I still can’t believe the start of the Fall TV season is upon us. I haven’t even received the all-important Fall TV preview issue from Entertainment Weekly yet! So I checked out The CW’s new offerings and while I didn’t OMG!LOVE! either of them, I’m intrigued enough to watch a few more episodes to see if they’ve worked out the kinks. I have to remember some of my favorite shows like The Vampire Diaries or The OC took a few episodes to really hit their stride. Maybe that will happen here? Possible spoilers…

Hellcats
I wanted to like this show SO MUCH. Because it’s about cheerleading! And I love Ashley Tisdale. She didn’t disappoint here.
But it’s totally One Tree Hill all over again. Not that I don’t love OTH. Because I do. I just wish Hellcats wasn’t another teen drama hiding behind the “sports” theme. Remember when OTH was about brothers and basketball? Yeah, that didn’t last long. I can see that happening here too. (Not to mention that Hellcats reminded me of OTH right off the bat because the actors playing Lewis and Dan had minor roles on that show).
All that said, I did like the way the lead characters’ relationship was introduced. While Marti (played by Aly Michalka) and Savannah (Ashley Tisdale) started off with a misunderstanding, they actually ended up as friends by the end of the episode. Unheard of! The writers very easily could have let them fall into the typical cliche of girls who hate each other because they don’t understand where the other is coming from.
I have a soft spot for anything related to dance and cheerleading so I’m on board… for now.
Also, is it just me or is it TOTALLY weird to see Tom Welling’s name in the credits as Executive Producer?! WHAT.

Nikita
I never watched the original show or movie so I have no pre-conceived notions of the characters, storylines, etc. Sadly, I was actually a little bored (the show reminds me a lot of Alias with the revenge storyline) until the twist at the very end. Up until that point, I was wondering why I should care about Alex and the other trainees and how they would fit into Nikita’s overall storyline. The ending is probably about 99.9% why I think I’ll tune in for a few more episodes.
The older cast (Xander Berkeley and Melinda Clarke — who is totally channeling Lady Heather from CSI) was solid but I was disappointed in the younger leads. Maggie Q and Lyndsy Fonseca were a little wooden and Shane West was trying too hard (notice how his voice was deeper than normal as if he was trying to imitate Christian Bale’s famous Batman voice?). Buuuut despite the so-so acting, I really want this show to do well. I think it’s high time for a network show to feature an awesome female Asian lead. It has a lot of stiff competition on Thursday nights, though.
Good start for The CW so far.
Heh, I watched Nikita too, and I thought the same thing about Shane West, it didn’t work for me… til he and Nikita had that face off. What a sucker. And I think Maggie Q attractive, but man she’s boring.
I had the same reaction about Nikita. Been there, done that, so bored now. But the end twist was nice. I don’t think I’ll ever really get into this show and will probably stop watching in the next few weeks but I am going to try to give it a chance.
I agree with pretty much everything you said!
HELLCATS – Not a big fan of Aly Michalka…she’s not the cutest girl and the character of Marti is just OK. But I think Ashley Tisdale is great. I really do like her as a brunette more than the High School Musical blonde. And yes…making Marti & Savannah become FRIENDS in the FIRST episode ALREADY?! What’s up with that?! I never watched One Tree Hill, so I don’t have much to compare it to, but for now I’ll keep watching it. Tom Welling as producer was actually one of the draws to this show for me. Guess that shows how much of a fan of his I am. 😛
NIKITA – You talked about being bored. I full-on stopped watching the episode like 15 minutes in. Don’t know why I lost interest so easily either. Weird. So the ending was good? I actually never finished the episode. Hmm. Do you think it’s worth catching up on? I was gonna cross this show off my list already. 😛