Since the advent of ‘Survivor,’ the popularity of reality shows has been dwindling, leaving a void to be filled and viewers starving for excitement. In an effort to be original, many of these programs have featured evident choreographing, and completely arbitrary themes. Such shows as ‘Fear Factor,’ ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,’ ‘The Apprentice’ and ‘The Real World,’ have risen to this task of saving reality television, but thus far, none have sustained their quality of content over the span of a season. That is, all except for one.

While surfing the channels over break, I accidentally came across just such a show of quality. It was a Sunday night like any other: I was bored and my ass was glued to the couch by some unseen force of magnetism that attracted indolence. I flipped to Bravo, a network which I assumed to have only slightly more viewership than the golf channel, and I watched.

There was a marathon for a show called ‘Top Chef,’ and admittedly, I was initially sold on the beautiful hostess, Padma Lakshmi. However, what I discovered several episodes later was that the true attraction actually lay within the discipline of cooking itself. Like any other reality show, there is a lot of butting of heads and a clashing of pans that spices up the interactions. The competitors are put through a variety of challenges testing their teamwork, managerial skills and how aesthetically pleasing and tasty their food is. One of the best aspects of the show is that they include all the recipes online in case you see something you’d like to make.

Certain rules consistent with all competition-driven reality shows remain the same in this one as well. There are 15 contestants duking it out for a grand prize of $100,000 and an appearance in a food and wine magazine. However, this show stands out from the others because of how the participants’ personalities and backgrounds manifest themselves in the contestants’ dishes.

Unlike other reality shows that focus on the personalities themselves, ‘Top Chef’ is geared more toward a creative process. Some chefs cook with a certain finesse and sweetness, like Elia Aboumrad. Others, like Marcel Vigneron, include a lot of pretentious flavored foams that aim at sophistication, and yet still others like Michael Midgley create sloppy but tasty grease bucket concoctions that are sure to please the fast-food die-hard, as well as clog some arteries.

I think this show just may be the succulent salvation that reality television has been yearning for, as it possesses all the ingredients necessary for its long-term success. The producers of this show have really come up with a winning recipe. Although the second season has already started, I highly suggest anyone unfamiliar with ‘Top Chef’ to check it out, Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. on Bravo.

‘ Brandon Stephens is a freshman English major and self-appointed culinary critic at Binghamton University. He is not particularly fond of institutional food.