New Fall 2011 TV Season - Returning Shows

The new Fall 2011 TV season started this past week for the most part.  Lots of old and new shows to watch.

I thought the returning shows that we watch came back fairly strong.  SPOILER ALERT!

How I Met Your Mother: Victoria is back!  She's by far my favorite of Ted's ex-girlfriends.  Plus Ashley Williams just got killed off Warehouse 13, so it was great to see her again.  Can't wait for the story about the rubber ducky tie, Marshall's Steph T-Shirt (name of his daughter?), and who Barney is marrying.  My money is on Robin - why would the bride ask for Ted if it's Nora?

The Big Bang Theory: The Priya-Leonard long-distance relationship is just painful, but definitely good for a few zingers from Sheldon.  Mayim Bialik is such a great addition to the cast.  They resolved the Penny-Raj situation nicely, and definitely setting up for more tension between Penny and Leonard.

Castle: Castle and Beckett are still not together, but their relationship was brought to a different level with new secrets.  I don't know how long they can keep doing it, but I'm still buying it for now.  The best relationship is still between Ryan and Esposito, and between Castle and his daughter, Alexis.  Apparently there's a third book out, Heat Rises.  I read the first two, and they were not bad.  If you like the show you will like the books.

Hawaii Five-O: Suspension of disbelief is required with this show, but whatever gets the gang back together is  OK with me.  Love the addition of Terry O'Quinn as McGarrett's former mentor, and the scene when he and DDK met is totally awesome, especially for Lost fans.  Huge twist at the end with Jenna driving the car for Wo Fat.  Has she worked for him all along?  

Dancing with the Stars: Two people who flew under the radar before the season started ended up on top: Chynna Phillips and J.R. Martinez.  So far I like most of the cast.  Elisabetta Canalis and Kristin Cavallari are beautiful, but they can't really dance.  Chaz Bono was so light on his feet - I hope he goes far.  Nancy Grace was a disaster, but she's trying.  It was so cute to see David Arquette's daughter, Coco, in the audience with her mom, Courteney Cox.  I've already forgotten about the rest of them, and Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace) was deservedly kicked off first.  He was terrible, and wasn't even that entertaining.  Too bad for his partner Peta, who was a first-time pro. Side note: Peta is dating another former DWTS pro, Damian Whitewood, who danced with Pamela Anderson.

Glee: Not as many memorable musical numbers that I would go back and repeat, but overall a solid first show back.  Random note: Courtney Galliano from So You Think You Can Dance played one of the Skanks.  Lindsay Pearce from the Glee Project also showed up as Harmony, an ambitious student at the performing arts reception who sang "Anything Goes" from Anything Goes and "Anything You Can Do" from Annie Get Your Gun.  Ryan Murphy definitely didn't stray too far from her real self when coming up with this character.  I like it better when Kurt and Rachel are friends instead of enemies, so it's nice to see that dynamic.  Finn and Puck didn't have much to do, but they are setting up for some sort of tension between them and Blaine, who decided to transfer to join New Directions.  Kurt and Blaine are still a very cute couple together.