• by Wayne Friedman , July 10, 2008

Tuesday night has turned into the hot night of the week this summer.

Three major reality efforts took the stage again this night with big time results, lead by the finale of Fox's 9 p.m. "Hell's Kitchen," which posted a strong Nielsen 4.2 rating/12 share among 18-49 viewers, 14% more than the week before.

Nipping at "Kitchen"'s heels is ABC's surprise summer hit "Wipeout," which grabbed a strong 4.0/13, an 11% hike over the week ago, running at 8 p.m. NBC's "America's Got Talent" which runs against "Hell's Kitchen" at 9 p.m. took a 3.4/9, up one-tenth of a rating point from the week before.

Second-tier reality shows on the night, in the 2-plus rating range -- NBC's "Celebrity Family Feud" at 8 p.m. and ABC's "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" at 9 p.m. Fox's "Moment of Truth" also climbed week to week. "Feud" was at a 2.1/7, up 11%; "Japanese Game Show" stood at a 2.7/7, a 4% improvement; and "Truth" went to a 2.0/6, up 11% from the week before.

All this put Fox and ABC in a neck-and-neck race on the night, with Fox nipping ABC at the line -- a 3.1/9 on the night to ABC's 3.0/9. NBC landed at a 2.5/7.

Farther down the list was CBS in rerun mode with "NCIS," "48 Hours Mystery" and "Without a Trace," which took the network to a 1.5/4 on the night.

In the back of the pack were CW and MyNetworkTV, which tied for fifth place at a 0.4/1 on the night.