
Hereās whatās up in the world of TV for Monday, September 24. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Castle (ABC, 10 p.m.): The TV season officially starts tonight, with the resumption of some of your āfavoriteā series, which are picking up from some big cliffhangers (or⦠not, as the case may be). The biggest of those cliffhangers is probably Castle, which returns to let you know what happened after Castle and Beckett had themselves a nice kiss. Our guess is that they probably had sex, but this is Castle, so itās equally likely that one of them developed amnesia and forgot they were in love with the other or something. Phil Dyess-Nugent is going to solve this mystery by watching ABCās screener.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Alphas (Syfy, 8 p.m.): Continuing with Syfyās incredibly smart scheduling of this series, Alphas is now going to air the last half of its season right in the buzzsaw of fall premiĆ©re season, because thatās exactly where a show struggling in the ratings should be. Todd VanDerWerff will see you later, David Strathairn.
How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 8 p.m.): In Mayās finale, we learned the wedding Ted meets the mother at is Barney and Robinās wedding. Which was the only answer that makes sense, because then you get why the show starts with him meeting Robin. Donna Bowman reviews the possibly final season premiĆ©re.
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The L.A. Complex (The CW, 8 p.m.): With just two hours left in the season, The CW burns those two hours off tonight, in an extended finale, making them the only network getting out of the TV game this evening. Phil Dyess-Nugent is glad he had that Castle screener or he would have been up super late.
Switched At Birth (ABC Family, 8 p.m.): āEmmett meets a girl whoās a fellow motorcycle enthusiast.ā Switched At Birth doesnāt need to worry about getting killed in the ratings by other networksā premiĆ©res, because it knows that it already has a season two pickup. Carrie Raisler is going to Wiki some art.
2 Broke Girls (CBS, 9 p.m.): And now, a play. Todd VanDerWerff: āI need someone to cover 2 Broke Girls. Pilot?ā Pilot Viruet: āDo I have to?ā TV: āWell, it got lots of readers last year, and I know you havenāt given up hope for it yet.ā PV: āAnd it has Steven Weber.ā TV: āExactly. Plus, youāre new. Get to it!ā
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Revolution (NBC, 10 p.m.): Last weekās debut got huge ratings, the best since those long-running sci-fi sensations, V and FlashForward. Les Chappell is hoping that this show runs for 15 years like those two, and heās hoping that Tracy Spiridakos shouts, āBECAUSE I WAS LOADED, OKAY?!ā at some point.
The Inbetweeners (MTV, 10:30 p.m.): Jay decides to compete to be class clown, in keeping with a rich tradition in his family. We didnāt know that was the sort of title you could āwin.ā If sheād known that, Margaret Eby would have put much more work into her prop comedy skills in seventh grade.
TV CLUB CLASSIC
The West Wing (11 a.m.): Now that Samās on his way out, the heatās falling on his replacement, Will Bailey. Steve Heisler is working up a little softshoe routine during which heāll perform āWonāt You Come Home, Will Bailey?ā for the enjoyment of all you readers. Look for it on YouTube this afternoon.
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Justice League (1 p.m.): Grodd, Sinestro, Clayface, and Giganta working together in the same secret society? Will wonders never cease?! That theyāre joined by a panoply of other supervillains makes this the most supervillain-y episode ever. Oliver Sava has an evil plan to post this review five minutes late!
WHAT ELSE IS ON
Dancing With The Stars (ABC, 8 p.m.): Emmitt Smith and Bristol Palin are among the returning dancers in this showās āall-starā season. Since the ratings slumped significantly last spring, this is the seriesā best chance to return to its former dominance. Weāre betting it doesnāt happen, but stranger thingsā¦
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Partners (CBS, 8:30 p.m.): Michael Urie, David Krumholtz, Brandon Routh, and Sophia Bush are wasted in a series that might have felt up-to-date in 1996. But in 2012, it feels like something written in 2002, then dusted off. Which it pretty much was! Todd VanDerWerff and Sonia Saraiya take a look.
Hawaii Five-0 (CBS, 10 p.m.): Donāt tell anybody, but when weāre really bored, we kind of like kicking back with this agreeably dopey police procedural, mostly just because Hawaii looks so darn purty on our HDTVs and because Scott Caan is often fun. If you agree, the third season starts tonight.
The Day Carl Sandburg Died (PBS, 10 p.m.): Even PBS is getting in on the premiĆ©re week festivities, with this installment of American Masters about the great American poet and, apparently, the day he died. We hope itās something more interesting than, āAnd then, Carl Sandburg died. And it was really sad.ā
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Casino (AMC, 8 p.m.): Martin Scorsese swung for the fences with this story of gangsters in Las Vegas, and even if he didnāt quite hit it out of the park, the movieās still got plenty of good points. If youāre insistent on not watching returning shows tonight, you could do worse than giving this a chance.
Flubber (Cinemax, 8:20 p.m.): If you had always hoped Disney might remake The Absent-Minded Professor with Robin Williams in the lead role, well, youāre in luck, because they did it all the way back in 1997, and it was exactly as hilarious as youād expect it to be. By which we mean, not very hilarious at all.
Monday Night Football: Packers at Seahawks (ESPN, 8:30 p.m.): The NFC North featured all four teams at 1-1 going into this weekend, including the mighty Packers, who dropped one to the 49ers. One would expect them to have an easier time with the Seattle Seahawks, but who knows anything anymore?
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ALSO RETURNING TONIGHT
Mike & Molly,Ā season three (CBS, 9:30 p.m.)
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Treme (Sunday): Keith Phipps returns to the streets of New Orleans for the next-to-last season and an enjoyable season premiĆ©re. Now we wait to find out how far David Simon and company can stretch the lump sum theyāve been handed for season four. Four episodes? Six episodes? Dare we hope for eight?
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