CASTLE
Monday, 10 p.m., ABC
MADE IN JERSEY
Friday, 9p.m., CBS
MIKE & MOLLY
Monday, 9:30 p.m., CBS
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One more dance
Nothing exposes a reality show’s true age as when the producers trot out former winners and fan favorites. They’ve done it on “Survivor.” And “Project Runway.” And “Top Chef.” But the all-star edition of “Dancing With the Stars,” they say, is more a testament to the program’s enduring popularity.
“We talked about doing this for a long time,” says executive producer Conrad Green. “But we wanted to have enough history to make it feel that we could really bring a show.”
After 14 seasons, “Dancing,” which began as a summer show with just six contestants, is still ABC’s top-rated alternative series, and has featured more than 130 actors, musicians, athletes and pop-culture celebrities.
Twelve of them — including former champs Kelly Monaco, Drew Lachey, Apollo Anton Ohno, Shawn Johnson, Helio Castroneves and Emmitt Smith — return for “Dancing With the Stars: All Stars.”
“We have some who are with their former partners and others who can’t be,” says host Tom Bergeron. “So there are all kinds of levels of intrigue and competition that I think is going to make it a very exciting season.”
Green and longtime casting director Deena Katz avoided recruiting anyone who appeared on the show in the previous two seasons. “That is too recent,” he tells The Post. “We wanted to be able to look back, take stock and get a really balanced cast.”
The new season, which kicks off Sept. 24, will honor the entire history of the show, Green says, by bringing back many iconic dances from previous years. But it will also lack the element of surprise. Since all but one of the participants have previously reached the finals, it is unlikely that there will be a true underdog. Except, perhaps, for Pamela Anderson, a sixth-place finisher in Season 10.
“I like being put in uncomfortable positions,” the former “Baywatch” star reveals. “I think it is going to be interesting to see how I get myself out of this in a positive way.”
Anderson, 45, calls herself the “wild card” in the ballroom and has even sworn off men to prepare for competition. “I don’t really know what I am capable of. Maybe not much more than I have done. But I am willing to do anything and I am ready to focus on the performances.”
Green says the show will honor its “champion of champions” by again updating the traditional disco mirror ball trophy. “The first season, the stalk of the trophy was actually a lampshade sprayed gold,” he remembers. “Poor Kelly has the most rubbish trophy! But since then it has actually become rather nice.” — Sean Daly
DANCING WITH THE STARS: ALL-STARS
Mon.&Tues., 8 p.m., ABC
Did we do the right thing?
After four seasons of “will they” or “won’t they,” Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) finally gave in to their feelings for each other in the much anticipated Season 4 finale. Season 5 picks up on the proverbial morning after, with Castle and Beckett facing new questions. Was this a one-time fling, or are they now a couple? But before they find the answers, they must take on the forces responsible for Beckett’s mother’s murder that now threaten Kate Beckett’s life. Co-starring Susan Sullivan.
CASTLE
Monday, 10 p.m., ABC
Blue collar, white shoe
A blue-collar chick shows those Ivy League know-it-alls at the white-shoe law firm a thing or two about human nature in the series premiere of “Made in Jersey.” After voicing her opinion in a company staff meeting, Martina Garretti (British actress Janet Montgomery) makes a good impression on her boss, Donovan Stark (Kyle MacLachlan), who assigns her third chair on a murder case involving a student accused of killing her professor. Meanwhile, at home, Martina’s niece comes to her to help convince her mother to allow her to get a tattoo. Co-starring Erin Cummings and Joe Siravo.
MADE IN JERSEY
Friday, 9 p.m., CBS
Morning after
Mike (Billy Gardell) and his bride, Molly (Melissa McCarthy, left) return from their honeymoon in Paris and wonder how those bumps on a log back home managed without them. Mike was so taken with the trip that he wants to travel the world now, but Molly missed her crazy mother (Swoosie Kurtz) and sister (Katy Mixon) and their ridiculous clothing. Co-starring Reno Wilson and Rondi Reed.
MIKE & MOLLY
Monday, 9:30 p.m., CBS