Gordon Ramsay To Produce Scripted NBC Restaurant Drama With Smash Director

Gordon Ramsay and Scott Stuber (of Ted/Whitney/Battleship production glory) are teaming up to produce a new scripted NBC restaurant drama entitled The Inferno, with Smash director Michael Mayer signed on for “operatic” flair.

The “dark” series follows best friends/restaurateurs, who hire a “magnetic, fiery, larger-than-life mysterious Italian chef” to save their restaurant, which is on the brink of closing. He revives its image, “but at a terrible cost.”

Supposedly, the chef isn’t based on Ramsay at all, but he’ll be consulting for the character with personal experience. So, we’re pretty sure the “terrible cost” they’re referring to is calling everyone in the restaurant “a donkey” all service long.

We’ll reveal our intrigue, cautiously, based on the our love affair with other scripted restaurant shows that have legit chefs behind them (yes, we miss Jack Bourdain; commercial failure notwithstanding).

Also worth noting, there was apparently some tension between NBC and Fox regarding which network would pick up the series. Might Gordon have swung NBC’s way after Fox rejected his pitch to bring Gordon Behind Bars across the pond?

[Deadline via Eater]

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