Just when you start to think reality TV is nothing but a worn out, vulgar genre that tweaks the same sleazy, limited premises over and over again, along comes someone with the courage to dig a little deeper and create a show you never even imagined. A good example is Hurl!, which will start spewing out of your television next month courtesy of the programming directors at Fox. Without losing ourselves in the complexities that make any game show such a satisfying challenge, here’s how the show works: contestants eat a lot of gross stuff and then get spun around until they puke. Of course, it will be handled in a tasteful manner:

“Vomit on-screen is covered by animated buckets with a one- to five-bucket rating system,” said Dale Roy Robinson, who developed and executive produces “Hurl!” with Tom Crehan. “Actually, the show has very little to do with vomit, and everything to do with competition and camaraderie.

Of course it has very little to do with vomit. Mind you, this is the same network that invited us to Glutton Bowl a few years ago, so Hurl! is a more or less logical development. We’re probably only a couple of seasons away from a spinoff featuring powerful laxatives and Toilet-Cams. And I think we all know which network will be running Ow! My Balls! sooner or later. Although, to be honest, a 90-minute show featuring nothing but Fox programming directors getting whacked in the nads would probably get my vote.