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My Kitchen Rules starts soft in the US

Celebrity version tries to cook up a storm for FOX, but finishes 4th in total viewers.

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My Kitchen Rules had its American debut on Thursday and from all reports it was a fairly soft start.

The FOX series, featuring Curtis Stone as judge, finished fourth against other shows, including The Great American Baking Show.

The big difference with the series from the original, is that it is a “celebrity”version featuring Andrew Dice Clay, Lance Bass, Brandy and Ray J.

Here’s how some of the US trade reported the results:

Hollywood Reporter:
It wasn’t a miserable start for My Kitchen Rules, which kicked off with a 0.9 rating with adults 18-49 and 2.6 million viewers, but it was the poorest showing for a culinary series that night. Lead-in Hell’s Kitchen was ahead with a 1.2 rating in the key demo, while the finale of ABC’s The Great American Baking Show also outdid My Kitchen Rules with a 1.0 rating in the key demo and a formidable 5.1 million viewers.

Deadline:
On Fox, they were not cooking up a storm despite the debut of My Kitchen Rules (0.9/3) after Hell’s Kitchen (1.2/4). The latter was even with its January 5 episode, but the newbie based on an Australian format took a hard 25% fall in the demo from its lead-in to make a soft launch – despite or maybe because of its star power Andrew Dice Clay, Lance Bass, Brandy and Ray J.

The Wrap:
NBC and Fox tied for second in the key 18-49 demographic. The latter net’s “My Kitchen Rules” quietly debuted last night, clocking in last among the Big 4 in terms of total viewers. It tied “Taking the Stage” in the main demo that hour, however.

7 Responses

  1. There are very few “celebrity” versions of shows that have done well.

    The Apprentice in the US did the same thing, and hasn’t rated well. The Apprentice AU did the same thing and was pushed into an 11pm timeslot and then cancelled. The Apprentice UK still does very well because it has ordinary people in it.

    There are very few “celebrity” editions of game shows that do well, an MKR US is no exception. I’m not surprised it had a luke warm reception.

    MKR AU is great and always has interesting characters on it. Celebrities are not relate-able people as they live totally different lives to the rest of us. It takes the “real” out of reality game show IMO.

  2. MKR is a brilliant Aussie concept, kudos to 7… unfortunately the US version appears to be a bastardized version of the show, which may explain the cool reception. Would be smart for 7 to also keep an eye on the local version, as recent series have been more and more drawn out, a very short sighted ploy that may hurt the brand in the long run.

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