Bar Rescue

This is a very interesting look at the competitive bar and restaurant business. Host Taffer pulls no punches with his incredibly blunt assessments which can make viewers cringe at times, but creates a lot of interesting reactions from the owners, managers and employees being berated. He never fails to blurt out, "this is the worst I've ever seen" about something in the business he's trying to turn around.

Although a lot of the show is scripted and contrived, it still pulls you in and keeps you watching. You may have a hard time eating out after seeing the deplorable condition of some of the kitchens. The only suggestion I would make is that they provide more detailed numbers as far as revenues and profits in all of the episodes. There is some of this, but it didn't occur in all the episodes I observed.

There's no way in he** some of these bars could stay open with the bugs, rats(!),dirty kitchens etc without the health department taking notice and shutting them down.

In that regard, it's exaggerated drama.

One episode was filmed right down the street from me, a Vegas sports bar transformed into the Bacon Bar.

Talking to the employees, they said a lot of the arguing, drama etc was scripted. The tv crew wanted them to act, not "be themselves".

So why do I watch? I admit, the finished products are awesome. It's more than just a cleanup and some fresh paint.

Bacon Bar as an example: I visited it before and after the change. It's a complete remodel inside and out.

I mainly watch to see the transformations. Like most reality tv, the added drama doesn't work for me.

But I do like the show. John comes across as a loud bully but again, it's all scripted so I don't read too much into it.

This is the first time that I've ever written an online review. I was so upset when I saw the beginning of an episode. All I know is the bar owner's name was Max and he had helped who he thought was a veteran. He posted the video online and from there things went haywire. When Jon Taffer came in, it was so hypocritical and abusive. I just couldn't handle it. He was so insanely ridiculous despicable and disgusting. Everything was so sensational for the cameras. Here was a war veteran who was rough around the edges but was trying to rebuild his life and instead of appreciating that, Taffer basically tried to break down this man to the point that his brother suffering from PTSD could not be part of the initial rescue. I was sickened and disgusted. I have no idea what happened for the rest of the show and I'm not interested in the turnaround. Abuse is abuse! And help could have been offered in a more productive manner. This type of TV is revolting and we really need to stop feeding into the crap out there. We can help people without breaking them before we build them. Jon Taffer left a huge impression on me and I will never support anything that he does and we'll steer anyone I know away from the crap that he puts out there.

Jon is firm but usually fair, and there's plenty of great advice on running a bar. Some episodes are wild and raunchy, while others are borderline tearjerkers. My only beef is occasionally Jon goes too far with the remodel and strips the bars of their characters, making it all generic and hipster-like. They usually knock it out the park though. But overall, this is a good time waster and it'll definitely keep you hooked.

It doesn't take long with watching an episode of "Bar Rescue" that the events we are seeing are being highly manipulated - sometimes to the point of blatant fakery. "Conversations" between people are edited from multiple camera angles, showing that these sequences were shot several times and edited together. Time seems also to be compressed to a ridiculous point. For example, I may not be an expert on business, but I know you can't change the name of your business overnight! Also, there are some very nagging questions, like: Just who is paying for all these bar renovations, especially since the bar owners seem to be broke the majority of the time?

Yet despite these and other manipulation touches, the show remains interesting. For one thing, the show manages to show the many ways that a bar can fail, and why. This may sound boring, but it's actually pretty interesting. Also, we get to see what touches can make a bar successful, from menu design to interior decoration. This is interesting as well. So despite the annoying fakery here, the show does have genuine interest.