Ratings: ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ beats ‘Heroes: Reborn’ finale; ‘The 100’ season 3 off to great start

We’re not going to beat too much around the bush with this particular ratings article: It was a very good night Thursday for The CW. They may have found themselves another instant hit, and to go along with that they may also have seen one of their other shows rise to heights that it has not seen in some time … with a slight catch.

The winners – The series premiere of “Legends of Tomorrow” drew an excellent 1.2 rating for The CW, which is slightly higher than “Arrow” this week and right below “The Flash.” We feel like so long as the show stays at a 0.7 or higher, it’s virtually a lock to be coming back for another season in some shape or form.  What’s also impressive here is that the network defeated both ABC (for “Beyond the Tank”) and NBC (for “Heroes: Reborn”), as both of those shows drew just a 1.0.

Meanwhile, “The 100” season 3 posted a 0.7 for its premiere episode; if that holds, it will be the show’s highest-rated episode since the first season! Unfortunately, “Legends” ran a little late into the hour, and you also have to remember that this show has a long history of adjusting down in the finals. We wouldn’t be shocked if it slides down to a 0.6, but even if it does that is still a solid beginning to the season that puts it ahead of other network shows.

Also, how about a quick shout-out to “American Idol” for keeping strong with a 2.4 for its final audition show? Granted, “The Big Bang Theory” aired a repeat last night, and this could impact both the reality show and “Legends” next week.

The losers – There were no giant duds on the air last night, but we would say that “Angel From Hell” (1.4) is continuing to buy time until CBS inevitably cancels it. It is also not serving as a great lead-in for “Elementary” (1.1), though to be fair few shows have.