Weekly TV Recap for September 25th

Fall TV season has certainly started.  Just look how long this post has gotten.  And I'm got two more shows starting in the coming week.

Remember, spoilers start right away.

Dancing with the Stars - What a weird group of dancers we've got this season, as always. Most of them I thought did pretty well. I'm sure as the weeks go by we'll begin to see the winners and those who can't quite hang on, but most of them can be proud of what they've done so far. Since Jennifer Grey is best known for a dancing movie, I'm wondering how fair it really is to have her on the show, but I loved her Waltz. Weaknesses? David Hasselhoff was the most awkward dancer of the night. I was disappointed to see Florence Henderson trying to out Cloris Cloris Leachman. (And really, if you don't want to the two of them compared, why team them both up with Corky? They are his only two partners?) Come on, Mrs. Brady, take this show seriously. And Margaret Cho? What the heck was that? It wasn't funny. It was just strange. Everyone acted like it was a shock that David Hasselhoff was the first one to leave, but I actually expected it. He doesn't have the fan base, and he was near the bottom after Monday night. It actually was probably the best choice of the night, too.

Chuck - Okay, so it wasn't the best episode ever, but it was still fun. I think I would have enjoyed it more had we seen the rest of the cast. I want to know how they are going to work the old Buy More employees into the new, CIA tricked out one. I like the fact that Chuck is now back to work for the CIA, not that I doubted it at all. And the way he took out the guards in Russia was very fun. Already looking forward to next week.

Castle - That has to be the best opening ever, with Beckett arresting Castle for murder, almost twice. I wish they'd done more with the hurt feelings over Castle not calling all summer or when he got back into town. But I loved that bit at the end where Beckett admitted with a smile that she won the bet but let Castle win so he'd come back. Why are both of my favorite shows on Monday night?

Melissa and Joey - Who the heck is this Stephanie person. Is this a new assistant to replace the one we've had since the beginning of the show? Already? Frankly, I didn't like her that much. Too insecure to be funny. Plus the obvious ads for Just Dance weren't all that fun, either. However, this new romantic relationship between Joey and the reporter could be interesting. I figured they'd keep them denying any attraction for at least the rest of this season and have something like this happen at the end of season one. I guess we'll see where they go next week.

Hawaii 5-0 - So, let's start by admitting that I haven't seen the original, at least that I remember. I've got nothing to compare it to. However, I enjoyed the show. It wasn't the best thing ever, but it had some potential. I'd be willing to give it two or three weeks to see how it develops. I didn't recognize the main villain until his second (and final) scene. Of course, he wasn't blonde and didn't have an English accent, so I can be forgiven, right?

Survivor - Sometimes, I wonder if the people on Survivor have never seen the show before. Two episodes into the new season, and both of the people who have gone home have slit their own throats at Tribal. I mean, dude, if you are going to go crazy and say what is really on your mind, do that before Tribal so you have time to recover. If you do it at Tribal, you might as well walk about before people vote. Shannon, you hurt yourself. Don't go around blaming the others and talking about how you were on the wrong tribe. When you fly off the handle from an opening question about life at camp and then accuse a tribe mate of being gay, you had better expect to leave.

Undercovers - I think I have a favorite new show of the season. I loved this show! It had action, and I loved the relationship between the leads. Plus I think Gerald McRaney is going to be a hoot in his role. Humor was great, too. Can't wait for next week.

Better with You - So, JoAnna Garcia is two for three in the getting married because she's pregnant category, her character in Reba and now this. There were some funny lines, but I don't know if I'll stick with this show. I'll give it another two or three weeks before I make up my mind.

Nikita - Okay, I still think Undercovers is my favorite TV show of the new season, but Nikita is a close second. It is just so slick and fun. I love the way she manages to get out of every thing. Although I am really worried for Alex. She is going to give herself away, I just know it. Okay, probably not until a season finale or something, so we've got a little time. At least I hope. And it was great seeing the actress who played the reporter again. She was in season 3 of Veronica Mars and also in Eli Stone. Characters need to learn to trust Nikita if they want to live, like the poor guy who shot the video.

Community - So two of the students at work were raving about this show, so I decided to give it a try. I'm not sold yet. It had some fun moments, but it didn't strike me as all that funny. But a lot of it was playing off the season finale, I bet, so I'm going to give it another week or two to see if it grabs me or not.

The Mentalist - Well, I'm giving the show a few weeks to try to win me back. It's not that the show has changed or gotten bad. I just grew tired of it last May. And I'm still not super impressed. Patrick Jane is just an arrogant jerk. The act was funny for a while, but it's gotten old. I was surprised this week to see that he was wrong about something. That never happens. The case was okay, although again it wasn't anything special. Unless something changes in the next couple of weeks, I think I'll use this hour for something else.

New TV on DVD Reviews:
Castle - Season 2