madmaverick

I have to say I found this picture terribly cute. All 3 of them heh. Nathan really does seem to have a special touch with kids.

I watched it and thought it was absolutely terrible. Thought the leads had absolutely no chemistry with each other, and their acting paled in comparison with what Nathan and Stana brought to the Castle pilot, separately and together. And yes, there were quite a few similarities with the Castle pilot, like the guy getting handcuffed to the car by the female cop, the female cop saying she's not a fan of the celebrity but turning out to have watched some of his work. I won't be staying tuned to see if she has a tragic backstory. ;) I found it all terribly boring. I couldn't get into all the magic stuff at all. If you love magic, maybe this is the show for you. But otherwise, I can't recommend it, not even as a mindless procedural. I will see how Instinct, the other Castle clone, compares. Of course we have Take Two with Milmar coming, which may be the ultimate Castle clone. And The Rookie with Nathan., but that may not be so similar to Castle other than Nathan also starring.

The thread would be remiss without a pic of Nathan in rookie uniform glory. :P Like this one here, with Eric Winter, taken by Melissa O'Neil. https://www.instagram.com/p/BgMz1bpDa2n Another good one here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BgOpy99jlVu Getting a coffee (Castle feels!): https://twitter.com/brooklynbella/status/972928189050703872 This black and white candid may be my favourite of them all: https://www.instagram.com/p/BgNYc0WBNjE/ More pics can be found using #TheRookie on twitter. Looks like there were some good photographers snapping away at their location shooting at Hollywood Blvd that day. I wonder if it costs more to shut down a busy road like that, and it looked like they had a lot of people and cars working on set that day too.

According to Hawley, pilot shooting is under way: https://twitter.com/AlexiHawley/status/971417544555819008 Cast pic and everyone looks quite good (some are absent:) https://twitter.com/EricWinter1/status/971131946876125184 Cast practicing stunt driving: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf_wBWNFtwL/ Cast at target practice: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf1yjZjHQSP/?taken-by=titusmakin

And I think the final series regular has been cast. Another woman in charge! http://deadline.com/2018/02/the-rookie-mercedes-mason-cast-nathan-fillion-abc-light-drama-series-1202304679/ I like the character description. "Confident and irreverent". Interesting that they won't just have the Sergeant character as the rookies' superior, but also show the C.O. Captain, too. And I guess the training officers are the rookies' immediate boss so there'll be quite a chain of authority on display there. Room for different notes to be played by different boss characters. Different to the typical one head authority figure in these types of shows. Looks like the table read has begun so they should start filming soon. It sounds like they will already be juggling multiple stories and more characters within the precinct than Castle did, and Castle never did a good job with any of the love interests or peripheral characters outside of work. They didn't even dedicate much time to exploring the supporting characters at work, let alone outside of that sphere. Also the show is called The Rookie and the show appears to revolve primarily around what happens at work. No one knows if it's even romantic at this point. Something sexual does not always equal romantic, even when it's driven by the woman. SATC anyone? ;) But throwing in something surprising (or it may not surprise some TV viewers) in a pilot towards the end is a common hook used by writers. How that develops, if at all, from episode 2 onwards is anyone's guess, and it's far too soon to jump to any conclusions even about the nature of any relationship. I don't tell teachers I've crushed on that I am/was in love with them in a heartbroken voice, personally. It sure seemed to go beyond admiration to my eyes. But it's still a double standard if somehow one is more accepting of older women being with younger guys but not the other way around. Whether people like it or not, whether it's right or not, the societal reality in many places is that it's often older men with younger women rather than the other way around. But it takes two to tango, you know. Let's give the women in these relationships some respect for their choice and their agency. American couldn't even accept a female as President, do you think they could accept a female President with a younger spouse (even on TV?), or even an unmarried President? I have my doubts. And yet, they could accept a male as President who's been married 3 times, often to much younger wives, and cheated on them with any number of, um, Playmates. So instead of putting all the blame on HW, maybe society needs to look to itself and its attitudes that it perpetuates. There are more TV shows than ever featuring 40+ women in leading roles if that's more some people's cup of tea. I don't think of TV shows in terms of ages of actors and ages of characters myself. A good show is a good show. If I only watched shows that featured people and relationships that were palatable to me and morally correct, I would sure miss out on a lot of good shows! The test of good storytelling is that it can take you anywhere. I wasn't being specific to The Rookie creators there. But for example, I read that the show Confederate, to be created by the GoT writers, is likely to be shelved because of the socio-political climate in America right now. Personally, I don't agree in contentious creative ideas being dismissed because some people want to pre-judge a piece of work without it even being fully formed in the first place. That creative vision seems to be dead under the weight of social media pressure. That's a shame in my opinion. That show could have had a lot of thought provoking things to say about slavery and race relations, which are still very pertinent themes in today's world. I don't expect a network show like The Rookie or Take Two to be very groundbreaking (lol), though hopefully there will be room for some pleasant surprises. I do think, however, that examining an older person making a fresh start in life is an interesting and relatable premise, and something more different to a lot of the crime procedural formulas out there.

For a show that seems to be set primarily within a precinct, it would be tough to feature a series regular playing a love interest outside of work. Castle couldn't make it work to make Gina a series regular character. The main character here looks set to primarily interact with fellow rookies, their superior training officers, and superiors on top of that. If he were to romance his bosses of a comparable age, that would open another can of worms altogether. TV exploring sexual tension between co-workers is hardly anything new so I don't see the big deal here. The premise of the show is also about exploring what happens in relationships between older people and younger people, be they working relationships, platonic friendships or more. So potentially exploring a relationship with an age difference is natural territory for the show to me and serves the themes of the show. I also keep remembering that there was never a fuss about inappropriateness on Castle when Beckett said she was in love with Royce, her training officer and mentor, who was far more than 10 years older than her. The show's cast multiple women of colour and has been one of the few shows to tap a women director for the pilot. And from the description in that show preview, it sounds like female characters are often the ones in charge. I would say it's quite responsive to empowering women. I take your point about Hollywood stereotypes with the caveat that a) this is a show that is about exploring age differences, and b) to watch before making any assumption. I'm kind of tired of the internet jumping to conclusions without anything concrete, when nothing has even been aired. There's no context yet for any potential romantic/sexual relationship. I don't watch Connie Britton's new show but apparently she's lusting for a much younger guy there, but I don't seem to hear much fuss? Even as we strive for gender equality, we should also be cognizant of not having double standards, and be open to the fact that real life relationships do come in all shapes, forms and ages. I like creators to stay true to their creative vision while being alive to social movements, but not in a way where the need to conform to them sacrifices their creative instincts.

According to this guy, The Rookie will consist of 18 episode seasons. But he also claims the show will be shot in Vancouver, which I wouldn't have thought would be the case. So maybe await further confirmation on both. I definitely like the idea of a shorter season though, for the sake of quality and for the sake of actors not looking dog tired on screen. Something like 10-13 episodes would be ideal to me, but networks probably need more than that to plug their schedules.

Lol, I just spittaked like Beckett did when asked if Castle was gay. That would be a twist no one sees coming. The network version of Transparent. I wasn't sure about the spoiler policy in here also, considering that article was very spoilery about the pilot. Will put in tags. I don't really mind either way but maybe a catch all topic thread for now as the forum isn't so busy.

Spoiler TV got their info from this site below which posted the original content. (Sure they credited the other site in a footnote but one of my pet peeves is sites copying and pasting original content from other sites and getting their clicks in without having done any of the real work. Anyway, I digress...) FYI the article is quite spoilery! http://season-zero.com/the-rookie-abc-pilot-preview-richard-castle-dead-john-nolan/ To be honest, I had some reservations about jumping into another network crime procedural, and with Hawley as showrunner/writer, even though I think Nathan Fillion's a talented and very watchable guy. But would the writing be good, is the question I ask with every show. I feel more confident about The Rookie after reading this review of the pilot script. I like how they've drawn the characters and set up the various character dynamics. One thing that I did like about the premise of The Rookie is that it was about second chances and taking a leap in life, and I look forward to that being explored with Nathan's character. I did wonder what spurred the move for the guy to become a cop at 40. It's more refreshing to me when it's truer to life about people wanting to make a change and just going for it. I think a lot of people can root for that. Now it's good to hear that the other characters will all have their own challenges and storylines and that the show sounds more character driven than a straight crime procedural with one COTW format, which can get really tedious, for me at least. The pilot at least also seems to delve into the challenges and realities of being a rookie, training officer, which I would find more interesting than a simple run of the mill crime investigation format, and I hope they keep doing stories about that going forward. The show is called The Rookie, after all. And I like that what the characters do in their down time is also explored. I don't want to watch a show where we barely see the characters outside of being cops. People might have different opinions about Consider me surprised but intrigued to see how they handle it. It's a bolder move than what I expected, which was another few years of UST. ;) I think it would be smart to have the female character be the active pursuant of said relationship. A woman going after what she wants, and getting some! With 2 of the training officers being women managing their male subordinates, it suggests women will be empowered in this show. So, in a nutshell, feeling more positive and enthused about the show after reading the review. Everything starts with a strong script, and it seems like something the actors should be able to execute well.

He played a Sheriff, I believe, in Slither, named Bill Pardy. If you're a fan of horror comedies, should check out that movie for the gore if not the laughs. But it is a cult film for a reason. ;) I thought Nathan played a small town kind of guy quite well. O'Neil seems like a cool chick. Those are qualities I can get behind for sure, too. And a fellow Canadian. Looking forward to an infusion of new fans with a positive, drama free spirit from the fanbases of the various actors. Hoping the toxic remnants of the Castle fandom can be left behind. I feel bad that the fans of this actress were exposed to it when they simply wanted to celebrate the casting of their actress and must have been wondering why all some people wanted to talk about was age difference. Castle and Beckett had around a 10 year age difference and I don't remember people making a big deal out of it then. ;)

You mean you're not a cop by day, cop show watcher/moderator by night? :P I'm going to guess they are going to take some creative liberty with the rookie stuff. I would like to see some of the police training they have to undertake though. Haven't watched Police Academy in years and I never watched Rookie Blue so I need to brush up on my rookie TV knowledge somewhere heh. Nathan's played a cop in previous roles before and I think he may have worn a police uniform on Lost?

If only TV Line had posted about this casting notice with that caveat. But no, of course they had to go for the most clickbaity drama stirring headline as possible. ;) And I see the desperate ones are still up in arms over this age difference thing because of course they have to be up in arms about something. Amazing how invested they are in a show that they say they won't watch. ;) I agree that he definitely looked worse for wear especially during the second half of the latter seasons (which makes me want to know if there's any chance this series is one of those 13 episode/season series), but he's definitely looked fresher since Castle ended so hopefully he can keep that up. Even if he looks his age, my mind personally wouldn't jump to this actress being his daughter at all though. She definitely looks a fair bit older than Molly Quinn to me. I don't know how much they want to emphasize the fact that he's the oldest rookie at the beginning, but hopefully that won't involve dressing him and putting make up on him to make him look older than his character even is! I have no idea about this, and the show might not even be true to life in this respect, but do LAPD Rookies have to wear uniforms? I am liking the diverse cast. Good casting is a start, but there's still got to be strong writing which will make or break the show.

So the potential love interest for Nathan's character has been cast. I'm unfamiliar with Melissa O'Neil (anyone watched Dark Matter?), but googled her age, 29 (turning 30 this year). Which also seems a bit old for a rookie? But maybe it's not the character's first career either. And looking at her headshot there, I don't feel like there will feel like a massive age difference on screen. Now, there may be a height difference! The only thing I'm wondering about is, I think she's half Asian and not Hispanic at all, but she's playing a Hispanic character? Maybe her character is half Asian/half Hispanic or they'll match the character's ethnicity to the actress'? I wouldn't be surprised if even character names are changed at this point. So, as expected, TV Line stirred up drama for clicks over nothing. ;)

I remember Eric Winter from Brothers & Sisters long ago. He's the kind of actor that keeps popping up in various series. Think he would be a good fit to play an overbearing training officer. Smug, kind of ass-y. For Castle viewers, I'm thinking someone like Sorenson x 10. I've never seen Afton but she looks like she could have some good chemistry with Nathan. Who knows, maybe his eventual romance could even be with her. As his character's partner, I hope she'll have more to do than the African American actors on Castle ever did. So far I'm liking that the actors being cast are different types to Castle ones, if people get what I mean. It'll give a different energy to the show even if they're all playing cops.

A bit more info about Susan's character here. Sounds like a character that an actor can really sink her teeth into. Hope the writing does her justice. Glad that she's not playing Michael Douglas' mom or something like that. ;) With such a good cast, there must have competition for the role, so well done, Susan. I had no idea even Michael Douglas was doing TV. Well, now even Meryl Streep is doing it again! Nice to see shows revolving around older talented and experienced actors. Surely there's a demo for those shows too, and some things do get better with age. I've watched a bit of Gracie & Frankie and enjoyed that too. There's good acting even when the writing is imperfect. Somehow Lorre & Shonda's biggest hits have passed me by heh. But maybe I will revisit them sometime. I think whatever the show it's very hard to find one that you love more in the later seasons than you do in the early seasons. Every show runs out of steam eventually, but by then you are attached to the characters.

Wow, congrats to Susan! I've never really checked into Chuck Lorre's shows but I'll definitely be checking this one out. What a great cast. Apparently, she'll be playing Alan Arkin's character's wife of 42 years and his better half apparently.

Tamala was in an episode of ABC's Speechless. She might have got more screentime there than on many a Castle episode. ;) She was fine. Hope she gets more work. Maybe she'll land on another ABC show again.

For me the show already started its decline around S3/4. The writing wasn't as sharp as S1/2 as the crime procedural element got more and more tedious, and the ways in which they clearly trying to delay getting Caskett together weren't written well. And after they got together the couple wasn't written in any fresh or particularly interesting way either. It was mundane interspersed with some weird angsty arcs that didn't make a lot of sense. For me, Marlowe's best writing was in S1, maybe even the pilot, and when you do a show for 7 seasons, that says something to me. I do attribute the decline in writing quality to the writers because that's their job. Castle isn't a kind of a show where they wanted to push boundaries, just a typical crime procedural, so I doubt the network had issued so many constraints on what they could do. I highly disagree with the idea that there's always some sort of truth to rumours. In fact, I find that's one of the most disturbing and dangerous beliefs of our time in this internet age and we are seeing this play out in politics etc. In arenas which matter much more than TV shows. Where "rumours" coming from who knows where (as it turns out, even some small towns in Macedonia) at a click of a button can become "fact" or "truth" to millions. In many instances, there have proven to be absolute zero truth to internet rumours. Not that that stops them from continuing to take on a life of their own on the internet as they spread like infectious diseases and they can never be erased. It is seriously disturbing to me that millions can believe something to be true based on no independent verification or fact checking or actual evidence or reputable sources, and often, even no critical thinking. Internet rumours can be very damaging and people's reputations, even lives, can be ruined by them so easily. I think it behooves us all to exercise more caution and due diligence before taking on any rumour as fact. Sorry about the lecture, and I wasn't really thinking of TV shows or showbiz stuff, but when you look at the fake stuff that people do readily believe on the internet (sometimes just because many people believe it or because it's out there), it is alarming. Back to Castle itself, all I can say is that we don't really know much that is verified, and even if there's X, it doesn't necessarily mean it caused Y. Correlation doesn't always mean there's a causal relationship. We simply don't have enough facts at hand to draw any conclusions. And that's OK. We don't have to play judge, jury and executioner. I thought they did the drama for drama's sake long before S8. The artificial failure to communicate arcs, Vaughn (ugh), Jacinda (ugh again), Beckett's forgotten first marriage, Castle's car crash and amnesia just to name a few. All of that was drama for drama's sake. But that's what writers do, especially when they run out of ideas for organic storytelling and the show needs to go on. Some of it lands better than others. As for Alexis, I didn't care for her in the end either but her change to me to become a less likable character began long ago, under Marlowe. Round the time of Pi becoming her boyfriend and she started treating Castle really disrespectfully. Castle, Beckett, Alexis were all stripped of their more interesting qualities to me under Marlowe so.... perhaps that's why S8 wasn't so massively disappointing to me in that the inorganic storytelling and general creative decline had been going on for awhile and it was just more of that. Ha, maybe I should stay away from the boards. It rehashes my old critical feelings of the show. Just as I'm nostalgically rewatching. :P

I know Heusinger isn't a typical love interest per se, but plays her possibly ex husband. No spoilers, thanks. Indeed. I never seriously sat down to watch Bones from the beginning like I did with Castle, so my perception may be skewed also. But what's good in this age of peak TV is that anyone can find just about anything to enjoy and suit their tastes. I don't know how these things work, whether it's Stana's PR at work or articles being syndicated on the internet, but the article with the Castle 'harsh' exist headline sure is making the rounds everywhere on dozens of sites. It's good publicity for her new series, I guess, though people are clicking for the Castle stuff. Yes, I think they tried to develop a few shows at ABC while Castle was still airing, including one about Derek Storm and some P.I. show, but they never went forward. Take Two could be a pale copy of Castle, or who knows, it could be a better show without the mistakes of Castle. It's anyone's guess. Some people will be more interested to go down the same route with Milmar; others less so. For me, I thought their writing was strongest at the beginning of Castle and then got much weaker in the end so I don't know if I would like to get on board with another similar show of theirs, unless they really surprise me with the writing or the onscreen chemistry is at the same level of Caskett. I have watched the Castle finale again since, and honestly, I didn't find it so bad as finales go, which are rarely the most satisfying episode in a series. Caskett got their brief but happy ending (even if the final episode of the show was written with notice, I'm not sure they would have tacked that much more to the Caskett ending) and there were some strong dramatic scenes to finally end the loksat drama. But mileage varies, I'm sure. That's fair. Ryan and the ex got more screen time and development than he and Jenny really did. My favorite seasons will always be the earlier seasons for many reasons, but there definitely was still some good Caskett to enjoy after they got together. Different, but still enjoyable. And I do still think the scenes where they finally got married were done well, and showed the depth of the relationship. I really should look into how much sites make from each click. Must be nice money if there are endless clickbaity sites popping up which basically just copy and past other people's content with sensationalized headline without permission. ;) I'm sure there will be the next round of clickbait and we can reunite here again lol when Nathan and Milmar's new shows do their PR, and they are asked about Castle again, even if everyone's really moved on. In the end, all the people involved made lots of money. Their job ended but they found new ones. They want to keep working. And maybe every party had their responsibility in any mess. So why not just move on with a good PR answer and look to the future? They all seem to be moving on and enjoying their lives, which is all anyone can hope for. How much will be an 'homage' to Castle? How much will be lazy writing? We shall see. ;) Hope you're feeling better. I don't mind S8; it's more a few episodes here and there in various seasons that I have no desire to rewatch. Cough TSATQ cough. Castle is mostly easy comfort food TV viewing and there's something to be said for that. I can't fault actors for having financial considerations when taking on projects, as do we all when taking on a job. And it does make sense to try to maximize earning capacity especially when you're in your prime as there's never any guarantee of when the next job will come and if it will last. I think Tamala just guested on ABC's Speechless. Anyone watch that? Seamus has landed a recurring spot on a superhero show. Good for them. Hope to see Susan and Molly pop up sometime too. I think they are all good actors deserving of more work.

Oh I'm sure they are all back at ABC in the hopes of everyone making more money. What I meant is that Milmar tried to develop various shows for ABC, different kinds of crime procedurals if I recall correctly, in years past but nothing ever took off. Till now. And it's a coincidence that their new show will also air in the same season as Nathan's new show. I do find it funny that ABC never wanted any of Milmar's other shows in development, but this one which is basically a Castle clone. They haven't yet cast anyone for The Rookie so I would wait and see. It was mentioned that Toks' character was meant to be in her 20s in the casting notice but they ended up casting a much older actress. I am not sure that casting notices are a good indicator of who will be ultimately cast, or if any romantic storyline will even materialize. It's way too early to tell. If there's no onscreen chemistry... and I have to see the development first for any potential relationship with or without an age difference. It's hard to compare chemistry but other TV couples I've seen have also had chemistry, but it's not the same as Caskett chemistry. They definitely had that je ne sais quoi. Each acting couple brings a different kind of energy to the table, and the writing matters of course as well. I did enjoy Nathan's chemistry in the past with his love interests on Firefly and Drive (Kristin Lehman who played Serena Kaye on Castle). Haven't seen Absentia yet so don't know about Stana and her new love interest there, though it's funny to think he was on Castle in some scene that I doubt most of us noticed much about. I do agree that often times real life couples don't share onscreen chemistry for some reason. Too meta/too much familiarity? I remember thinking Seamus had more onscreen chemistry with his blast from the past when he was undercover than with his real life wife. And I do think that for whatever reason, the sexual chemistry tends to be greater onscreen when it's unresolved than after the deed has been done. Milmar definitely hit casting gold with Nathan and Stana. Remains to be seen if that will be the case with Take Two. I've never thought the Bones actors had much chemistry, but many people probably think differently. I am a little tired of procedural shows where character X with some special skill follows character Y around. Too many shows with that premise. Anyway, nice to have a bit of a chat about Castle again.

My personal take is that Stana took on Absentia because it offered her the chance for the first time to topline her own show and the EP title. As for Nathan, I am somewhat surprised at him taking on another network hour long show with the accompanying schedule, but perhaps there was a big financial inducement especially with the EP title also. I think there was some article saying he did get other offers in the past pilot season. But I don't pretend to know the actors or their thinking; maybe there was something in the scripts that spoke to them. Jon made a quick jump to This Is Us after Castle, but maybe that's the best career move he's made yet though I don't think he would have known that when he made it. There was a joke in Con Man (webseries with Nathan and Alan Tudyk) about a fictional TV show called "Doctor, Cop, Lawyer", which was a comment on how those are basically the roles actors keep getting to play on TV. Maybe there's a similar joke somewhere about cable being full of angsty anti heroes.

Lividity Lanie, ha, thanks for the laugh. You reminded me of Gyrating Jenny also, which, I didn't really need to be reminded of! I miss Perlmutter. Haven't seen him in anything I've watched since Castle. Network procedurals are super mundane except for the rare once in a blue moon episode where you get to stretch your acting muscles some more (but even on Castle, that veered towards melordrama in the end more than anything else), and poor Lanie didn't even get that one episode in 8 seasons. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if supporting actors like Seamus and Tamala would say yes to another procedural again, or any steady gig, basically. Jon aside, the supporting cast from Castle haven't worked that much since the show ended. Maybe they will get something this pilot season but that can be a crapshoot. Most actors stay on long running procedurals for the big and steady paycheck, even if few will come out and say honestly that's the reason.

Gosh, when is TV Line ever never going to go for clickbait and the most undeservedly dramatic headline ever? ;) They aren't even using their own reporting this time but they won't let that stop them in their pursuit of clickbait. ;) (surprised fanboy Mitovich didn't try to land an interview) Classy statement and PR worthy, yes., but I don't expect anything different or truly revealing from Stana, to be honest. Even when she was asked about the #metoo movement during Absentia press recently, I found that she tended to give general, positive but PR proof inoffensive answers without coming off super strong or wading into anything controversial. Maybe that is the PR approach she believes in. Even if she did "reveal" more re Castle, honestly, that would also only be from her point of view, and I doubt, ABC or other cast are going to share theirs. What purpose would it serve? We aren't going to get the full picture, so to speak. From reading some of her new interviews for Absentia, it seems like she has some talking points prepared for Absentia (as all actors probably do for show PR), and she probably had some prepared for the Castle questions too. I think all entertainment outlets (or sadly even papers of record such as the NYT now when it comes to The White House) are too actor/publicist friendly (unless clickbait worthiness takes precedence ;)) because they want to keep their access and there's a lot of quid pro quo going on. Wouldn't be surprised if the questions were all publicist approved. Apparently, when Stana was filming in Bulgaria, she didn't want to answer questions about Nathan. and some Bulgarian outlet was taken aback. They probably didn't realize that's how it works in Hollywood. ;) I was reading the big Ellen Pompeo interview in THR and was surprised to read her admitting to behaving badly on the set of GA sometimes, along with others behaving badly, as that was the set environment. Not often that I read of actors admitting to bad behavior. But of course in the PR narrative of that interview, she still comes out as a $20m winner so maybe she could admit to being a little flawed like the rest of us. ;) It is a bit of a coincidence that both Milmar and Nathan's new shows are going to be on ABC next season. Who's going to check them out? We could have another Castle board reunion on those boards, and a drinking game every time they repeat something they did on Castle. ;) I will laugh but not be entirely surprised if Luke repeats Beckett's wardrobe of coats and stilettos for the new female lead on Take Two. ;) I have been rewatching some Castle lately, and I still enjoy the show a lot. Still enjoy Caskett chemistry a lot so I'll be checking out both actors' new shows to see if they replicate that kind of chemistry with their new costars. Definitely don't nitpick the show as much as we used to do here when we were watching week in week out heh.

While I don't necessarily believe in a Moonlighting curse, when I look back at a show like Castle, there was a pull to the WT/WT phase of the show that it wasn't quite able to replicate or regenerate for me after the couple got together. That could have been due to the show simply being better written in its early seasons or due to a loss of the same kind of WT/WT romantic and sexual tension and emotional stakes after a couple got together, which the writers weren't able to regenerate in an equally compelling form to me. Everyone's mileage may differ on that, of course. I do think that 4 seasons of WT/WT was too long though and nowadays, audiences' patience for that kind of dragging out may be even shorter. A WT/WT is bound to be part of most shows' development of romance; it's all in how deftly they write that, and of course the onscreen chemistry matters a lot too. I think whatever WT/WT element they bring into play here won't be as much of a driving force as it was on Castle, but just one story component of many. I am hoping the show won't be 95% rote crime procedural but find time to be character driven, and delve more into the themes of second chances in life, fresh starts, pursuing dreams, challenges of age and youth etc. A show like this could even be uplifting and inspiring as well as entertaining if done right, and I wouldn't mind some of that on my TV. Nathan also looked good in Con Man. Along with being well rested and keeping fit, lighting, makeup and wardrobe can make such a massive difference. I hope they don't dress him like an old man even if the point is supposedly that he's older than everyone else. A 20+ episode order would be gruelling on anybody, if the show even lasts that long. But ABC seems to have shows nowadays which don't run for so long per season.

No, I totally get that. If there wasn't the premise of him being a rookie and having to hang out with much younger people, I would have more questions about why they had to go so much younger for a love interest. And I do have to remind myself to hold back on instant judgement when I see couples with a big difference between them, be it age, occupation, education etc., because I don't know their story and I'm not them! I know many women especially don't care for an older guy with a younger woman in real life or fiction, but many women seem to celebrate a younger guy with an older woman (see French prez & wife) because older women are too often devalued in society. But if age is genuinely just a number, then is it a double standard by us women, too? I agree Nathan looks his age; I just hope he doesn't start looking as dead tired as he did in the later seasons of Castle. At least Luke won't be working on this show and going to Marlowe's instead, so one can only hope his wardrobe here won't age him. I do think any love interest storyline they may or may not pursue has to be believable, and they have to lay the groundwork for that in the writing, as well as in the casting. I do think exploring the challenges of pursuing a relationship with an age difference could be interesting territory if written with nuance and pathos and not just comedy, and it's not something that's frequently explored on TV. And it would be refreshing if it were the female chasing the male instead of the other way around. But I think the show has to last quite a while before we see any kind of budding romance. I don't think that will be the focus of the show at the beginning. It would be funny if someone not as described ends up getting cast. What will people get outraged about next before they've even seen the show? ;)