Mystery Diner. 100% faked, i'll tell you why.
While watching the german restaurant ep, I was pretty suspicious, for some of the reasons other people have mentioned:
1. "Hey, let's go to that bar we always go to after work!" What, you don't know what it's called? ...or maybe you can't say because you're not allowed because you're an actor.
2. Horrible acting (which you expect from the owners because they KNOW they're on camera) but the people (waitresses, manager, etc) who supposedly didn't know were very not good.
...but here's what really stuck out to me.
I worked for an Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship for 8 years. You want to take a guess at one thing I NEVER heard any of our salesmen or delivery guys refer to themselves as?
"I'm the new supply guy."
Really? No. I'm sorry. I could have bought "I'm the new beer guy," or "I'm the new [distributor company name] guy," or EVEN "I'm the new [beer brewery or brand name] guy."
If this was a REAL show, they would have said "I'm the new beer guy from BEEEEEEEEP distributing."
As soon as the mystery diner said that and Gunnar the "manager" didn't even blink an eye, I was out.
You need to understand that suppliers, be it a beer distributor or food distributor, create relationships with the managers and owners of their customers. I used to go on sales calls with our salesmen and they knew every manager by name and every manager knew who they were, what they sold and who they worked for. There's just no way any manager would accept "supply guy" without a question or a "what the f**k does that mean?"
This was a 100% scripted show with actors all around. Not that great of one, either.
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I have actual PROOF that it is faked. In the episode of Pina Pizza, which I just watched and realized the show is fake, Jedd and his "anonymous" friend. Reality shows blur out faces now to make it seem more real. Anyway, he and his friend are taking a keg to the back. I noticed that the keg had a tap on it, and thought, "why would there be a tap on it? the restaurant has real beer taps." Then I noticed the blooper. If you watch the two take the keg from the walk-in fridge, the tap is on the top of the keg, but the white cap is still on it. When they exit the back door, the tap is magically latched on. If this is hidden camera shooting unknowing people, then why would they have to do a second take? This show is totally fake, and I hoped it wasn't. However, there were the tell tale signs of bad acting, and once I saw that, I knew it was outrageously fake. It should be on TruTV its so fake.
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re: Kissdacook83
Midlife
May 23, 2013 02:09 PM
Your post doesn't seem to be responding to the OP's, so I'm guessing it's responding to mine??
If you are............... I didn't say that at all.
Regardless of who you're replying to...................
So YOU'RE saying that NO reality shows are faked at all???
Too funny!..... INDEED!
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Midlife
May 6, 2013 05:19 PM
Surprise ! Surprise! A fake reality show??
I gave up on these restaurant 'reveal' shows when the one with Rocco Dispirto (The Restaurant, I think) was so obviously faked..... and he was soooo annoying. That was 10 years ago, and these shows are still trying.
As far as the Food Network owning up to mediocrity and worse........ they are writing the book on both, and apparently doing it rather successfully. So...... whatever!
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This awful show is completely fake. You would think that a channel like the Food Network would be emarassed about it, but apparently they couldn't care less since they are making money by duping the simpletons.
I wrote to the Food Network after one extraordinarily fake episode to see if they would make any attempt to come clean and they gave me some BS about how they do not comment directly on any of their shows.
The extraordinarily fake episode was the one where the valet and the delivery driver werer supposedly taking customers cars out for delivery orders. The valet and the delivery driver were both in the middle of the parking lot where it would have been absolutely impossible for a microphone to pick up any of their conversation unless they were wearing microphones and their conversation was perfectly clear on the show.
I still watch a few other shows on the Food Network, but I've lost a great deal of respect for the d'bags behind this idiotic, fake, scripted show called Mystery Diners.
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re: BeerCooker
All it would take is a disclaimer at the beginning saying that the show included actors' depictions of the events that actually occurred. "America's Most Wanted" has been doing re-enactments for years.
I still watch the show, and telling myself it is a re-enactment makes all the difference in the world. They couldn't get the real culprits, so they are showing us what happened.
Now, if we also learn that the events never happened at all, that's where I get upset.
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The producers are happily busy attempting to insult the viewers intelligence. If a 'disclaimer' came up before the show then OK but when it is flashed in tiny print for a mili-second after the show that's wrong.
There will always be gullible viewers who believe everything they see.
Reminds me of the 'safety' film we were all required to watch once. It showed some poor sap getting his thumb cut off by a table saw. It showed the thumb lying on the floor. Someone picked it up and washed it off and wrapped in a dirty cloth. The guy with the missing thumb and his thumb were rushed to the hospital where it showed the doctors trying to sew the thumb back on but alas it didn't work. The person sitting beside me started crying uncontrollably. I asked them what was wrong. She said she just felt so sorry for the guy who from now on will be missing his thumb. -
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I'm friends with one of the mystery diners. What you're watching is fake however its based on real events that happened earlier in the week.
Mystery Diners comes in one week and figures out whats wrong. Then after that they film the incidents with actors, although sometimes the people who get busted will reprise their roles.
The way you can tell its fake is that none of the customers faces are blurred out. From what I understand they tried to do one show legit but they were busted in 10 minutes after they asked a customer to sign a release they called the restaurant back and told the employees they were being taped.
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I don't get why everyone is making a big deal about it being "faked". It's a TV show, which means a plot, villians, victims, actors and triumph. That's like saying "I can't believe that magician doesn't really have magic!" Like, come on people... Food Network is entitled to air anything that attracts viewers. I watch it and enjoy it like I do LOST. Not thinking all those stars are really on an island... o.0
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re: tenaciousswagg
I guess you don't have a problem with people selling a fake product or service. Perhaps that has become the norm. Don't advertised it as being real if it isn't. But most people who are not media literate can't see the deception anyway. I never watch the show. Only once when my GF's restaurant was on the show. All cameras in the open and an actor for the transgressor who never worked there not was there a similar employee or incident from the past. Like there isn't enough negative drama, we need to make it up because that's what people are addicted to or taught to be addicted to. Sad and pathetic.
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just finished watching the show with the brazillian steakhouse.....FAKE FAKE FAKE...now i know a lot of these 'reality' shows are staged and scripted to an extent, but at least there are disclaimers at the end of most shows.....the thing that rubs me the wrong way is how the Fool Network...oops Food.....insults the viewer's intelligence by passing this off as real......can we get more Man Vs. Food please? there, i feel better now.....
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I went today to one of the restaurants on Mystery Diners. I had the chance to speak to the owner who was on the show. He said the show is a set up. He said that the Food Network contacted him and asked if he wanted to be on one of their shows. They didn't say which show. The Food Network finally revealed which show after they inspected his restaurant. He also stated that it took two days to set up for the filming.
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This show is only good to watch, if your only intentions is to laugh at it. This show is fake we all that, but 1 major red flag on how you know it's not real is that the people who steal money, never, I mean NEVER get arrested.
If you see the cook stealing 200plus dollars in a single day of filming, or steal hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise, how stupid is it not to have them arrested?
If I seen someone stealing that much from me in 1 day, that would mean they were doing it way before you caught them, and you would want to press charges.
Or else what's to stop them from doing the same to other places.
Another reason why this show is so fake is because they only ever focus on a single person. If you have to focus on that single person why keep them around?
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re: barclayteo
Yes, you are so right.Did you see the latest episode on 1/25? This trash just gets worse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What vendor brings anything, much less meat, through the front door of a restaurant during dinner hours? I said if the show is based on true survellience then show a disclaimer saying so but, these re-enactments, no matter what, are really stupidly done.
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Yes, this show is bulls*** on the strength that this type of survellience does not take place like this, LIKE A T.V. SITCOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If the production co. would show a disclosure saying that the episode is based on actual events that took place during a survellience, then, in my opinion, the show would have more credibility. At least we would know the production is staged but based on events that did go down. Acting is awful but, what do expect on low budget.
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re: mel2629
ttoommyy
Jan 21, 2013 07:19 AM
Why is this a revelation to people? Don't we see this on many, many so-called "reality" shows? Half-scripted dialogue and situations are the norm. Do you really think most of these people would really allow their true daily lives on TV? I don't think so.
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Well there is NO doubt this show is 100% scripted, from other articles I have read, it is based on actual events that happened at each of these restaurants. I knew it was a fake from the first "sting" I saw. Surveillance cameras do not play back with the clarity of a movie being played on screen, they are typically, though not always, these days, black and white with a very grainy picture. My boyfriend and I watch it just for the entertainment value. We always crack up over the "eyeglass cam"! And yes, the acting is HORRIBLE!
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re: LikestoEatout
ttoommyy
Jan 18, 2013 08:16 AM
Why would the media and news purposely make security footage "grainy" when the police are trying to apprehend a murderer, rapist, etc? Don't you think it would be in the best interest of apprehending the felon to show a " clear and accurate" version if one existed? Your statement doesn't really make a lot of sense.
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Rammfantasy
Jan 15, 2013 12:06 AM
'Mystery Diners' is a new program to me. The first 3 or 4 shows appeared to be genuine (but still outrageously unbelievable). Then I saw two shows again this evening (and my last). One about co-workers/lovers who broke up and the other about an over-the-top 'head waiter'. These were poorly 'acted' yet humorous. Needeless to say, I am dissapointed to learn that it's fake. The Food Network will no longer get my ratings when this program is aired. The biggest tip-off (no pun intended) was how well the 'marks' were filmed. Setting up hidden camera's are one thing, but getting a clear, close shot of a guy shoving tip money in his pocket was a bit too much! Alas, the show WAS a great premise... Gosh, I only hope 'Chopped' isn't fake! PS: Thank you CHOW for your wonderful site who caters to people with 'OCD' like me... (Obsessive Cooking Disorder) Glory New Year to you all~
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I was one who believed it was all real. One thing I thought was strange however (which noone has mentioned here) is how all these transgressions seem to happen almost as soon as the owners sit to watch and within that period of time they are watching. If say a waiter is stealing tips, chances are he won't do it every day or the opportunities won't present themselves every day. You would have to observe over days to catch someone doing something you suspect them off. After reading peoples feedbacks, a lot of it makes sense (miked actors, shown faces, etc.).. IT"S FAKE!
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I completely agree that it's fake. The main thing that tipped me off was that everyone (even the people who supposedly don't know they're being set up and filmed) are all audible, which means they're miked.
Also, each episode displays completely unprofessional and ridiculous behavior, which no restaurant owner would ever put up with.
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TheAres 3 minutes ago
I especially love the episode spoken of below, where the 2 frat boys carry a half barrel out the back door.
When you see them going out the back door on the inside camera the barrel has a brewery cap still in place, with a portable tapper laying next to it, but when you see them coming out on the outside camera the barrel now has a portable tapper installed where the cap was.
They stop halfway out the door for a beer? And why would a restaurant have a hand tapper in the cooler?
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Just watched the episode you're talking about. The guy that was the beer supplier was one of the show cast members. He's not going to say he's from any particular distributor. I don't put a lot of credibility in you because you used to work for AB - which, by the way, isn't a restaurant. Not saying none of these episodes play it up a bit, but if you've gone out to eat lately, you'd know there are some real winners serving you.
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IT'S 4REAL!!
Permission is unilateral given to be filmed by being an employee of said business.
I am an executive manager in a popular known business...
It's amazing the B/S that some employees feel that they can get away with. Not all; some!
...stealing; rude to customers; slacking off; etc...
When the cats are away; the mice take the freak over!!›1 Reply -
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mucho gordo
Dec 11, 2012 04:01 PM
It has to be faked. Most of the so-called 'indiscretions' are so blatant and over-the-top deliberate that it has to be scripted.
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Doesn't anyone whose face is shown on this type of show have to sign a waver? If it were real, who in their right mind would give persmission to a TV show to show video of their own thievery, for example?
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re: sandylc
It all has to do with compensation. Although this show is fake, I knew a guy who was on MTV's Busted, which is apparently real. He bought alcohol for underage minors at the shore. Anyway, they offered to pay all of his fines in exchange for using him in the show. If Mystery Diners was real, which its not, I'm sure the producers would pay the person enough to get permission to sign a photo release.
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Of course it is fake. Besides having a formal education in communication and media literacy, I know from one of the restaurants on the show that Mystery Diners contacts the restaurants and asks if they would like to participate with their show with the promise that it will increase their business in addition to being compensated 500- 1000 dollars. Then Mystery Diner inputs their own actor or actors as employees that get caught in some kind of indiscretion. What is the purpose? The same as all programming, to get a steady audience in front of media message (commercials)... It is sad and unfortunate that people are addicted to negative drama to such an extent that now producers have to fabricate negative drama in order to catch mass media. It isn't bad enough that we have shows like Jersey Shore and Real Housewives where bad behavior is encouraged and revered. Children and young adults watch this programming and think this is how they are suppose to behave and communicate. Young adults want to emulate these degenerates just because they are on television. Very Sad what this world is coming to. Very Sad.
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Njchicaa
Oct 19, 2012 08:07 PM
They've been advertising this show as a "new series" despite the fact that it already was shown on the network over the summer. I didn't watch the whole show tonight as I was catching up on another show that I had on my DVR. When that was over, I wound up at the "confrontation" part of the episode where the "cook/manager" is running a catering business out of the kitchen at the owner's expense.
The first time this series ran, they showed the owners what was up in a small trailer that was filled with televisions showing every angle of the restaurant in question. Confrontations occurred in and around the trailer and the "culprits" stormed out of that over and over again so I know what it looks like.
From what I've seen tonight, they have actually re-shot at least the dramatic "confrontation" scenes. The same conversations take place out on the restaurant floor. THE END. That's all we need to know that this is a totally fake show.
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Not quite the same show, but here's a rundown of the fakery at Restaurant Stakeout, a similar show:
http://www.realityblurred.com/reality...
Only remembered it because it was linked in another RB post I linked to earlier. Not meaning to pimp the site.
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coll
Jul 9, 2012 03:37 AM
I'm not familiar with this show, but Gordon Ramsey did an episode on a customer of mine (I was a food distributor sales rep) and it was totally fake. It was a father and son, in real life the father/manager was an ex-cop and very nasty and tough, while his son the chef was a sweetheart. In the show it was the other way around, poor dad getting beat up (figuratively) by his son, the monster. And showing food that was almost rotting, that chef would NEVER have anything like that in his kitchen, he was a true pro. Totally staged. No biggie, it's just entertainment I guess.
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My question is, when the person who is screwing up gets confronted, it's all on camera and it gets put on the air. Don't you need someone's permission to air their face? Who would voluntarily allow themselves to be seen on TV as a dishonest jerk if it was real?
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re: sandylc
I'm sure the producers get releases from the owner and staff well in advance. Of course this gives the diner warning and time to clean up its act, and I'd be highly suspicious if everybody was really taken by surprise by them. If I watched this show, which I don't.
In another thread it's said that at least one of the episodes is a reenactment, not "reality" after all. (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/823316) That sounds plausible but it demolishes the whole premise of the show.
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