TVSquad

It was just a matter of time before Food Network showcased people who actually can't cook. On January 3, the new food competition show Worst Cooks in America will debut. The winner gets $25,000!

Just so we're clear, the winner doesn't get $25,000 for making worse food than their competitors. No, the show will put the contestants through a boot camp where they will learn to take their skills (which probably consist of boiling water for pasta and microwaving Boston Market frozen dinners) and actually become better cooks. The food will be judged by a panel of food experts (of course) and whoever is the most improved wins. The two chefs leading the teams will be Anne Burrell and Beau MacMillan.

Get ready for more bleeps and blurs on FOX.

FOX is so impressed with Gordon Ramsay and the ratings for both Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares that they've given the green light for a third series from the chef. And if I understand the concept for this series, then I think this is the start of Ramsay's demise.

The new show is going to be based on a British show that Ramsay does called Man Camp, which I've never seen but is described as "a boot camp for men whose ladies are slightly concerned about how feminine they're becoming." Seriously? That's the premise of the show? Maybe if the men are becoming too feminine it's the women who should be sent to the boot camp.

The summer of 2000 started out to be a typical one for television: repeats, theatrical movies edited for television, repeats, shows that needed to be burned off because they were so bad, and repeats. It was a formula that hadn't really changed for the Big Three networks in several years. And, it was one that viewers had gotten used to as they mourned the last episode of their favorite series and waited with eagerness for the new season to begin in September.

Then, something happened. CBS decided to air a 'game show' about a group of strangers stranded on a tropical island. Survivor began at the end of May and continued into the end of August. Along the way it gained more and more fans and produced more and more publicity for both the show and the network. By the last episode, on August 23rd, Survivor had become a huge success as well as one of the highest rated original shows ever to air in the summer.

Little did CBS know that this summer replacement show would begin the Reality Revolution and change the landscape of network television forever more.

America, if you can sing, flip backwards, pull a dove out of your underarm, and play the flute with your nose -- preferably all at the same time -- this has got to be your favorite time of year. Why? Because auditions for the second season of Simon Cowell's show America's Got Talent have been announced.

According to this press release, provided by The Futon Critic, auditions will take place in Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Branson, MO. New features of the show for this year will be more personal stories of the contestants, more shows focusing on the audition phase, and a "boot camp" where those who make it past the auditions will be advised on honing their acts by talent evaluators. Also, during the semi-final round, the top ten acts will duke it out in an elimination phase.

So, basically, this has become American Idol for carnival side show acts. None of them are going to be more entertaining than David Hasselhoff, though.