24 is a terrifically evil show and helped sell torture by showing Jack routinely torture people and get the right actionable information every time without any ramifications.

I don't think you can sensibly infer anything of the sort from television ratings.

As I recall, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad and Dexter all rated pretty well too.

Yeah and the popularity of the Sopranos showed tacit approval of the American mobsters.

Even worse, "Madam Secretary" is now spreading torture apologist rhetoric by framing the character that worked for the CIA and approved torture as a successful but war-worn, down-to-earth realist that acknowledges that "life is more complicated than you think," while the character that vehemently opposed torture is framed as an overly-idealistic young adult that dropped out of college in protest and has to work menial jobs in retail to "learn how the world works."