Every episode

Hello Gordon, we're the petite bourgeois restaurant owners. We're deluded and running our company into the ground by our denial and constant alienation of our employees.

Hi Gordon, we're the employees. Here's an annotated list of all the things wrong with the restaurant and how to fix it.

Gordon: "Ok owners, get out of the way of your employees."

Owners: "No. You're stupid and we, the small business owner, are right."

Gordon implements fixes that the employees have been clamoring for.

The restaurant immediately succeeds.

Owners: "Well dang, I guess Gordon had a point. What employees?"

The restaurant then either succeeds or fails due to market conditions, or the owners immediately revert back to their old ways and the restaurant instantly nosedives again

Every episode is the same story. Gordon asks the employees what's wrong with the business and they always go "The owner is a fucking moron and is running it into the ground and getting in the way of everyone doing actual good work." and then Gordon forces through the changes that the employees say need doing.

Why do the employees, the larger class, not simply devour the business owners?

  • LoudMuffin [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    this show is so idiosyncratic because of how it's just a bigger bourg coming in and viciously bullying dumber, smaller and less succesful boug

    coincidentally, a lot of people don't like it

    (probably because hilariously, now that I think of it, it pretty accurately elucidates class relations)

    • iwasloggedout [none/use name]
      ·
      3 years ago

      The UK one is much the same but Kitchen Nightmares US is really a landmark in over-the-top editing, which is where I think a lot of the dislike comes in.

      Owner says that their food is good. Smash cut to the food not being good. eeeee-whaaaaa waterphone sound plays for the 50th time this episode

    • plov_mix [comrade/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I typically only watch the first half of each episode, precisely for the bullying.

      I don’t need the wholesomeness of class reconciliation in the second halves. (“CANT YOU SEE, BOSS, THAT WE CAAARRRRREEEE ABOUT YOUUU?!”).

      • CyborgMarx [any, any]
        ·
        3 years ago

        “CANT YOU SEE, BOSS, THAT WE CAAARRRRREEEE ABOUT YOUUU?!”

        That always grossed me out, the minute the cameras disappear the bosses return to their bullshit

        • SoyViking [he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          Almost all of these restaurants fail within a year after Ramsey leaves anyways. It turns out it takes more than a few weeks of bullying to cure a lead-poisoned small business tyrant.

        • Bloobish [comrade/them]
          ·
          3 years ago

          Gives me the same feeling as the boss in disguise show that had bosses fake being part of the proles

      • ssjmarx [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Now I'm imagining a show called Workplace Nightmares, where the hosts are a couple IWW representatives.

      • Alex_Jones [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I watch the second half because I can usually see the cracks starting to come back before the credits roll.