Shows like Master Chef and Hell's Kitchen are designed to glamorize low-paying, labor intensive restaurant jobs and recruit people into the field.

Ish. But it also shows the the tip of the severe amount of work you have to put in to be not just good but great at what you do. There's something special about cooking for people. If anything those shows are more like watching professional sports for those that are in to sports. They can appreciate the amount of work somebody had to do to get there. Sure, anybody can make a meal, just like anybody can make a shot in basketball, but to be able to take the shot and get nothing but net many times over... That's hard work and practice. There are those that will end up in that field due to misplaced notions and there are those that will end up there because it was the only way to earn a paycheck. But to get to that level it takes a lot of drive, passion, and willingness to learn from your failures. But, you're right, there will always be that group of high school football players or kids that got A's in home ec that watch that and think "That could easily be me"