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ByA. C. Grimes/
First aired in 2011 on Spike TV (via Screen Rant) before moving to the Paramount Network, Bar Rescuehas spanned 7 seasons and more than 200 episodes. Thirsty-eyed viewers can only drink in the insanity as rage-aholic host Jon Taffer allows his temper to put the "nuts" in "beer nuts." The only thing crazier than his anger are the bars themselves, which you could almost swear were staffed by nothing but Jerry Springerguests.
As recapped by Bar Rescue Updates, at Joe's Thirsty Lizard in Mississippi, Taffer encountered a cook with the unappetizing nickname "Dirty Red" who completely stripped down and showered in the bar's kitchen. In another episode, a facility in Tennessee was so unsanitary that mushrooms magically grew in the walk-in cooler. According to Courthouse News, Taffer got sued by Dr. Paul Wilkes, the part-owner of Las Vegas Nevada's Sand Dollar Bar, after Taffer "smashed a cup into Wilkes' face and punched him" for making lewd remarks to the host's wife.
If you assume this isn't all fake and somehow manage not to obsess over the disturbing question of how such places and people exist in the real world, you might still be left wondering how on Earth these commercial atrocities are chosen.
Owners apply to be bar-rated by Jon Taffer
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You might imagine that someone would have to be blackout drunk to have their barmercilessly berated and glaring health code violations exposed on national television. Seriously, who would want even the tiniest sliver of the world to know that a guy called "Dirty" showers in the place where customers' food is made or the gross reason why every drink tastes vaguely like cream of mushroom soup?Yet as counterintuitive as it sounds, some desperate bar owners actually apply for this humiliation voluntarily and not — as you might have suspected — because disgruntled customers coerced them into writing a hostage note to Jon Taffer.
As Bar Rescue Updatesexplained in 2015, the show has casting calls, and interested bar owners could simply submit an application. That process used to be facilitated by Metal Flowers Media, which lists its affiliation with Bar Rescue as lasting from 2010 to 2018. Jon Taffer's websiteincludes an address for submissions as well as a link to apply via email. The Paramount Network also offers makeovers to ailing bars, which not every owner accepts. As My San Antoniodetails, the CEO of On the Rocks Pub, Justin Vitek, took offense at the network's outreach. And how could he not take it as an insult? He was basically just told that his bar was a booze-fueled dumpster fire.
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