The success of Hell's Kitchen on Fox led to this American version of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, which has been running on BBC America. I was concerned about Fox doing the US version, given that it's a show that perhaps doesn't need a dose of that Fox attitude.
Based on the first episode, my concerns were only partially allayed.
On the positive side, the show mostly follows the original's blueprint. Ramsay shows up, tries some of the food, watches the workings of the restaurant for a day, and then makes changes. But the way this plays out is wrong. More time was spent showing the staff arguing or the hotheaded restaurant manager looking to fight bill collectors than on talking about turning the restaurant around.
When that does start, the show then gets too Extreme Makeover by springing for new kitchen appliances. The original never did that, and my take is that it allows the manager to get away with the poor decisions he'd previously made regarding the kitchen. I suppose it should be comfort enough that he finally learned that he was the restaurant's biggest problem.
The way the show was put together reminded me of Nanny 911 more than the original of this show. I think it's the production and the voice-overs. Or perhaps it's all the yelling.
Oh, one change that I did not like is that they don't go back to the restaurant to see if the changes had stuck and how the restaurant was now faring. Could be that they taped too recently to do this effectively, but that's an interesting part of the original that they should have kept.
It's not a bad adaptation, but I wish it was more like the original.
