Hell’s Kitchen ratings soar as Taken season 2 premiere starts low

After looking at the lineup for Friday night, one thing remains very clear: Hell’s Kitchen ratings are as strong, and as surprising, as ever. Who knew that watching Gordon Ramsay scream at people and smash fish with his fists year in and year out would prove to be so entertaining for this long?

Friday night’s new episode actually won the night with a 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic, something that has become increasingly rare over the past couple of years. In general this year we’ve seen a major rise in unscripted programming performance — shows like Ellen’s Game of Games and The Amazing Race have both surged in the numbers, with one of the biggest reasons for that being the thirst that is very clearly out there for escapism at the moment. viewers want to have a chance to get away from the insanity of the world and we honestly can’t blame them for that. Even though Hell’s Kitchen may be intense, it’s still comedic in its own way and it’s a show you can miss a few weeks and still be okay to jump back in. (Sure, there will be some eliminations at some point along the road, but you will figure out what’s going on).

As for elsewhere on the night, the latest ratings for MacGyver are also probably giving CBS a reason to celebrate — the show managed a season-high 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic last night, a move probably spawned in part by the arrival of guest star Ashley Tisdale coupled with this being the time of year that many crime procedurals on the network tend to perform well. Viewers in January will almost always choose staying home over going outside – everyone’s usually pretty partied out from the holidays.

The bad news comes for Taken — the season 2 premiere generated a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic, not that we’re all that shocked about that. The show is now airing on a new night in Fridays and we honestly think that some viewers may not have realized that it was even on the air.

Related – Did you catch our review for the Taken premiere from last night?

What do you want to think about the latest Hell’s Kitchen ratings? Be sure to share in the comments below! Remember that you can also like CarterMatt on Facebook in the event you want some more updates regarding Hell’s Kitchen plus many other shows we cover. (Photo: Fox.)