“Hell’s Kitchen’s” ratings are heating up right along with Gordon Ramsay’s temper.

The Fox reality show averaged a season-high 3.8 adults 18-49 overnight rating last night, 0.1 ahead of last week and 6 percent above its season average of 3.6.

In the penultimate episode, Virginia and Heather made it through to next week’s two-hour “Kitchen” finale, in which they’ll compete to become the new head chef at Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa in Las Vegas. Keith was eliminated.

Last year “Kitchen” averaged a 3.4 rating. This year, the show’s second, is up 6 percent over that and is also up 7 percent among total viewers, from 7 million to 7.5 million.

It’s one of summer’s very few hit shows, along with Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance,” NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” and perhaps NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,” the only new shows averaging above a 3.0.

But “Kitchen” is unique among them in that it’s still growing. The others have seen their ratings falter or even out over recent weeks.

“Kitchen” likely succeeds in part because of the potential for pepper in each week’s episode. The unpredictable Ramsay, a British chef known as much for his mouth as for what he puts in others’, remains a big draw, and Fox’s messageboards are full of posts about him.

Meanwhile, Fox edged CBS for the nightly lead among 18-49s with a 2.9 rating and 9 share to the latter's 2.9/8. ABC took the No. 3 slot at a 1.9/6, ahead of NBC at 1.7/5, Univision at 1.5/4, UPN at 0.8/2 and WB at 0.6/2.

At 8 p.m., CBS was No. 1 at a 2.5 for reruns of "Two and a Half Men" and "How I Met Your Mother," followed by ABC at 2.4 for a "Wife Swap" repeat, Fox's "Kitchen" repeat at 2.0, Univision's "La Fea Mas Bella" at 1.9, NBC's "Psych" (a USA show) at 1.3, and the WB's "7th Heaven" rerun and UPN's reruns of "One on One" and "All of Us" each at 0.7.

At 9 p.m., Fox took the lead at the 3.8 for "Kitchen," followed by CBS at 2.9 for reruns of "Men" and "New Adventures of Old Christine," ABC's "Supernanny" repeat at 2.3, NBC's "Treasure Hunters" at 1.9, Univision's "Barrera de Amor" at 1.4, UPN's 0.8 for reruns of "Girlfriends" and "Half & Half" and WB's 0.6 for a "Heaven" rerun.

At 10 p.m., CBS was No. 1 again at 3.4 for a "CSI: Miami" rerun, trailed by NBC at 1.7 for a "Medium" rerun, Univision at 1.3 for "Cristina" and ABC at 1.2 for "One Ocean View," down 20 percent from last week’s 1.5.

Among households, CBS took the lead for the night at a 6.4 rating and 11 share, ahead of Fox at 3.9/7, ABC at 3.6/6, NBC at 3.1/5, Univision at 2.1/3, UPN at 1.3/2 and WB at 0.6/2.