“Make Me a Supermodel”
Wednesday 10pm, Bravo
Season 2 of Bravo’s “Top Model” knockoff debuts, with massive changes to the panel. Only co-host/mentor Tyson Beckford remains, joined by Australian model Nicole Trunfio as the girls’ mentor, plus the judges: designer Catherine Malandrino, model Jenny Shimizu, photographer Perou, and model scout Marlon. I’m not sure that’s an improvement, really. Even worse, however, is the lineup of new wannabe models, a largely hideous crop. You’ve got pugnacious Ken, butterfaced Mountaha, trashy CJ, terrifyingly androgynous Chris, generic Karen, pentagon-faced Colin (a Western Albemarle grad from Charlottesville!)—it goes on like this. Barring colossal screw-ups, the game should belong to Salome and her gorgeous pout and Jonathan and his sick body.
“America’s Best Dance Crew”
Thursday 10pm, MTV
It’s finale time for the third season of MTV’s “So You Think You Can Dance” knockoff—a derivative made even more blatant since it’s produced by Randy Jackson, one of the judges on “Dance”’s sister show, “American Idol.” Way to bite the hand that amply feeds you, Jackson. Speaking of “Dance,” this season of “Crew” has been dominated by Quest Crew, featuring three former finalists from “Dance”—Ryan (Season 1), Hok and Dominic (Season 3). Since the cuts on this show are determined by viewer voting—viewers that already knew and loved the Quest team before this show started—I honestly feel they had a seriously unfair advantage over the rest of the competition. Now it’s down to Quest and the all-female squad Beat Freaks, featuring one of Gwen Stefani’s former Harajuku Girls.
“Castle”
Monday 10pm, ABC
Or, “Murder, He Wrote.” This new drama features yummy Nathan Fillion (“Firefly,” “Desperate Housewives,” Waitress, my dreams) as Richard Castle, a famous mystery novelist who is approached by the police to crack the case of a copycat killer who uses his books as inspiration. The Cybill Shepard to his Bruce Willis is Stana Katic (“Heroes,” “24”) as a ball-busting NYPD detective. While they work together to solve crimes the two opposites inevitably attract and, well, you know the drill. Fillion really is charming, and I’d watch him do laundry. But I’ve always found Katic deeply off-putting in every role I’ve seen her in. Even bit parts, like her turn in The Spirit, a tiny role but still memorable for how terrible she was. See you next pilot season, Fillion!
