I Have A New Hero

The other day, I was on Fox.com, watching what turned out to be the Season Three finale of Prison Break (which really needed about six more episodes). Just on a lark, I was flipping through the rest of their on-demand shows, and noticed that they offered Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon Ramsay's latest shoutathon. I had never seen this show before, or his other show, Hell's Kitchen, but I remembered a couple of guys on the radio a while back saying that it was the greatest show on TV. So, I decided to watch an episode.

And they were right. This may be the best show on TV. Not because it's a good show, as I'm loathe to call any reality show "good," but because it's ant-/protagonist, Gordon Ramsay, may be one of the greatest people to ever have a TV show.

I would love to be like Ramsay. Here's a guy with a dozen successful restaurants around the world. He's been awarded numerous stars by the Michelin Guide, including three for his flagship restaurant in London. He regularly has a restaurant make the Best Restaurants in the World List. He was even made an Officer of the British Empire for his contributions to the UK hospitality industry.

He also happens to be one of the meanest bastards I've ever seen.

And that's the great thing about the show and what inspires my wanting to be him. Obviously, Ramsay is great at what he does. He's one of the best restaurateurs in the world. So it's great to see him go into a floundering Mom-and-Pop joint and tell them that they know fuck all about running a restaurant, with every other word being "fuck." Ramsay actually wants to help these people be better, going as far as redesigning their restaurants and coming up with new menu items. But the fact he completely tears these people down before building them back up is what makes him great. Break 'em before you make 'em, I always say.

I wish there was something that I was so good at that I could completely trash anyone and not be speaking out of line. Who doesn't want that?

Since it's currently between seasons, you'll have to go to Fox.com to check it out, but it's well worth it. I watched half the season in one sitting.

Oh, and while you're there, why not watch those episodes of the apparently-canceled K-Ville that you might've missed. You know you love Anthony Anderson.

Admit it.