So last night was the premiere of Chopped, The Food Network's latest entry in the cook-for-money food competition genre. Is it bad? No, but there's nothing special about it either (rather dull actually, and over-edited). You have your three judges, you have your host (Ted Allen), you have your contestants making meals quickly. It's a lot like Challenge meets Iron Chef America, only a player is eliminated after each round, with the winner winning $10,000 for making the best meals out of secret ingredients that are revealed. A lot of the ingredients are pretty basic, and it's fairly obvious what the contestants can make out of them. I'd like to see a show where the host unveils ingredients like smoked salmon, chocolate, 4 limes, and a tin box of Sucrets. There, make something out of that.

While watching the show I asked myself, what shows on the Food Network are my favorite food and cooking shows? And I decided: none of them, really. While I enjoy several shows on FN, my favorite cooking shows are on PBS.

I think that in the most grossly general way, TV shows can be separated into three groups: the shows that get a ton of viewers and everyone knows about (American Idol, Two and a Half Men, Lost, etc), shows that don't get quite as many viewers but are well-known anyway (30 Rock, Burn Notice, Mad Men, The Shield), and a third category of shows that are more niche. They're probably on cable or public television and may even be on at odd times. They have their fan base, but a lot of people probably don't even know they exist.

That's what this list is, the five shows that I've been enjoying lately, away from the more mainstream shows that I watch every week (The Mentalist, 30 Rock, Lost, Mad Men, Burn Notice, Chuck, Heroes, The Simpsons, 60 Minutes). They're quirky, interesting, and they're probably shows you should check out too.