Tropical diary, day two - Hell's Kitchen edition

I'm late to dinner, but at some point in the last month, I've become hooked on Master Chef. More or less ordinary people vying for the culinary chance of a lifetime. Interesting food, off the wall challenges.  Considering I have a deep aversion to any show that has as its centerpiece the humiliation of its contestants, it is surprising I've watched this long.

While waiting for tonight's Master Chef to begin, I managed to catch most of the season premiere of Hell's Kitchen. Oh my. Some observations:

• Sucking the ego out of the contestants by having a curtain go up on an empty theater - brilliant.
• Dividing the initial teams along gender lines - likewise brilliant. Teamwork is essential in the fast-paced, precision timed atmosphere of a professional kitchen. Forcing the testosterone fueled, hyper-competitive men to work together brought out forcibly the point that their braggadocio and one upsmanship wasn't going to get them anything except a bus ticket home unless things change radically.
• The women aren't off the hook. While by nature we work better in teams, there is a tendency toward cattiness that can rapidly turn things upside down. One particular woman has already proven herself to be willing to try to advance herself by making the others look bad - literally wresting a pan from someone else while ignoring her own station.
• I still think it isn't necessary to be quite so abusive in criticism, though the remarks were certainly earned. We'll see if the contestants learn from the experience.