Castle

ABC debuted a new show on Monday night called "Castle" starring Nathan Fillion (no relation that I'm aware of) and Stana Katic.

And as I'm watching this show I find myself pondering, "Do I want this show to succeed? Or fail miserably?" Following that thought I couldn't help but wonder why I'm concerned with the success or failure of this specific show! I don't care how "Private Practice" does. I have no opinion on "Boston Legal." I want "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives" to crash and burn, but those are on moral grounds. So, why this show? I found myself exploring these possibilities:

Jealousy: I'm not too proud to suggest that this may be the issue. Here's someone successful in something that I once wanted to do. Would I rather it be me? Do I see his success as a barrier to my own?

Pride: Allow me to explain... I don't like Guy Pearce. When I was in Hollywood, it was suggested that we find an actor with whom we thought we shared some similarities. This would be a good gauge of the types of roles we could play well. Guy Pearce was one of my choices. I began watching his movies. I began to think that I could do a better job than he did. Yet he was successful and I was unknown. Is this why I have some conflicting desires for this show? Do I think I could play these roles better than Nathan?

The Future: It's always in the back of my head that some of my friends in show-biz will make it big someday and be thinking, "I need the perfect person to play this role!" Their minds will hearken back to a time long long ago and think of me... Let's say this happens. (Just humor me ok?) Can I use my name? Or, like Nicolas Cage (who's name is actually Nicolas Coppola, nephew to Francis Ford Coppola), will I have to change my name so people don't think I road in on the coat-tails of success of Nathan? You know, like Joan Cusack has done with her brother John. (Please ignore the fact that I'd be riding in on the coat-tails of success of whichever friend made it big and gave me a call.)

The Show: Is it the show? Am I not sure whether I want the show to fail or not because of it's content? Well, that can't really be because as soon as I saw previews for it I started dealing with these questions. Not only that, but I watched the show... and I liked it! It was intelligent. It didn't have a base foundation of sex like most new shows. The conflict between the two main characters was interesting. It's not the show.

I've seen a few other pieces that Nathan has been in. I first saw him in Saving Private Ryan (He was the first wrong "Private Ryan" who's brothers were in elementary school...) I can't say that he is commonly in roles that would be well suited for me. Hence Pride cannot be the issue.

Why would I be jealous of him and not Ewan McGregor or Ed Harris. I don't like watching actors succeed that I think are sub-par (see Keanu Reeves, Joaquin Phoenix, and Joan Cusack). But Nathan has given no evidence that he isn't a good actor. So it's not jealousy.

That leaves only "The Future." How dumb is that?! Somebody smack me and tell me it's over!

Nathan, I liked the pilot for the show Castle and I wish you a long and successful career!