20 underrated reality show gems you should be watching

MasterChef Junior 

The premise: It’s a cooking show with Gordon Ramsay in which the contestants are under the age of 12. They get all sorts of unique challenges and are tasked with cuisine that would seem far beyond their young palate. Some of the chefs are as young as eight, yet the lot of them consistently deliver sweet, quality reality entertainment.

Why you’ll love it: Anything with cute kids doing amazing things is a slam dunk. However, the icing on this little gourmet cake is Ramsay’s natural ability with the children. There is very little evidence of the screaming lunatic he is on Hell’s Kitchen, and he’s naturally encouraging and inspiring. He never panders or talks down to them. Instead, he offers just the right amount of sensitivity to them when he has to send them home.

Mostly you’ll just be amazed at the talents of these children. Instinctively knowing how to do all sorts of sophisticated kitchen techniques, they churn out dishes that could give the grown-up MasterChefs a run for their money. All along the way, you have Ramsay and the other judges nudging and quietly instructing them.

Obviously, there are some disasters. But unlike those other cooking shows, when these kids mess up, they go big. Sometimes mixing up measurements or converting their ingredients into the wrong units, they’re flubs often result in inedible food — such as when one young cook used salt instead of sugar.

How to watch: You can watch the latest episodes on Hulu, and catch all new ones on Fridays on FOX.