SOUTH PORTLAND – Dennis Fogg, owner of Uncle Andy’s Diner in South Portland, said he’s both anxious and nervous about this week’s premiere of the “Restaurant Impossible” episode featuring his restaurant.

The episode was set to air on the Food Network at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 27, after the Current’s deadline.

Fogg admits to clashing many times with master chef Robert Irvine during the filming for the episode, which the network has entitled, “No Laughing Matter,” but he hopes that’s not all that will be shown during the hour-long show.

A crew from “Restaurant Impossible” spent three days in mid-June filming the episode featuring Uncle Andy’s. The premise of the show is that Irvine has 72 hours and a budget of $10,000 to help transform struggling restaurants.

Uncle Andy’s Diner is the first Maine eatery to be featured on “Restaurant Impossible,” and the restaurant was chosen after all four of Fogg’s children independently nominated the diner to appear on the show.

In addition to filming the makeover at Uncle Andy’s, Fogg said the crew also filmed his comedy show at the Gold Room and Irvine’s trip out to sea with a local lobsterman.

In its episode guide, “Restaurant Impossible” describes the show featuring Uncle Andy’s as follows:

“At Uncle Andy’s Diner, in (South) Portland, Maine, Chef Robert Irvine meets Dennis; restaurant owner by day, stand-up comedian by night. To Robert’s frustration, Dennis spends more time telling jokes to his customers than paying attention to the quality of the food that comes out of his kitchen or how his newfound success in comedy is straining his relationship with his family.”

Fogg, who regularly headlines at the Gold Room and who takes his comedy shows to locations throughout New England, readily admits that he sees himself more as a comedian than as a restaurateur, but he’s also made a commitment to see Uncle Andy’s thrive.

Fogg and his wife, Tina, have owned the diner for about 10 years. Originally, the plan was for Fogg’s brother, Robert, to help run the restaurant. However, Robert Fogg was diagnosed with cancer and died away about eight months into the joint enterprise.

Since then, Dennis Fogg said it’s been a struggle to keep the diner afloat. That’s why he was thrilled when he found out Uncle Andy’s had been chosen for “Restaurant Impossible.”

This week, Fogg described the whole makeover experience as “quite something” and said that despite his disagreements with Irvine, he’s happy with the changes to the restaurant’s interior and the upgrades to its menu.

“Robert and I didn’t get along too well,” Fogg said. “But I am really happy with the changes, and if I had the choice I would definitely do it all over again.”

He added, “I’ve watched the show enough to know that Robert is really good at pushing people’s buttons. But that’s how it works. He knocks you down to build you back up again.”

Throughout the past decade, Fogg said, he’s relied mostly on unpaid help from his wife and children to keep Uncle Andy’s running, but since news of the makeover became widely known he’s been able to hire more staff and also pay his family for their time.

Fogg said following the makeover he was expecting to see a 4 to 5 percent bump in business, but said during the course of the summer his sales have actually increased by 10 percent, and he’s expecting to get “slammed” following the airing of this week’s “Restaurant Impossible” episode.

As for the items that Irvine added to the menu, Fogg admits to being happily surprised at how well they’re selling. Irvine insisted that Fogg add both a lobster roll and a lobster omelet to the food selections, and those items are now some of his top sellers.

Other items Irvine added to the menu include smoked turkey omelets and eggs Benedict with lemon sauce. Knowing his penchant for higher-end food, Fogg laughed as he remembered introducing Irvine to the concept of red hot dogs as a regional favorite.

In all, Fogg believes the “Restaurant Impossible” crew enjoyed its first experience in Maine. He said the crew was “very impressed” with the support Uncle Andy’s received from the community, including from the city of South Portland.

“They told us that they had more volunteers turn out to help than ever before,” Fogg said.

He added that since the makeover, “We’re quite busy, and I am caught up on all my bills now, which is quite different and also a relief.”

Uncle Andy’s Diner, located in South Portland’s Knightville neighborhood, was the subject of a “Restaurant Impossible” episode on the Food Network Wednesday night.