Guilty pleasures and sleeper hits

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Andy says: My sleeper hit is "Hell's Kitchen," a FOX reality show set in a restaurant that's only peripherally about food or managing an eatery. It features a host/star, Gordon Ramsey, whose idea of wit is to call a fat man a "fat f---," and whose idea of discipline is to scream and throw food onto his chefs' aprons. The cast is rather uncharismatic, and the most interesting people keep leaving. And the "diners" in the restaurant — who rarely get fed — practically grab the cameras and point them at themselves. Yet it's absolutely addictive.

Perhaps all of the above explains why "Hell's Kitchen" didn't debut to rave reviews or ratings. But it's built a following over time, and the series consistently delivers compelling television. The apprentice chefs are hardly able to deliver outstanding food and efficient service, and that's what makes the show fun. They're incompetent, and they get screamed at. There isn't much depth here, but it's entertaining.

Why do the cast members continue to tolerate the abuse? (One actually quit.) How does Ramsey expect them to do well with basically no training? Why do the diners actually expect to eat and not throw up, as one risotto-consuming diner did a few weeks ago?

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Those questions keep us tuning in, as do challenges like the one where the chefs had to make pasta and then hang it to dry on a fellow team member. Completely stupid, great summer television.

My guilty pleasure, "The Surreal Life," has been a must-see since its first season, when Corey Feldman tried to resuscitate his career but ended up looking like a bigger moron than we ever thought he was. This season, producers have assembled a cast that has a few heavy-hitters, like Jose Canseco. Throw him into a house with personalities such as Omarosa from "The Apprentice" (she started grilling him about steroids right away), and there's plenty of drama.

The big surprise is that Balki from "Perfect Strangers" — also known as Bronson Pinchot — is incredibly witty and dirty. His one-liners should land him his own series. Plus, he managed to freak out the first supermodel/skeleton Janice Dickinson by hugging her on the first night, after they'd both been drinking. She threatened to quit; he kept following her around the house, dodging the three-legged dog, Lucky, that also inhabits their space. Awesome.

But what really makes "The Surreal Life" a guilty pleasure is that the producers know this is all a big joke, and they're on our side. During her meltdown, Janice Dickinson picked up the phone and called a friend. An on-screen graphic told us that it was her friend "Palo" on the phone. Hysterically and subtly, the graphic changed every time Janice changed her friend's name, because she apparently couldn't remember it.

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper is MSNBC.com's Television Editor. Andy Dehnart is a writer and teacher who publishes reality blurred, a daily summary of reality TV news.