Empire’s ratings were a little goosed in the series’ Wednesday return. The Fox drama, off the air for nearly four months, came back to the schedule with its strongest showing in the key demo since the first three weeks of the TV season.

Fox led the night, starting at 8 o’clock with Empire earning a 2.0 rating among adults 18-49. That was up two-tenths of a point in the key demo from its fall finale. Sister series Star, also off the air since December, improved by the same measure to pull a 1.5 rating in the key demo.

Interestingly, Wednesday marked the first time that Star outrated ABC’s Modern Family, which trailed as the No. 3 scripted series of the night. It earned a 1.4 rating in the key demo, following a new episode of The Goldbergs (1.4 adults) and the premiere of Alex, Inc. The freshman comedy earned a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49 and was just shy of 4.5 million viewers. It’s a decent enough start for a new sitcom, pulling the kind of numbers Speechless typically does in the same time slot. Designated Survivor wrapped ABC’s night with a 0.7 rating among adults 18-49.

CBS saw a steady Survivor lead its lineup, fetching a strong 1.7 rating among adults 18-49 and the night’s biggest audience — 8.1 million viewers. Recently renewed SEAL Team (1.0 adults) and Criminal Minds (1.1 adults), both steady, followed.

After a repeat of The Voice, NBC offered up its Andrew Lloyd Webber tribute (0.6 adults). On The CW, Riverdale logged a series low 0.3 rating among adults 18-49 before freshman Life Sentence pulled an abysmal 0.1 rating in the key demo and a scant 420,000 viewers.