It’s that time of year when it’s tough to be a TV fan. Renewal/cancellation season can mean waiting and waiting for news regarding whether or not a particular show will be getting another year on the air. One show that has been generating plenty of buzz lately is ABC’s Castle. The future of Castle has been uncertain for most of the eighth season due to ratings, and cast shakeups have meant that a Season 9 would look very different from seasons before. Now, we've learned star Nathan Fillion is signed on for another season, but the show has yet to receive the renewal order. So, why hasn't the decision been announced? As it turns out, there may be more than one answer.
There are three big reasons why ABC might be dragging its heels on the renewal order, according to Deadline. The simplest is just that not all of the actors that Castle would like to bring back have signed on for sure just yet. Given the controversy over Nathan Fillion’s co-lead Stana Katic getting booted from the series for budget reasons, contract negotiations with other actors don’t exactly make ABC or Castle look too great. Katic is joined by Tamala Jones in being confirmed as leaving the show after Season 8.
Another reason is that ABC has multiple irons in the fire on the drama front. The network may be choosing to screen the pilots that have been shot for the 2016 – 2017 TV year before making the call on Castle. If there happens to be a pilot that ABC considers worth enough of a gamble to give up the Castle slot on primetime, Castle may not be considered worth the effort of another season.
The nature of a lot of the buzz surrounding Castle at the moment could be another factor in the lack of confirmation of the future just yet. Fans have not been happy about Stana Katic leaving the series on which she has been co-lead for the better part of a decade. The show may be named after Nathan Fillion’s Richard Castle, but Katic’s Kate Beckett has pulled half the weight ever since the series premiere. The fact she was cut from Castle for budget reasons despite the fact that supporting cast members were signed back on makes her departure even harder to swallow. ABC might not want to risk drastically lower ratings in a Season 9 in reaction to the lack of Katic.
ABC is likely to announce the final decision as early as today, so we’ll at least know whether we’ll be getting more of Castle’s adventures by the time the finale airs on May 16. Producers have shot two endings to the finale, with the last scene depending on whether or not the season finale is in fact the series finale.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in news about the future of Castle, and be sure to check out ABC on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET to see what may be the final episodes of the entire show. Don’t forget to take a look at our summer TV premiere schedule to see what is sure to hit the airwaves in the near future.
