By Rick Gables
Hit culinary competition series Hell’s Kitchen returns to FOX on Thursday, Jan. 7, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, for its 19th season in a flashy new setting, as Chef Gordon Ramsay takes the show to Las Vegas. For the first time ever, 16 aspiring chefs from around the country will roll the dice and head to Sin City in the hopes of winning big. Each week, the competition will get hotter as the chefs are put through rigorous culinary challenges – reaping high stakes rewards and punishments. But only those who possess the right combination of ingredients will continue in the competition, until one is named winner. At stake is a life-changing grand prize.
NBC will premiere the new series Nurses on Tuesday, Jan. 5, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Filmed and set in Toronto, the 10-episode series follows five young nurses working on the front lines of a busy downtown hospital, dedicating their lives to helping others, while struggling to help themselves. The series stars Tiera Skovbye, Natasha Calis, Jordan Johnson-Hinds, Sandy Sidhu and Donald MacLean Jr.
An elite team of researchers return to the field with all-new clues when Travel Channel’s hit series Expedition Bigfoot returns Sunday, Jan. 3, with a one-hour special at 8 p.m. ET/PT, followed by the second season premiere at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The team’s advanced data algorithm has revealed a 75,000-acre swatch of Appalachian forest in southeast Kentucky, where the mathematical odds of a Bigfoot encounter are greatly increased during a specific 21-day window. The team includes Bryce Johnson (expedition operations); Dr. Mireya Mayor (primatologist); Russell Acord (ex-military/survivalist); Ronny LeBlanc (Bigfoot researcher). As the investigation intensifies during their two-month journey, evidence that Bigfoot is in the area begins to pile up.
ABC will premiere its new mind-bending game show, The Hustler, on Thursday, Jan. 7, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Hosted by Emmy Award-winning comedian Craig Ferguson, this series breaks the game show mold by featuring one player who secretly already knows the answers. Each episode follows five contestants as they collaborate to answer a series of trivia questions worth $10,000 each, with the goal of building a collective prize pot that increases with each correct answer. Contestants must accurately decide who the Hustler is to share the prize pot worth over $100,000. If they are wrong, the Hustler goes home with the full cash reward.