I like the competition shows like Chopped, Iron Chef, Cutthroat Kitchen, Master Chef, etc.
Hell's Kitchen is fun for the competitions and punishments.
Troubleshooting shows like the BBC version of Kitchen Nightmares and Restaurant: Impossible are great. I like the BBC version better because it actually shows Ramsay teaching them how to cook, how to run the business, etc., rather than the Dr. Phil in a restaurant bullcrap Fox shows as the US version.
My favorite, though, is Gordon Ramsay's F Word. It a BBC show they play on BBC America. It's a combination of a competition, teaching, and magazine show. He has a brigade of amateurs create a 3-course meal for a restaurant, and teaches viewers the recipes. One thing they focus throughout the season on is him teaching his kids about how to raise and care for animals (turkeys, pigs, etc.), which are served during the season finale, in order to teach them where food comes from and to respect food.
He also has a weekly celebrity cook-off where he takes on a British celebrity to cook their signature dish, judged by a blind taste test. It's freakin' hilarious when he loses.