea about how to produce a good menu, manage staff or promote the restaurant and that they are barely able to do a wee wee by themselves.

Understandably, the owner takes great umbrage to this and has to go out into the car park for a calming cigarette or cup of coffee and to record a "piece to camera" expressing their feelings to a camera crew who are already there waiting.

Gordon now turns his attentions to the waiting staff for whom he has held back his most vicious criticism.

Completely ignoring the fact that most of the waiting staff are paid £5.73 per hour, are often forced to pass tips on to the restaurant owners, are studying for law or computing degrees and view a waiting job as a means to an end not a career, Gordon lays into them as if they are employees of N.A.T.O. who by their slack attitude and less than 5 star waitering service are putting the free world at risk of suffering and destruction.

He will criticize every single one of the waiting staff but pick on the weakest meekest one, usually a teenage man, and tell him to "grow a pair of balls" and to become more assertive and motivated when selling items from the menu to the customers.

Gordon's method of achieving this is to take the young man into the middle of a field or a park and shout at him until he obeys.

So basically Gordon is right and everybody is else is wrong. They all resent him but because they are on television and because the restaurant is struggling they go along with every change in how the restaurant operates that he suggests.

To give the restaurant's re-opening a marketing push Gordon goes out with some of the restaurant staff on an evangelical crusade around the streets of the nearest town centre. They take with them samples of the new improved food that they will be selling and preach the gospel of Gordon.

Finally we come to the big night, the reopening of the newly improved restaurant. The menu and food has been improved, the staff are motivated and the owner is full of optimism.

Of course the restaurant is packed out, but this is obviously because word has got out that everyone will be on T.V.

The evening has been a great success and suddenly the staff and owner having absolutely hated the man's guts now all love Gordon and sing his praises stating what a great man and genius he is.

I just wonder how these restaurants are doing 6 months later when the presence of the T.V. crew and Gordon are all but a distant memory?

Summary: This Is An Entertaining Programme But Similar Every Time