"Damn you devil woman!"

Ahhh fug nuts -- my perfect record of never having watched a reality show is now shattered. (Trust me, I am suitably appalled as well). Now my wife has me following Hell's Kitchen on FOX with just as much enthusiasm as the dorkiest Survivor fan.

Of course, it was hard not to be lured in by their use of "Fire" by The Ohio Players as a theme song, but I always left the room after the credits. Alas, the siren call proved too strong and I eventually found myself crashing upon the shoals of my couch for the whole show ....

I have to agree with my wife though: this is the funniest damn sitcom on TV in years.

And as far as "reality shows" go, I suspect Hell's Kitchen has one real advantage over all the other offerings. Unlike the rest, where contestants have contrived "team-building" tasks to perform (balance on this object, build this thing, eat this bug), Hell's Kitchen has the same test each and every week: cook good food for a restaurant full of hungry people.

That's it.

And it works. Of course, the insults hurled by Chef Ramsey (and constantly bleeped by FOX), the sneering haute of maitre'd Jean Phillippe and the pitch-perfect voice of the all-knowing narrator just make it all the more entertaining. (Like a vengeful god sending fall after pride, he is always delivering lines like "Julia is having her best night ever —"  just before Julia's stove catches fire.)

Finally, since the grand prize is the job as executive chef at a Las Vegas resort, I can't think of a better way for a big company to interview prospective candidates than by putting them thru this amusing meat grinder.