Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has had multiple successful cooking shows on FOX over the years, including Hell's Kitchen, the often-nightmarish MasterChef and the adorable MasterChef Junior. Most people know him from his first show, Hell's Kitchen, which aired in 2005 and is still in production, but a large portion of his fan base started from his cooking makeover show Kitchen Nightmares that ran from 2007-2014. The show continues to perform well on streaming, and it could heavily benefit from a comeback post-COVID.
Ramsay recently tried to reboot the Kitchen Nightmares series with a similar but very different show called Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back. The new series showcased various ambushes for kitchens around the US as employees would have to stay after their shifts and train for 24 hours while their restaurant was completely remodeled. The premise provided Ramsay an opportunity to visit more restaurants since the crew only spent one day filming rather than the multiple days often necessary for Kitchen Nightmares, but the show critically missed some of the most crucial moments that made the original series great.
The contestants for Kitchen Nightmares often went through an initial denial phase, believing there was nothing wrong with their restaurant. Ramsay would try to convince the owners or managers to change their ways in each episode, and this process would sometimes take two to three days to accomplish. On 24 Hours to Hell and Back, the owners and managers were hardly given the same grace period as the crew would rush in and change their entire restaurant in a rather traumatic and sudden way. The newer show only lasted two seasons, and Ramsay might have had more success by simply bringing Kitchen Nightmares and its original format back to television.
The transformations of the restaurants were often what drew people into the series, and Ramsay could serve as a savior for many restaurateurs that made it through the first couple of years of the pandemic but might be teetering on that line of bankruptcy now. A lot of the procedures and practices in kitchens have changed over the years, and Ramsay could help these restaurants comply with new regulations while elevating their location to the best of their ability. Inspirational stories have always attracted viewers, and this new element could reel them back in.
Many people might not know or remember that Kitchen Nightmares was also highly regarded in the UK and the US, although the show was completely different in each region. The UK version titled Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares was named Best Feature at the 2005 and the 2008 BAFTA awards, and the show also earned an International Emmy in 2006 for best non-scripted entertainment. Although the UK version was recently removed from streaming platforms, much of the series can be found on YouTube, which still has highly viewed clips and full episodes of the series.
The US version is still doing incredibly well with viewers on Hulu, and its YouTube channel is also consistently producing great content that highlights the humor and intensity of the series. This version focused slightly more on the dramatic aspect of the premise, but it drew in many viewers who enjoy the reality TV element of the show. Ramsay would not only help their restaurant succeed, but he would also bring families back together who had been torn apart by their failing business. Kitchen Nightmares is due for an epic comeback that many fans would gleefully enjoy.