Castle: ABC

Watch a preview clip of Castle below.

“In ABC’s new, cheeky hour tonight called “Castle,” a roguish, life-is-good crime novelist gets teamed with a reluctant, life-is-hard cop. Does anyone not expect sparks?… Don’t expect a lot of startling originality, or any serious crime solving. This isn’t about that. It’s about banter and light adventure and boy-girl jousting. Think of it as a 1980s crime show with 2009 pacing and energy.” (Rick Kushman, The Sacramento Bee)

“There’s a been-there-done-that quality to much of it and early on I’m not sensing the same kind of effortless chemistry between the two leads that was there from the start with David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel of “Bones.” (Chuck Barney, ContraCosta Times)

“The problem is that in the pilot and an early episode, the crimes are nowhere as compelling as the characters. For a show like “Castle” that dares to launch a more classic version into an already saturated and tarted-up market, the murders have to be as complicated and compelling as the push-me-pull-you glances between the main characters, and so far, they just aren’t.” (Mary McNamara , Los Angeles Times)

“If you’re a Joss Whedon fan — and all quality TV enthusiasts should be — you’re already sold on Nathan Fillion’s roguish charms, thanks to his starring roles as the space cowboy in Firefly and the hammy hero in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. In ABC’s Castle, anyone who watches should be equally enthusiastic. Nathan Fillion, in this role no less than his others, is a natural-born TV star…. And, by the way, Castle could USE some sharper writing, to match the sparkle of its leading man.” (David Bianculli, TVWorthWatching.com)

“Is “Castle” DOA? I couldn’t find a pulse. Mystery writer Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) is so bored with his career that he kills off a major character behind a best-selling mystery franchise. Even his professional rivals (real-life mystery writers James Patterson and Stephen J. Cannell, who cameo as themselves) seem dumbfounded.” (Kevin McDonough, Times Herald-Record, Hudson Valley, NY)

“What makes Castle really different from previous mystery shows, however, is the meta-fictional device they employ [sic]. You see, Richard Castle himself is a mystery writer, creating fake murder mysteries for his novels. He knows ever murder plot cliché out there, and makes these weak points and clichés known during the case they’re working on, which is also inadvertently pointing out the same weak points and clichés out to the audience about the show itself. It’s an interesting balancing act that makes the show amusingly self aware and entertaining to watch at the same time.” (AstroJones, TV Overmind)

Preview: ‘Castle,’ ABC from Broadcasting & Cable on Vimeo.