"Castle's" star Nathan Fillion. Courtesy of ABC. Used with permission
Between “The Bachelor” hullabaloo earlier this week and the upcoming “Dancing with the Stars” premiere, ABC is doing its darndest to stake a claim on Monday nights this spring. Dominance shouldn’t be a problem between 8 and 10 ET/PT. It’s the 10 o’clock slot that going to be a challenge, home the network’s new procedural “Castle” starting Monday night. (Check out our photo gallery here. A video preview is available here.)
More to the point, that’s where Nathan Fillion’s fans will find themselves as long as the show is on. Ah yes, our man Nathan. Sure, he had a nice run in “Desperate Housewives,” even saving Katherine Mayfair’s bacon in last May’s finale. But for legions of Joss Whedon’s faithful he will forever be known as “Firefly’s” Mal Reynolds, the wisecracking captain of the Serenity.
That’s a bless and a curse for this show, since Fillion’s novelist Richard Castle is more of a spoiled playboy than a rough and tumble rogue. He pairs up with the aggressive, no-nonsense and oh-so-good lookin’ NYPD Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) when a killer copies a murder from his books, and two begin the classic TV tango — he’s pitching woo, she’s pushing him away. In case that’s not enough for us, Castle has a smarty-pants teen daughter Alexis (Molly Quinn) and a mother prone to diva-esque antics (Susan Sullivan) .
So, what can a little “Moonlighting” homage do for ABC? Hard to say…”Castle” is premiering late in the season, which usually would not bode well for its survival odds. Having said that, it’s been a lackluster season overall, so late arrivals may get a warmer welcome than they have in springtimes past. “Lie to Me,” another midseason contender, is holding up well.
“Castle” also is the kind of offbeat procedural that viewers seem to be appreciating this season (see: “The Mentalist”), in which a handsome lead (see: “The Mentalist”) is paired with an attractive female partner (OK, you get it) and with the help of witty banter and clever thinking, they consummate their relationship via crimesolving. Procedurals like “Castle” are comfortable sorts of shows — nothing special, but nothing so challenging that it alienates viewers. Comfort TV might be just the ticket these days. And, let’s be frank, having one of the most successful unscripted franchises on television as a lead-in doesn’t stink.
Even so, some IMDb users aren’t particularly optimistic. “I don’t mean to jinx it or whatever but a few of the TV series that Nathan has been a recurring main character (lead role or (sic) there abouts) have ended up being cancelled,” wrote user px54 on “Castle’s” message board, going on to cite the quick demises of “Drive,” “Firefly” and “Two Guys and a Girl.” “…I just hope they actually can finish what they’ve started and we can finally see the conclusion of something he’s in.”
From our boards to the programming executives ears, my friends. Discuss this title with other users on “Castle’s” message boards.
New ABC series “Castle” arrives Monday
"Castle's" star Nathan Fillion. Courtesy of ABC. Used with permission
Between “The Bachelor” hullabaloo earlier this week and the upcoming “Dancing with the Stars” premiere, ABC is doing its darndest to stake a claim on Monday nights this spring. Dominance shouldn’t be a problem between 8 and 10 ET/PT. It’s the 10 o’clock slot that going to be a challenge, home the network’s new procedural “Castle” starting Monday night. (Check out our photo gallery here. A video preview is available here.)
More to the point, that’s where Nathan Fillion’s fans will find themselves as long as the show is on. Ah yes, our man Nathan. Sure, he had a nice run in “Desperate Housewives,” even saving Katherine Mayfair’s bacon in last May’s finale. But for legions of Joss Whedon’s faithful he will forever be known as “Firefly’s” Mal Reynolds, the wisecracking captain of the Serenity.
That’s a bless and a curse for this show, since Fillion’s novelist Richard Castle is more of a spoiled playboy than a rough and tumble rogue. He pairs up with the aggressive, no-nonsense and oh-so-good lookin’ NYPD Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) when a killer copies a murder from his books, and two begin the classic TV tango — he’s pitching woo, she’s pushing him away. In case that’s not enough for us, Castle has a smarty-pants teen daughter Alexis (Molly Quinn) and a mother prone to diva-esque antics (Susan Sullivan) .
So, what can a little “Moonlighting” homage do for ABC? Hard to say…”Castle” is premiering late in the season, which usually would not bode well for its survival odds. Having said that, it’s been a lackluster season overall, so late arrivals may get a warmer welcome than they have in springtimes past. “Lie to Me,” another midseason contender, is holding up well.
“Castle” also is the kind of offbeat procedural that viewers seem to be appreciating this season (see: “The Mentalist”), in which a handsome lead (see: “The Mentalist”) is paired with an attractive female partner (OK, you get it) and with the help of witty banter and clever thinking, they consummate their relationship via crimesolving. Procedurals like “Castle” are comfortable sorts of shows — nothing special, but nothing so challenging that it alienates viewers. Comfort TV might be just the ticket these days. And, let’s be frank, having one of the most successful unscripted franchises on television as a lead-in doesn’t stink.
Even so, some IMDb users aren’t particularly optimistic. “I don’t mean to jinx it or whatever but a few of the TV series that Nathan has been a recurring main character (lead role or (sic) there abouts) have ended up being cancelled,” wrote user px54 on “Castle’s” message board, going on to cite the quick demises of “Drive,” “Firefly” and “Two Guys and a Girl.” “…I just hope they actually can finish what they’ve started and we can finally see the conclusion of something he’s in.”
From our boards to the programming executives ears, my friends. Discuss this title with other users on “Castle’s” message boards.
This entry was posted on Saturday, March 7th, 2009, 12:09 am and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.