First of all, shame on me: I didn’t see the Republican debate on Fox, but I have been keeping up with Fox’s Monday- and Tuesday-night line-up of Gordon Ramsay cooking contests, Hell’s Kitchen and MasterChef. And I’m noticing a familiar pattern with the selection of the finalists, as contestants get rejected each episode.

In each series this summer, there is a pair who can’t get along. One is the designated overinflated ego, and the other is the nemesis with the heart of gold, whom the egohead picks on. (It wouldn’t surprise me if the producers either exacerbated a natural argument or invented it out of whole cloth and assigned these personalities to the “cast members.”) In either team or individual competition, you see their bickering hurting the smooth operation of the kitchen, and you’re sure one of those two aren’t long for this world. But week after week, even as their competitors are forced to the ignominy of nominating them, the pair manage to survive. Read More