Gentlebeings, welcome to the 2009-2010 fall season! Oh sure, there were some season/series premieres last week — mostly on The CW, which really isn’t a network — but a majority of them start this week and continue until through October (in time for the cancellations). It’s shaping up to be an interesting season.  Traditional family sitcoms are attempting a return, a Joss Whedon show is making it to a second season on FOX, and three series remakes (Melrose Place, V, Parenthood) will try to pull in respectable audiences.

Then, of course, there’s The Jay Leno Show; known to the cigar-chomping executives over at NBC as “The Great Experiment”. While Jay and the network executives are optimistic about the show’s chances, many viewers are skeptical as to whether or not the former number one rated network can make it work.

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Those of you who’ve learned how to play this game are still drunk, or in jail, from the weekend….

• At 8:00, TNT offers up last week’s episode of The Closer, “Identity Theft.”  USA has a familiar NCIS caper, while TBS decides to go with the (kinda) funny stylings of Family Guy. Over on ABC, it’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire … wait, is that a rerun from 10 years ago, or did they really resuscitate this thing? I was sure Bob was lying. Oh, and you should be tuned to CBS for How I Met Your Mother (”Rebound Bro”) and Rules of Engagement (”Jen at Work”).
• At 9:00, TVOne will still be in the midst of airing about a thousand episodes of Martin. CBS makes you switch channels FAST (Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory are on; run!), The CW tries its hardest to do the same with Gossip Girl (if you were already tuned there for One Tree Hill)…. What to do? Maybe switch to FOX for the second half of Teen Choice 2009, hoping the Jonas Brothers’ and Miley Cyrus’ performance abominations are over already?
• As you can see, I’m not a 12 year-old girl. If you are, CINE has Jonas Brothers: The Concert Experience replaying a lot, another airing beginning at 10:00. Alternately, catch two episodes of My Name is Earl on TBS, or last night’s Army Wives on Lifetime. Otherwise, see Castle, “Little Girl Lost,” on ABC, or … well, you could always go to sleep. Or visit with your kids or spouse (12 year-old girls: hopefully that doesn’t apply to you).

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I don’t understand anyone who’s light on stuff to watch during the summer. We’re loaded with new shows, plus, summer’s a great opportunity for the networks to bombard us with reruns, must watch and not. I spent twenty minutes last night, searching for later showings of movies that I’ve recorded, so I can free up some space on my TiVo. And I have 100 hours available to me.

• Friday night is usually a loser on TV. You can catch two episodes of According to Jim (my point exactly) on ABC (9–10 PM), moan over the loss of Privileged and Everybody Hates Chris on the CW, or lose yourself in CSI:NY on TNT, at 8. Or, you could check out DirecTV’s re-broadcasting of Smith, The Nine, and Oz … not too shabby, for those of you paying for the dish. Don’t got it? USA’s airing The 40-Year-Old Virgin … could be a perfect match, if you’re home to see it. I kid because I love!
• Saturday night’s even more of a dog, unless you’ve got the movie channels, in which case it’s premiere night for Mamma Mia! (HBO), Death Race (Cinemax), and Swing Vote (Starz), amongst others. If not? USA has House, TNT has HawthoRNe, and ABC’s re-showing Castle’s ‘A Chill Goes Through Her Veins’, at 9. And stay on that station for the ritual purging of Dirty Sexy Money.
• Sunday brings us back to Nickelodeon’s syndication run of Malcolm in the Middle; for some reason, they’re not exactly showing them in order, but two “new” episodes air every Sunday – Thursday night, 8 to 9 (actually, on Sunday it’s now at midnight. Oops.) There’re a bunch of shows on all over the dials, new and old, but, for my money, I’d watch Old School, TBS at 8. There’s nary a movie better. Meanwhile, I’ll be busy trying to watch new episodes of Army Wives, In Plain Sight, Hung, and Entourage, all of which air at roughly the same time. Please … what lack of new programming?

I know, I know — you go out clubbing on Friday nights, so why on earth do you care about repeats? Lest you forget the power of the DVR, you might just want to revisit some gems this weekend:

• On CBS on Friday night, Melinda stalks new Jim on the Ghost Whisperer tonight. Weigh in on whether or not you think it’s creepy or sweet.
• What does Saturday bring? I’m sure you’ll all be watching the finale of Harper’s Island with us — right? In the event you’ve already read all the Canadian sites and completely spoiled the ending for yourself, then you might want to catch author Rick Castle’s onion goggles in tonight’s episode on ABC instead.
• Sunday night, CBS re-airs Cold Case’s “Lotto Fever,” not Jackie’s favorite episode because the case only went back to 2007, not far enough.
• Or, head over to ABC and re-watch Desperate Housewives‘ “Mama Spent Money When She Had None” and see which desperate housewife you identify with.

When I first watched Castle, I had such high hopes for this show. And if watching Nathan Fillion deliver great lines rapid-fire were enough, I might be happier with Castle. But it’s not. Watching the show this week felt like a chore. I found myself thinking, “Why is this show on the air? Does it offer anything new or fresh or different?” The answer is no.

The ability to suspend our disbelief is an essential component to watching television (I don’t watch reality TV, but I suspect it’s important for those shows too). Most shows worth watching will offer you some essential truths about human nature or relationships even if the plots are unbelievable. However, Castle offers neither. I don’t believe a word of the show, so I wonder why the hell I’m sitting there watching it. Read the rest of this entry »

The whole time I was watching the premiere of Castle, I was comparing it to Lie to Me. Lie to Me has become my new NOT favorite show, the show I now dread, the show I pick at because I have ceased to hope that I will like it. I realize that I am tasting my own bitterness because when I watched the Lie to Me pilot, I really liked it and had high hopes for the show. So, I am cautiously optimistic about Castle now.

I thoroughly enjoyed Castle. But I will say this: It doesn’t do anything new. And Lord knows, we have had enough shows about male/female crime-solving partnerships. Do we really need one more? I don’t know that we do, but I’ll tune in again. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve seen the pilot and the third episode of Castle, ABC’s new procedural (yeah, but give it a chance!) starring Nathan Fillion. The news is all good, very good, in fact.

The premise is that Rick Castle, best-selling murder mystery author, has a serial killer copycatting the murders from his books. This is the springboard case anyway, but with Castle’s infinite connections and a fun subplot, Castle ends up “working with” the police department. That wasn’t too spoilery, right?

My prediction is that Castle will be a hit; not just a “hey, that’s a pretty good show” hit, but a “this is one of the best new shows of the season” hits. It’s got a lot of things going for it, but the things that make it really stand out as something special and unique are:

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