01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Imagine a TV reality show that has no bombastic host or judge, but instead features interesting challenges that bring viewers behind the scenes of a restaurant kitchen, and contestants who aspire to a job that doesn't involve Hollywood, the stage or Trump Tower.

Then you would have Cooking Under Fire, PBS' first entry into the reality show genre and a smart, entertaining piece of television.

The show debuts tonight at 8 on WGBH (Channel 2) with a trio of judges -- chefs Todd English and Ming Tsai, and cookbook author and chef Michael Ruhlman -- and 12 chefs vying for a job in one of English's New York City restaurants.

It's delicious television.

The producers at WGBH have managed to take the best parts of Survivor, American Idol and The Apprentice, and combine them together in a stew of drama, tension and good taste.

I'm hooked after previewing 2 of the 12 episodes, the ones scheduled to air on May 4 and 11.

As judges, Tsai, English and Ruhlman are tough, yet fair, and they don't make everything be about them. (I'm thinking they're anti-Trumps.) There's a warmth about Tsai that makes him charming, and a passion that fires English's appeal. Ruhlman takes a back seat to the other two, but the author of The Soul of a Chef easily has the knowledge to be a fine third judge.

There seems to be no sales agenda with Cooking Under Fire. No pizza or bottled water to sell, no products to promote -- only food to make.

Tonight's episode, which I haven't seen, addresses the audition process. It will explain how the 12 chef finalists were selected.

We spend some time with the dozen in next week's episode, learning about what drives their passion. And then we see them cook.

These men and women certainly don't seem to be actors playing chefs, but real chefs. They aren't all young, beautiful and thin. There's a 41-year-old French chef, some robust fellas, and at least one person who cares more about cooking than her hair.

I just adore them. They all have been cooking for a long time but want to expand their credentials. This doesn't make them boring but competitive, in a qualified way.

The tasks are challenging and real to life. In episode two, each is given an egg and sent into the kitchen at Sona Restaurant in Los Angeles. They can use any ingredient they find in the kitchen, but they have only 10 minutes to whip up a fabulous dish for the judges to share. Several make omelets, theorizing that if they find more eggs in the kitchen they can use them. But one chef wows the judges with a custardy dessert he serves back in the eggshell. In 10 minutes, no less.

That's a lot more fun to watch than people eating bugs on Survivor or whining about how tired they are on The Apprentice.

In the next episode, the finalists must put together a mise en place, the French term referring to having all the ingredients necessary for preparing a dish up to the point of cooking. They will eventually be given meats and poultry and must use the mise en place to cook several dishes for the judges. Of course, the kitchen crowded with all the contestants makes this all the more fun. If you can't stand the heat, a chef can finish the challenge first.

There's a documentary feel to Cooking With Fire that helps distance it from the usual reality fare.

There's no product placement in the episodes I saw. Indeed, when a chef is eliminated at the end of a day of challenges, he or she is handed an "86ed" pan, 86 being shorthand for "out." Those pans don't bear a company name, not even All-Clad, a show underwriter. Imagine that happening on commercial television. Okay, so there will be a companion book of contestants' recipes and chefs' commentary coming out, but isn't that better than Trump Water?

Behind-the-scenes footage, contestant journal entries and recipes are promised to appear on the series site on www.pbs.org as the show gets underway.

There will be guest chefs and judges along the way (Marcus Samuelsson of New York's Aquavit) and stops at restaurants in Las Vegas (including the Bellagio), Miami and New York City.

I can't wait.

Cooking With Fire has taken the concept of pressure-cooker challenges from Survivor, the cheery camaraderie of American Idol, and the real business-world skills of the judges from The Apprentice, and gotten rid of the crass commercialism and schlock.

Long live reality in PBS' capable hands.

After tonight's 8 p.m. premiere, the show airs at 8:30 p.m each Wednesday through July on WGBH Channel 2.