Gordon Ramsay is always complaining that he can’t save all of the restaurants he fixes for his show “Kitchen Nightmares.”

But on Friday, in a first-ever episode, the shouty chef returns to three restaurants he fixed up in the past to see how they survived.

In Montclair, NJ, Ramsay was able — while the cameras were on — to get the owner’s lazy son off his chair.

Shortly after Ramsay left, the son — standing in for his sick mother — fired the chefs who appeared on the show, according to reports.

Philadelphia’s Chierella’s restaurant got some tepid re-reviews after Ramsay finished with it. But nothing that would close the place down.

“One advantage of being on ‘Kitchen Nightmares,’ ” wrote one reviewer, “is that nothing else lowers customers’ expectations so radically — and therefore makes them easier to surpass.”