Kitchen Nightmares is an American reality television series formerly broadcast on the Fox network, in which chef Gordon Ramsay is invited by the owners to spend a week with a failing restaurant in an attempt to revive the business. It is based on the British show Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. The show premiered September 19, 2007. On June 23, 2014, Ramsay announced that he was ending the series; the final episode aired on September 12 that year. In June 2018, Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back, a new series with a premise much like Kitchen Nightmares but a shorter timeline, premiered on Fox.
Production
The show was produced by ITV Studios America and Optomen, in association with A. Smith & Co. Productions, with Arthur Smith, Kent Weed and Patricia Llewellyn serving as executive producers. In the UK, the series is broadcast under the name Kitchen Nightmares USA and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA on Channel 4, which also produced the original UK version. Reruns, along with the British series, are frequently shown on BBC America.
Series overview
Episodes
Season 1 (2007)
The first season focused on restaurants in the southern California and New York City areas.
In May 2010, the Fox network announced the return of Kitchen Nightmares for a fourth season. The fourth season aired from January 21, 2011 to May 20, 2011 on Fox.
Season 5 (2011–12)
In March 2011 the producers of the show announced a casting call for a fifth season. The fifth season premiered on Friday, September 23, 2011 and ended on March 30, 2012.
Season 6 (2012–13)
In February 2012 the Fox network announced it renewed Kitchen Nightmares for a sixth season, which premiered on Friday, October 26, 2012.
Season 7 (2014)
Season 7 was originally set to premiere on February 28, 2014, but was delayed until April 11, 2014.
Lawsuit
In September 2007, a case was filed by Martin Hyde, the former general manager of [|Dillon's], against Ramsay for allegedly staging disasters and hiring actors to trick the viewing audience. The case was dismissed and went into arbitration.
Reception
Ginia Bellafante of the New York Times found Ramsay's teaching methods and high standards "undeniably hypnotic" and commented that "the thrill of watching Mr. Ramsay is in witnessing someone so at peace with his own arrogance." Doug Elfman of the Chicago Sun-Times said the show is "a very entertaining public service" that "will make you laugh, make you sick and make you think". Randy Cordova of the Arizona Republic found Ramsay "just as blustery and foul-mouthed here as he is on Hell's Kitchen. But he is also oddly endearing, mainly because he genuinely seems invested in the fate of each restaurant". Critics have commented that Fox's adaptation of Kitchen Nightmares strayed from the strengths of the original Channel 4 series. Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune said, "Leave it to Fox to take something the Brits did pretty well and muck it up". She added, "Never mind the cooking; this edition of the show appears to be more interested in playing up the family dramas at the restaurants Ramsay visits". Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times commented, "Whereas the British Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares is fundamentally a food show — it has interesting things to show you about how a restaurant runs and a kitchen works, the wonders of local markets and what you can make from them if you're Gordon Ramsay or willing to follow his instructions — the Fox edition emphasizes mishap, argument and emotional breakdown almost to the exclusion of cuisine".
