I never gave much thought

to the term "Americanization" until this summer.

You see, unlike many academically inclined students, I spent a good 75 percent of my summer watching television. Whether it was the variety of programming on OnDemand (the greatest service ever created), Hulu.com, Youtube.com or just normal broadcast, I never missed the chance to get get my daily fix.

Not only did I get to catch up on some favorite classics like Arrested Development and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but I discovered a new time-waster: Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.

For those of you unlucky enough to not have heard of this show, the concept is simple: Gordon Ramsay, a highly successful restaurateur, (and the world's best chef, obvi) helps owners of failing restaurants get back on their feet. He changes the menu, changes the décor and even changes the staff in some cases.

The best part of this particular show is Ramsay's complete and total acceptance of his own arrogance. He will cut people to shreds and declare his word as gospel while the chefs respond in so many words, "Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man." Ramsay just snaps back with "Your opinion is wrong." It's that type of unabashed self-confidence that can be truly admired.

The show originally started on BBC and had a wonderful documentary-type feel. No cheesy graphics and no dramatic music for heightening tension. What you see are real people with real failing restaurants with a real famous chef swearing more than two sailor conventions put together. But at the heart of the show there is always something to be learned, whether it is about cooking, business or even life.

So what does this particular show have to do with Americanization?

Well, when I first encountered this show, it was via Youtube.com and much to my excitement, I saw the show was also featured on Hulu.com. But this wasn't the same Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares that actually had integrity. No, no. This was a bastardized version. This was the McDonald's version. This was crap.

Indeed, this was Americanization at its finest.

Enter FOX's Kitchen Nightmares, where substance is thrown out the window and in its place is cheesy dramatic music, "confessional"-style interviews with the restaurant staff and ultimately a huge focus on melodrama. The show aims to highlight fights between staff members rather than focusing on how the restaurant can be fixed.

Ramsay is no longer a three-dimensional person on FOX's terrible adaptation of this show, he's just a loud Scotsman who curses a lot and has four mega-successful restaurants around the world. Don't even get me started on the terrible editing. It is so painfully clear when some "natural" event is just the product of a couple of amateur writers who don't adhere to the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Americanization isn't always a bad thing when it's done right; just take a look at The Office. But when a trashy network takes a show that has the potential to actually educate while entertaining and turns it into a complete mockery of the original, it just gets infuriating as an American. In fact, it's almost embarrassing. Is this really the type of garbage people spend their time watching these days? Melodrama and 40 minutes of arguing?

Personally, I say it's time we raise our standards a bit here, America. We can have it so much better.

Rich Coleman is a junior majoring in journalism and English and is a Collegian arts enterprise reporter. His e-mail address is rmc5704@psu.edu.