HELL'S KITCHEN: L-R: Contestants Jada and Chris in the "Last State Standing Is . . ." episode of HELL’S KITCHEN airing Thursday, Jan 22 (8:00-9:02 PM ET/PT) on FOX. CR: FOX. ©2026 FOX Media LLC.

Best-bets for Jan. 22: lots of laughs and hell-ish chefs

1) “Hell’s Kitchen” finale, 8 p.m., Fox. The show’s 24th champion will be either Jada Vidal (shown here) or Ellie Parker. Last week, they drafted the other chefs for their teams and began planning fancy dinners — one a Cuban-Asian fusion, the other steakhouse-style. Tonight, one will land a major chef job. Read more…

1) “Hell’s Kitchen” finale, 8 p.m., Fox. The show’s 24th champion will be either Jada Vidal (shown here) or Ellie Parker. Last week, they drafted the other chefs for their teams and began planning fancy dinners — one a Cuban-Asian fusion, the other steakhouse-style. Tonight, one will land a major chef job.

2) “Animal Control,” 9 p.m., Fox. Tonight’s show starts and ends with great sight gags. The first brings back Rob Gronkowski. The second has Frank as the union-rep for his nemesis; his presentation is hilarious. That’s followed by an adequate “Going Duch” that sees two ex-lovers (Denis Leary and Catherine Tate) in a state of near-warfare.

3) “Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man,” 8 p.m., HBO. Here’s a profile of the comedy master, who turns 100 on June 28. The documentary is preceded by some of his best films — “High Anxiety” (1977), 1:35 p.m.,; “History of the World, Part I” (1981), 3:11; “Spaceballs” (1987), 4:45; and “Blazing Saddles” (1974), 6:25 p.m.

4) “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,” Paramount+. After a great start last week, this goes light, with a battle of pranks. By school-show standards, it’s OK; by “Trek” standards, it’s a mere trifle.

5) ALSO: Craig Ferguson takes over as host of CW’s “Scrabble.” That’s at 8 p.m., colliding with NBC’s “Law & Order” (a suspect uses surveillance againstg the police), ABC’s “9-1-1” (friends rally around Hen as she battles a mysterious illness) and a funny “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” rerun, with Georgie unhappy seeing his widowed mom dating.

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