Why It’s Worth a Watch – Common Law

May 30, 2012 By 12 Comments

This week on Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday, Tiffany and I are hanging out at the USA network. Well, not literally. But for how much love we show for their programming, they should be extending an invite. This week, Tiffany visits the already in progress Fairly Legal and I check out the brand new Common Law.

Common Law features two police detectives, Travis (Michael Ealy) and Wes (Warren Kole), who are great detectives who seem to be having some troubles in the partnering department. Their captain, not wishing to give up on their partnership, does what he thinks is best: sends them to couples counseling.

Not only are they in couples counseling, but they are in a group counseling situation, which makes for some fun amongst the romantically intertwined.

The partners are your typical Odd Couple. One is straight-laced, bordering on OCD (maybe even crossing the corder), while the other is a shoot from the hip ladies’ man.

Sound familiar? Of course. The “Odd Couple” formula has been played over and over and over (and did I mention, over?). Yet, these two are charming and neurotic enough to keep me from immediately changing the station. The great thing is that they work well together and obviously don’t hate each other. They just have a hard time getting along.

Coming from a big family, I know that feeling. You can love someone to death, yet want to smack them on a regular basis. So, the relationship here is one you can definitely relate to.

There are moments in the dialog and cases that are on the predictable side for me, yet I still found the show enjoyable. USA manages to do what it always does well – deliver characters.

Only time will tell how good the show can be. While the trite “Odd Couple” formula might be a formula for failure on other networks, USA seems to know how to deliver this idea in a way that keeps its viewers watching (think Gus and Shawn in Psych).

This won’t be entering my Top Ten list anytime soon, or even my favorite USA show, but it definitely deserves a spot in my JFTV viewing. We’ll see where it lands in my junk drawer as the series progresses.

Now head over to Tiffany’s blog and see what she thinks of Fairly Legal. Given USA’s track record, I’ll bet it is at least watchable.

Next week we revisit Smash and The Client List, to let you know what happened after we let them simmer for a bit.

A brief announcement: I’ve cancelled my cable service. I’ll be continuing the #watchwed series with Tiffany, but it may mean featuring more programming available on the web, which is great news for those of you who have already made the same jump I just did.

Remember to stop by the #watchwed hashtag in Twitter to discuss any of today’s reviews, or to mention any television programs that you’d like to see on Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday in the future.
A Recap of The WatchWed Review System:
GTV (Gourmet TV): Everything we want and more
MacTV (MacNCheese TV): Guilty pleasure. Not perfect, but is satisfies
GMacTV (Gourmet MacNCheese TV): A combination of fine wine and comfort food
JFTV (Junk food TV): It’s not great for us, but we’ll go back for seconds
TBPTV (Twice Baked Potato TV): Part gourmet and delicious, while absolutely horrible for our cholesterol
SSTV (Still Simmering TV): It has potential, but the jury is still out
NIV (Nyquil Induced Viewing): Perfect for that late night television sleep timer
LOTV (Liver&Onions TV): Do we really have to explain? Blech

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Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday – Castle

September 14, 2011 By 33 Comments

This week Tiffany and I go head to head with Monday night rivals!

Are you excited?

No?

You should be.  Every time I mention a certain someone on this blog, the visits climb and the ladies swoon.

Ok, maybe it’s just me swooning, but the part about the visits is an undeniable fact.  I have charts and graphs.

With another week of telling you all about our favorite fall shows on Why It’s Worth a Watch, I get to tell you about a show I kinda sorta love.  I’ll tell you right now, I’m giving it a GTV.  Like any gourmet dish, it may hold the same appeal for everyone, but I’ll just say if you don’t love it, you have bad taste.  (I kid, I kid.)

Castle, rolling into its fourth season on September 19th on ABC, follows the story of Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), a mystery novelist.  Yes, writerly friends, it is a show about a writer. [insert cheering here] Having killed off the main character in his successful mystery series, he finds new inspiration by using his connections to shadow an NYPD detective.

Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) is the intelligent, no-nonsense officer he chooses to follow and use as the model for his new series, Nikki Heat.  While she is reluctant about having a writer shadow her, even annoyed, over time she does recognize the value of having the out of the box thinking of a writer around.

Along with Beckett, Castle spends his time with her fellow detectives, Javier Esposito (Jon Huertas) and Kevin Ryan (Seamus Dever).  The pair is much more accepting of Castle’s presence, as it does bring certain advantages, like fancy espresso makers and rubbing shoulders with famous people.

In addition to the writer’s relationships with the detectives, his at home life includes his live-in mom (Susan Sullivan), an (out of work) actress, and his bright and very mature teenage daughter (Molly Quinn).

Now, obviously, the storyline will involve a lot of murders that need to be solved, including the mystery around the death of Detective Beckett’s mother.  It’s not like we don’t have a million crime/mystery dramas out there.  So what’s the big deal about this one?

Watching it unfold with a writer’s overactive imagination chiming in adds an entertaining and often humorous element.  It’s all about the story.  The fact that the writer is played by Nathan Fillion, who does charming and funny better than most definitely contributes to the success of the show.

Castle has a little bit of everything; the humor, drama, and possible romance between Castle and Beckett, the banter of Esposito and Ryan, and one of the most adorable father/daughter relationships on TV.

In addition to a great show, the novels Castle writes in the show can be found at your local book store.  Heat Wave and Naked Heat have both been on the New York Times Best Seller List, and Heat Rises is due for release later this month.

AND, you all know how much I love shows with geeky references.  Nathan Fillion gets the opportunity to send a little something to his faithful Firefly fans.  If you aren’t already watching, I won’t spoil them for you.  But I will include one here:

While the mysteries in Castle aren’t always as mysterious as I might want them to be, I love everything about the show enough to not care.  If you aren’t watching, check it out.

Are you a Castle fan?  Do your reasons extend beyond an appreciation for Nathan Fillion?  Have any of you read the books released in line with the show?  Do you appreciate humor in your crime/mysteries?

Now head over to Tiffany’s blog where she tells us whether or not Hawaii Five-O is worth a watch.

Tune in the next week for CBS hit shows, The Mentalist and Blue Bloods.  And as always, be sure to let us know what shows you are looking forward to in the comments.

 

A Recap of The WatchWed Review System:
GTV (Gourmet TV): Everything we want and more
MacTV (MacNCheese TV): Guilty pleasure. Not perfect, but is satisfies
JFTV (Junk food TV): It’s not great for us, but we’ll go back for seconds
SSTV (Still Simmering TV): It has potential, but the jury is still out
NIV (Nyquil Induced Viewing): Perfect for that late night television sleep timer
LOTV (Liver&Onions TV): Do we really have to explain? Blech

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,