"We've identified the type of people who can eat here"

One of my guilty pleasures is watching reality tv shows, specifically the fix-it type shows where failing businesses are visited by a person with a lot of experience in running said business. (See: UK Kitchen Nightmares, Tabatha's Salon Takeover, Bar Rescue) They're not something I make time for or DVR or anything, but I like to put them on when I'm doing something like cleaning or cooking or whatever, so there's something interesting but not distracting while I work.

SO, there's this new Fox/Gordon Ramsay show called Hotel Hell and it's basically Kitchen Nightmares, but with hotels instead of restaurants, and I wasn't planning on watching it because the Fox-produced Ramsay shows are pretty awful to watch because they're basically 45 minutes of screaming and crying and outrageously obtrusive music/narration. (Master Chef being something of an exception.) BUT I had to clean the kitchen today, and the show was on On Demand, so I watched the two-part premiere episode.

and omg, it was, oh wow I do not know how to describe it. Like, it was actually kind of awesome, but not because of the format? (One nice touch: Ramsay handles the narration, not some annoying state-the-obvious voice-over.) Basically the owners were such bizarre and abject failures that the tropes of reality tv storytelling could not contain their weirdness. Also the business in question was a Vermont bed-and-breakfast, and having stayed at two Vermont BNBs, I could totally call bullshit on a lot of the excuses the owner came up with in regards to how BNBs are 'expected' to operate.

( a decidedly unsophisticated summary/review )