Monday Night TV Viewing - DwtS and Castle
Well, as promised, here are my first thoughts about the start of the new television season.
I watched Dancing with the Stars and Castle last night, both of which were the season premieres.
It was kind of surprising to realise that Dancing with the Stars is in its eleventh (!!) season, but of course, the early years had two series per year, so it hasn't around as long as some of the reality shows on the tube, like Survivor. This time around, there's some interesting celebs in the show, and a few surprises. Audrina Patridge, ex of The Hills, was remarkably good in her dance, especially given that she had to come out and be the first one to do her routine with her partner, Tony Dovalani. Bristol Palin did much better than I expected her to, but I think that everyone is going to underestimate that girl, but it will all depend on whether she can focus on the dances that she's got to prepare for and get over her case of nerves. Jennifer Grey, best known for her role as Baby in Dirty Dancing, is teamed up with Derek Hough, and she came out and delivered; she's the one to beat based on the initial performances. Rick Fox, Kurt Warner, and Kyle Massey also delivered pretty good performances this night. On the lowlights sight of the things, David Hasselhoff and Margaret Cho both delivered extremely poor performances, with Cho's turning the Viennese Waltz into a comedy routine sure was a risk, though I didn't think that Florence Henderson's routine was all that bad given her age. Tonight's elimination show should be...interesting.
And then there was Castle... I have to say that the episode was a huge let-down based on the previews and promo spots for the show, since the previews were completely misleading. I am not going to give away the plot, other than to say that the identity of the killer was quite neat, but the story lacked the usual *zing* that I expected it to have. One of the things that seriously irritated me was the idea that here, as in each of the past two seasons, the season has to start with coming up with a reason for Castle to continue working with Beckett, and while it was handled well in this one, it seemed a bit too...railroad-like. For me, the highlight of this episode was the sub-plot of Alexis and her relationship with the guy she had met during summer studies. That said, the next episode with the murder of the psychic seems promising.
I've not watched The Event yet, as I had to tape that, and will see it when I get home from work. Will comment on that in a separate post later today.
I watched Dancing with the Stars and Castle last night, both of which were the season premieres.
It was kind of surprising to realise that Dancing with the Stars is in its eleventh (!!) season, but of course, the early years had two series per year, so it hasn't around as long as some of the reality shows on the tube, like Survivor. This time around, there's some interesting celebs in the show, and a few surprises. Audrina Patridge, ex of The Hills, was remarkably good in her dance, especially given that she had to come out and be the first one to do her routine with her partner, Tony Dovalani. Bristol Palin did much better than I expected her to, but I think that everyone is going to underestimate that girl, but it will all depend on whether she can focus on the dances that she's got to prepare for and get over her case of nerves. Jennifer Grey, best known for her role as Baby in Dirty Dancing, is teamed up with Derek Hough, and she came out and delivered; she's the one to beat based on the initial performances. Rick Fox, Kurt Warner, and Kyle Massey also delivered pretty good performances this night. On the lowlights sight of the things, David Hasselhoff and Margaret Cho both delivered extremely poor performances, with Cho's turning the Viennese Waltz into a comedy routine sure was a risk, though I didn't think that Florence Henderson's routine was all that bad given her age. Tonight's elimination show should be...interesting.
And then there was Castle... I have to say that the episode was a huge let-down based on the previews and promo spots for the show, since the previews were completely misleading. I am not going to give away the plot, other than to say that the identity of the killer was quite neat, but the story lacked the usual *zing* that I expected it to have. One of the things that seriously irritated me was the idea that here, as in each of the past two seasons, the season has to start with coming up with a reason for Castle to continue working with Beckett, and while it was handled well in this one, it seemed a bit too...railroad-like. For me, the highlight of this episode was the sub-plot of Alexis and her relationship with the guy she had met during summer studies. That said, the next episode with the murder of the psychic seems promising.
I've not watched The Event yet, as I had to tape that, and will see it when I get home from work. Will comment on that in a separate post later today.