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Network: FOX

Premiere: Thursday, September 4, 8pm

Host: Gordon Ramsay

Premise: Culinary mastermind Gordon Ramsay visits struggling restaurants and screams at the employees until they learn how to run things properly.

Kitchen Nightmares allows Gordon Ramsay to be a culinary superhero.  The FOX series, which is based on Ramsay's original British show, follows the chef as he visits struggling restaurants and tries to whip lazy cooks, clueless managers, and rebellious waiters into shape.  Ramsay also gives the restaurants makeovers if needed, but sometimes even his culinary expertise can't keep the troubled establishments from failing.  Kitchen Nightmares makes you realize just how much work, and how much yelling, goes into running a successful restaurant.

Last season on the show, the master chef visited some eateries that were in serious need of help.  Not only are the staff members Ramsay deals with often incompetent and reluctant to change, but the kitchens are usually full of bugs, grime and rotten food.  Nothing offends Ramsay quite like unprofessional employees and Health Department violations, both of which often force him to lose his temper. 

Though Kitchen Nightmares features plenty of outbursts from the notoriously temperamental chef, the series also highlights his kinder and gentler side.  Ramsay truly wants to help these establishments turn things around, and he easily forms bonds with the employees when he's not busy yelling at them.  Viewers get to see sides of the chef that aren't on display on Hell's Kitchen, which makes Nightmares required viewing.

Tune in to the new season of Kitchen Nightmares on September 4 to see if Ramsay can successfully turn struggling restaurants around.


- Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of FOX)