• by Wayne Friedman , July 7, 2010

Now that the July 4th holiday is over -- and we are in the thick of summer -- a number of network reality shows are starting to pick up steam.

NBC's top gun, "America's Got Talent," rose 17% to a 3.4/10 for two hours between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. It remained the best-rated show of the night. Right on its heels was Fox's big show -- "Hell's Kitchen" -- which improved 15% from the week before to a Nielsen preliminary 3.1 rating/10 share among 18-49 viewers. It took up Fox's two hours worth of prime time between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.

ABC's "Wipeout" also had a good night -- up 12% to a 2.9/9 among 18-49 viewers.

While three veteran reality shows went north, two new-season reality efforts headed south. ABC's "Downfall" went down 7% to a 1.3/4 at 9 p.m. NBC's "Losing It with Jillian" also was in the losing column, off 8% to a 1.2/3 at 8 p.m.

ABC's newsy "Primetime: Family Secrets" continued a slow start -- up a bit from the week before to a 1.2/3, running at 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Fox took the night among 18-49 viewers, with a 3.1/10, followed closely by NBC at a 2.7/8. Then came ABC (1.8/5), Univision (1.7/5), CBS (1.4/4), and CW (0.3/1).