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Published: Jan. 21, 2013 12:00 a.m. Text: Next Article » Watch this, skip that More from this story [*] ADVERTISEMENT widget.html By Michael Hewitt Orange County Register WATCH THIS “The Following” 9 p.m., Fox The season's most anticipated new series begins tonight. In his first TV series lead role, Kevin Bacon stars as former FBI agent Ryan Hardy, an alcoholic with a pacemaker called back to service to pursue serial killer Joe Carroll, played by the underappreciated James Purefoy. ADVERTISEMENT The season-long chase is soaked in blood and literature, as Carroll has created a cult of fellow killers who make frequent fond references to Edgar Alan Poe. By all accounts, the series is much gorier than, say, “Criminal Minds” and is not for the faint of heart. Bacon's character is drawn from the archetypical bad good cop, who can't control his personal life or his temper but is still the best crime-solver around. Purefoy's killer comes from the Hannibal Lecter school, the emotionally detached sociopath who seems amused by all of the fuss he causes. Creator Kevin Williamson says he brought the series to Fox because his favorite series was “24,” so expect “The Following” to be bigger on action and suspense than believability. The supporting cast includes TV veterans Natalie Zea (“Justified,” “Dirty Sexy Money”), Annie Parisse (“Law & Order,” “Person of Interest”) and Maggie Grace (“Lost”). “Castle” 10 p.m., ABC On the other end of the murder scale is “Castle,” which tends to give us a single static gory shot in the first two minutes, then flee for the safety of comedy and “Murder She Wrote”-style sleuthing. No one is likely to confuse “Castle” with “NYPD Blue,” but it delivers consistently entertaining episodes. Remarkably, it is one of the few shows to resolve the romantic tension between its stars and not lose its way in the process. If anything, Castle and Beckett are better together.BEER----> It begins to nite - let's see what happens. Brief synopsis from my local newspaper. BELCH