I don't often get attached to reality show contestants -- because I rarely watch unscripted competish skeins -- but in this cycle of Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" I'm rooting for Robert, a 29-year-old sous chef from Quogue, N.Y.

You can understand why his co-workers (in the real world, not the "Hell's Kitchen" bunker on La Brea) nicknamed him "Cuddles," according to his bio on the "Hell's Kitchen" home page. He's nearly 400 pounds of cuddly joy, but he's also a fierce competitor. In last night's seg, as he once again did battle with lazy-bones Lacey, he declared (to the camera's delight) that if she won the competish he'd hang up his apron and "become a crack whore."

Yes, he has a way with words, and an unusual pronunciation style that is strangely endearing.  At one point he was carping at Lacey about how she's "not posed to do that" (translation: "not supposed to"). In another recent seg he tripped over the word "remember," which came out more like "menemember."

But more than anything else, I'm rooting for Robert because makes dishes that my husband and I would actually want to eat. He seems equal parts gourmet and gourmand. "Hell's Kitchen's" impossible-to-please boss Gordon Ramsay seems to respect Robert's skill and his obvious passion for great food -- it's real, as opposed to those contestants who jabber on about their passion without putting the goods on the plate.

Robert even got away with mooning the Big Cheese, albeit not to his face, in a confessional moment when Robert invited Gordo to "kiss my ass." Even with ample pixelation, the shot of Robert's wiggling his naked backside at the camera was a wide- screen moment not soon forgotten.

So here's to hoping that Robert rocks all the way to the grand prize, the head chef gig in Ramsay's Borgata restaurant in Atlantic City, N.J. As Robert has mentioned on air, he wants it so bad he postponed his wedding in order to take part in the show.

Hopefully, he'll win, get married and then take a little time off for a weight-reduction program. Because as fun-loving as he is, his weight situation is serious as a heart attack. I sense a father-son type "come to Gordon" confrontation for Ramsay and Robert coming soon.

Emerging from my December blog hibernation, I'm much more inclined to look forward to what the small screen has in store for '09 than reassessing '08. Fortunately, my Variety colleague Stuart Levine was motivated to muse on his highs and lows for '08 (posted after the jump).

There's not a whole lot that I've penciled into my must-see sked for the first quarter. Of course, the Big Event is the Jan. 21 return of "Lost" for its high-five season (more on that later). The final two "Friday Night Lights" segs of the season (maybe forever) on DirecTV Jan. 7-14, will be three-hanky affairs, for sure, according to sources who have already screened them. And there'll be more multicamera hijinks to enjoy from "The Big Bang Theory" ensemble, my fave comedy troupe on the tube these days, hands down.

As for new material, I was very impressed by what I saw on the four-episode screener of Showtime's "The United States of Tara." Toni Collette is amazing as a suburban mother and artist who grapples with three distinct personalities who also inhabit Tara's corporeal being. The supporting cast is also strong, with John Corbett playing Tara's husband in an understated way, and the always-engaging Rosemarie DeWitt as Tara's sister. Brie Larson impresses as the older of Tara's two teenage kids.

"Tara," which as everyone knows was conceived by Steven Spielberg and birthed by Diablo Cody, bows Jan. 18.

Gordon Ramsay fell in love yesterday -- with a Bloody Mary sorbet.

"I was slightly dubious about it" at first, he confessed, noting that it is seasoned with Tabasco sauce. "Now I'm over the moon. It's working brilliantly."

Ramsay shared this morsel during a phone chat yesterday afternoon (he was somewhere in England) to talk about the mega renewal deal he's just inked with Fox for two more seasons of "Hell's Kitchen" and "Kitchen Nightmares," plus a blind series commitment and plans for a  live "cook-along-with-Gordon" special sometime in the coming season.

That's a lot for a guy who's already hosting multiple shows in the U.K. and running a growing portfolio of Ramsay-branded restaurants.

"It's a happy problem," Ramsay assures. "I take it all very seriously, and I have an amazing (production) team behind it all."

Mike Darnell, Fox's prexy of alternative programming and Ramsay's biggest fan on this side of the Atlantic, is in awe of Ramsay's work ethic. He doesn't just host "Hell's Kitchen" and "Kitchen Nightmares"; he is those shows, Darnell says.

"Unlike a regular reality show host comes in, does his job and leaves -- these are incredibly demanding television shows for Gordon," Darnell says. "On 'Nightmares,' he spends four-to-five days in each city. He's on camera 12 hours a day. This is a hard-working man."