schloss 'Spinoff' Buzz: ABC Boss Hints at 'Ideas' to Extend Show's Run 

might look or feel a bit different should it return for Season 9, ABC president Paul Lee shared Saturday at the Television Critics Association.

RELATED2016 Renewal Scorecard: What’s Coming Back? What’s Getting Cancelled? What’s on the Bubble?

Asked by TVLine if the network is looking into extending

’s longevity — or setting up a contingency plan, in case either Nathan Fillion or Stana Katic don’t re-sign for the fall — by way of a spinoff or “reset” that changes up the show’s premise or setting, Lee said, “We’d love

to keep going for many years to come. There are a lot of conversations going on as to how we could do that.”

As reported this week by TVLine, TV vet Gerald McRaney is set to recur, starting with Episode 14, as the head of a legendary (and secretive) private detective society;

alum Summer Glau will guest-star as one of the group’s members. That episode will send Rick, Alexis and Hayley to Los Angeles to investigate a murder that has ties to an NYPD case.

Firefly Reunion on Castle: Summer Glau Set to Play New Private Eye

Lee, though, would not disclose which particular avenues are being explored for any possible

Season 9. “I don’t want to give a glimpse to what those ideas might be,” he said, “but I’m feeling optimistic that we’ve got some good ideas.”

, or for any other show? Email insideline@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.

lol told ya are the season 8 lovers gonna be happy when it gets a season 8 and theres no beckett

Not in our household. We’ve tried to watch it, but it’s just not good.

Actually the answer is a resounding yes if Oversea and Internet/DVR are concerned!

No ABC are seeing numbers you are not aware! We only see a very small slice of any transaction called the Overnights. People just do not watch TV the same way they used to do.

DVR numbers are widely available on a number of other site. Because they are delayed by three weeks, they aren’t reported here. And, you are correct, except for sports, I don’t know anyone who watches live TV – DVR or stream.

It’s not the DVR numbers. It’s the overseas markets that you’re not privy to. A show that’s a hit in overseas markets will continue in production even if the rating here are low. The money from syndication and licensing overseas can be massive (Take Supernatural’s overseas numbers). ABC Studios owns 90% of Castle. It’s one of the most profitable shows they have. Of course they want it to continue.

That’s not the point. Are you listening to the disgruntled fans on this site? If they’re angry about the current version of Castle, what makes you think they are going to crossover to a spinoff?

This site’s posters tend to be pro-Beckett. I could see a spinoff in LA with Rick still married to Beckett, with her making 1 or 3 appearances a year (for, say, 250K a week for 2-3 weeks). This site’s readers may not want to admit it, but Nate-Dog is charismatic and talented. ABC wants to be in business with him.

Oh, it’s not just here that you are hearing from the disgruntled fans. It’s on several TV sites.

I think it’s delusional on ABC’s side to think that creating a spinoff is going to do anything other than drive the ratings down further.

Hold your scream! Maybe it’s a Ryan and Espo spinoff or a Martha spinoff.

Isn’t a spin-off just another show & the original is still on? Not holding my breath though.

Extension in the same universe at any rate and with chapter/cast overlap of some sort. Though there are exceptions: The Finder spun out of Bones but wasn’t very closely related.

If Season 9 is anything like Season 8, PLEASE cancel it. Also any spin off reboot,etc with out both Castle and Beckett TOGETHER, please don’t bother. The show would have plngestivty if the writing quality was back to its old standard along with the characters. We want a mature long story between two adults, not jazz hands and Capt Hoochie Mama frat humor.

You are so right. They’ve made Beckett a narcissistic, walled off control freak and Castle a desperate, emasculated door mat. Enough. The new writers are killing this show quickly and completely. They are banking on viewer loyalty. They should watch the first two seasons (especially) to see what real writing is and what good actors can do with a quality script.

The husband agrees with you, “They are making him like a bum and an idiot. He is supposed to have good crime solving.”

Not going to happen Kate Beckett is being written off the Show this season. Stana just wants to do her Indy stuff which I say good for her. She will never get a better pay day than right now. Of course money is not important compared to the art she will create right?

Did you intend that to be as snarky as it reads? Stana looks to be extremely happy in her personal and professional life if her IG and Twitter posts are any indicator. She’s got three Indy films coming out in 2016 and continues to develop her own projects. I’d say she’s where she wants to be right now and likely knows — and is in control of — where she’s going.

I thought S8 is the spin off¿ Castle P.I. and his new partner solving crimes is going to be a real ratings winner.

Actually Season 8 is a winner in Overseas markets and in the DVR plus Internet. So do not look at outdated stats as overnights they are worthless anymore. Plus both Stana and Nathan winning awards give much prestige too.

The PCA don’t mean much. They aren’t Emmys. Just popularity contests voted by very few people.

Really? Popularity like people go out of their way to vote for their favorites? Is that not a ringing endorsement of the fans? Emmy’s are the ones that do not mean much

They are getting as bad as the Oscars on ignoring good entertainment for the artsy crowd.

Just because there are a fanatized group of people who don’t have life and spend hours to vote it doesn’t mean general popularity. There are clear cut examples on the winner’s list that winners are very, very far from being the most watched (which is equal being popular).

GA won over Empire, while having 50% less total viewer and only 1/2 of its demo. Beauty and the Beast won over Arrow and OUaT, both has a bigger ratings, than the now cancelled show’s total viewers were – not to mention that eg. The Flash which beats all of them wasn’t even nominated.

People can robovote on the PCAs, as much as they want to. So that doesn’t mean much.

It’s the new Moonlighting. Fun dramedy mystery show ripped apart because it’s romantic leads can’t play nice with one another.

Maybe they do not hate each other at all, maybe they hate the writers! I mean it does not take a genius to look at a script that has Castle driven off the rode to lose his memory right before his wedding, or that Beckett leaves but only fake leaves to make you want to question the show. I think once they drove Castle off the road they have never been able to drive back on. They out thought themselves and made “Grey Castle’s Nashville Scandal.” Nathan already did Soap Opera work he may not want to do more, and how many times is Beckett act emotionally damaged before that gets old?

The worst thing is when he drove off the road that was two show runners ago and neither group of new ones last season or this season have fixed that mess.

That was rather minor: torching the car to delay the cops is crime tv 101. The follow up handling of the disappearance WAS dismal.

Or it’s Bonanza and one of the leads just wants to go off doing other things having shifted her priorities?

Season 8 has seemed more and more like a long “Castle” P.I backdoor pilot. As many people have been complaining about … well at least the naysayers can stop saying ‘that’s crazy – they’d never do that!’

It’s not like we didn’t all see this coming with the new characters and story threads. Reminds me of that old story about throwing spaghetti at the wall behind the stove to see what sticks.

With Out Both Nathan And Stana! I Cannot See See The Show Going On! They Are The Core Of This Show! And ABC Should Make Every Effort To Keep Both These Great Stars On The Show! But The Story Line Has To Change Back To What Made This Show A Success! And That Is The Castle Beckett Love Story And Connection! If They Cannot Get The Two Lead Actors On Board! Then This Show Should End On A Happy Note! But If It Does Go To Season 9! Which Is My Hope! These Current Show Runners Have To Produce A Story Line! That Keeps Them Together! And Working Together! I Question The P. I. Thing And The Entire Separation Thing! Which To Me Put These Great Show In Jeopardy In The First Place!

I sincerely hope these showrunners are replaced soon. They have not endured the faithful followers since the end of season 7. What makes ABC think Castle fans will watch it just by changing the name of the show? By all counts it’s ” One and Done “

Why are u blaming the showrunners. After this Paul Lee comment it is clear the network is driving the agenda.

Because A. Marlowe wanted them together eventually & A. Hawley did not. He got his wish & look what happened.

Hawley is only doing what the network wants and contracts allow…

And it may not be the network driving the agenda. It’s quite likely that the agenda is being driven by the stars. There appeared to be much difficulty with Stana Katic signing her contract this year. I still say, it’s quite likely she said she would do one more year and that’s it. So, the new writers were tasked with trying to wrap up that story, and see if it’s possible to create a new story.

And yet ABC didn’t get around to negotiating with her until after re-signing Nathan, who it appears was in contract talks from November to April. And they didn’t bother to wait for her signature on the dotted line to announce the show’s renewal. So better rethink that theory, Night Owl. The agenda perhaps is being driven by one of the stars but it ain’t the woman.

The show began changing long before this season, becoming more and more Castle-centric to the detriment of the Beckett character since the last ep of season 6, some would say earlier. Before that even when the emphasis was on Beckett’s backstory, it was never to the detriment of the Castle character. The Beckett-centric eps always allowed both characters to grow and change and both actors to shine.

All one has to ask to figure out what’s going on is “who’s benefitting?” Who’s got more screen time? Who’s got more characters playing around him and off of him? Who’s got the over-the-top new office? Who’s getting away with playing himself on screen?

To CB, there is no way to know how the negotiations went down. Nathan is an oversharer on social media, and seems willing to have given updates on how things were going. Stana rarely shares any personal info, and is, in general, more secretive. You best believe that ABC was aggressively negotiating with BOTH of them, from the instant filming started last year. Stana waited until late in the game to re up, and that could have been for any number of reasons. I imagine lots of people around her were pushing her to not walk away from 200K per ep, at least.

Patrick, you’re wrong. Katic stated she was in negotiations for just a month AFTER Fillion re-signed. Seamus Dever, Jon Huertus, and others weren’t approached until after Fillion signed as well. Call them all liars if you want but that’s what they said.

Nathan posted nothing about his negotiations while they were happening that I can recall only crowing about signing once he did and telling everyone not to worry because he had.

Nathan is smart and is not leaving so get used to a Kateless Castle.

Greedy? Really would you consider than Nathan is in almost every episode and almost every scene. He works 16 hours day when filming. I think he deserves his pay!

Smart or just savvy? As in he knows he’ll never get anything else worthwhile except game voice work and Firefly-fan-funded web shows…

I totally agree with everything you said, Joseph. I’ve said it many times before, Castle is Caskett, the two main stars which made Castle Castle! When the two new showrunners were announced before S8 started, so many said, yes time for a change because AM wasnt getting it done. Well, do those same people still fill that way? I was perfectly happy with the way Andrew and Terri were bringing the show.I’m afraid Stana might not be back. She will probably will wait till the last possible moment, again, to decide. True, she has other projects, but after just winning another PCA(and yes i think this award is more special because it is voted by US her fans which keeps her in a show we all love)All this speculation is only making more disgruntled fans ready to jump ship. I, personally, don’t think a PI spinoff would work. Can’t picture Nathan without Stana on anything remotely called Castle. Just saying!!!!

As fast as you can away from this train wreck.

I would say RUN EVERYONE! Because they don’t understand that CASTLE=CASKETT not Castle OR Beckett! Why they don’t understand that? It’s not that hard!

I’d love to see Castle come back in whichever format possible.

Uhm I guess you might as well watch any other show then .. Any if it’s all the same to you.

Actually many people, including myself, watch quite a few other shows.

mini movie exception, have Stana Katic in the cast. Assuming for the moment it’s she who’d be leaving.

So for those who watch more than just Castle why wouldn’t we give a follow on a try? Nathan’s given an entertaining portrayal of Rick so I’d tune in to see how the next phase went.

The one challenge that would be the puzzle is how to explain the shift were Kate to be absent: death is too grim and given the canon love story a breakup too implausible. Time jump and she’s holding elected office offscreen?

Really? What Castle would that be? What part of Castle would come back if neither Stana nor Nathan returned? What part if only Stana doesn’t? Will it still be Castle in your mind?

Agreed: Rick is played entertainingly by Nathan so I’d give a follow on with him as the lead (or Stana as Kate) a good try to see for myself how the stories went.

I had suggested a few weeks ago that it seemed like TPTB were setting up scenarios for a season 9 without Beckett. There have been Castle, Alexis and Hailey working cases as if this will be the future. The question is how will Beckett meet her end.

You are late to the party, that’s what her fans have been saying since March.

It’s obvious that it would be around Castle and his daughter doing their PI stuff. I honestly can’t understand how they can’t even consider it.

It is sad to see what this show has become, they really have to let it go since the reason of its success (Castle/Beckett working together) is apparently impossible to realize anymore. I hope we will know what happen when it’s over, because it’s obvious that everything is done to keep Castle and Beckett separate since last season. Sadly we’ll probably never know.

How about they just let the series end with dignity and maybe revive it in 10 years or so…

Yeah! At least give us a decent final! Agree!

i’d love a ryan y javier spinoff. but nah we dont need anymore of this. it should just end after this season hopefully

Easy enough to do yourself: change the channel and/or delete the season pass from your dvr.

I’ve done both to a couple of shows this year alone: the stopped being entertaining to ME, so I stopped wstching. POI, Scorpion, Elementary to name three. NCIS: NOLA is on the bubble as is Bones.

From there how others find them, no longer my business.

I guess greed is the overriding factor here. This show died when Castle disappeared….it’s been on life support ever since. Let’s hope that the ratings are abysmal when the show returns because someone has to apply some common sense to this sad situation…..

Actually you are incorrect about the ratings. The overnights which do not matter anymore are down but the DVR and Internet watching is held steady and Castle’s oversea market is huge!

So..the overnights don’t matter? What do you think provides the funds to pay for the program? The advertisers. How many ads are viewed when the pgm is DVR’d? NONE..they are skipped..the ONLY true measure of viewers of advertisements is in the overnights..thats why they matter to the health of the program.

You are living in the DARK AGES! Advertisers do not look at overnights anymore! They are looking for coverage. That means multi platforms which Overnights do not show!

Do you know how many people are watching on a given night these days? 8 to 10 Million that IS IT! Unless it is a sporting event like Football but even then it only bumps up to 15 million. Do you know how many people use TV Content? 100 million per night. So tell me what shows that massive TV consumer better Overnights on a dying media or the Massive online presence?

Actually, overnights DO matter. DVR numbers don’t. Internet (from sponsored sites, like abc.com) do. The DVR and DVR+7 numbers are good for number of viewers (popularity), but not for ads/sponsors. Of course, you could argue that the greater overall viewers, sponsored or not, are good for the “franchise” to sell more books, syndication, etc. But overnights and demo numbers are what keep shows going.

You are still living in the DARK AGES! look at my explanation to see what I am talking about!

I’m afraid you do not know what you’re talking about, and ending each sentence with an exclamation point does not make that statement true.

You do know that Netflix shows more shows each night than all over the air broadcast? Coverage Matters!

Overseas markets have little to no effect on a show’s renewal

Greed how? The network broadcasts shows for money, that’s sort of the business model. The don’t broadcast shows they lose their license and the company folds. So if a Rick Castle or Kate Beckett centered follow on to Castle is doable that’s a better bet than an unknown dance competition don’t you think? Better the glass half full than broken against the wall out of petulance. IMHO.

I do think Castle will have a spinoff with Gerald McRaney and/or Summer Glau in it as private investigators.Plus Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic could agree to be guest stars from time to time.As Castle, i do think there’ll be a season 9 even if it’s shortened to wrap things up properly and give the fans some better closure.For example Beckett becomes pregnant and decides to be a full time mom for now and put her career on hold for now.

Interesting concept: though if a Castle lead character doesn’t lead on the new show it would hardly be a ” Castle”, just like NCIS isn’t a J. A. G.

Congrats Nathan! You’re on a show that doesn’t get cancelled. Ever. You are going to be playing Castle until the end of time whether anyone cares or not.

Have Beckett fired for not being at work and neglecting her duties. Then you can spin it off with her working with Castle at the detective agency.

I think they are wise to consider the future. And it can be done. Look at The Closer and its spinoff, Major Crimes! They aren’t the same series at all, but with many of the same characters, it is a great show that fans continue to enjoy.

But the Closer/Major Crimes is much more of an ensemble show than Castle, which is dependent on BOTH leads for its success, and the success was built on BOTH leads working TOGETHER, and it is already suffering because that isn’t happening as much now.

The opening sentence to the article is a bit behind the times because S8 already has a very different look and feel about it compared to the previous seasons, who could have imagined a Beckettless episode.

If you are going to continue the series, get a showrunner and some writers that have some idea what they are doing..,the current showrunner has no idea how to develop a story arc that is fan-enjoyable.

If the second half of this season goes better, maybe Stana will continue. It is hard to walk away from steady employment in Hollywood. She is known for Beckett and that will be hard to shake if she leaves on her own accord. I will watch Castle new or old. I love Beckett most of all, so hoping the show stays intact for more seasons.

Do these people really don’t understand why people watch TV shows?

Correct me if I’m wrong but we watch it because of the characters, right? We like the people we see on the screen. We relate to them, we feel with them.

Of course you have to like the genre, the background. Crime, Drama, Comedy or blond woman riding on dragons. But we don’t stick to a tv show because of the murder that was committed or the aliens that try to colonize our planet etc. We stick to it because we wanna safe the world with Mulder and Scully and hope they make it, we want to see Amy and Sheldon ‘doing’ it for the first time. We want to see Castle and Beckett working together and Tony finding his way back to Ziva.

You can’t just replace people. Not in real life and not on a tv show. I just wished those people would understand that …

Even if that’s not the case. What I wanted to say was that if they can’t get both leads back they should end it.

Which they should do anyway in my opinion. This whole season is a sick joke.

But in the ends it’s always about money …

Disney has a cash cow with books, games, and Oversea sales plus Syndication. The cash just pours in. The longer this series goes the longer the cash flow continues.

Games? I don’t consider a poorly convinced hidden object game a money maker. Castle’s money comes from advertising and syndication everything else is secondary. A good friend is a former eexcutive for one of three networks, I suggest Teresa you look up what matters most. You will sound more informative

I watched NCIS after Sasha left. I watched NCIS after Holly left. I enjoyed NCIS better after Côte left and I’d at the least give *Castle* a good sampling were Stana to leave. As long as it didn’t turn into some teen vampire show.

Insid keep watching NCIS too, nur it’s a different concept on that show. There’s a lead ensemble. On castle Beckett and Castle are the lead with an ensemble around them.

Plus they then made Caskett the lead. That was never the case on NCIS. So you can’t really compare it to the concept of Castle. Getting rid of Beckett would have a completely different impact and not necessarily because it would be a Beckettless show but because you would destroy the shows heart and soul … Which they might already have accomplished.

NCIS might even survive without Gibbs

No! Please euthanize this train wreck . It was once my favorite show but now is painful to watch. Spin off? Uh uh.

If they get rid of Beckett and her ginormous woes, I would watch the spin off.

I think its pretty obvious Beckett is either going to be killed off or Castle is going to divorce her and get rid of her completely.

Or they time jump and she’s at her senate job offscreen.

It starting to look an awful lot like like the last episode before the hiatus was reworked to put an end the “official” Caskett separation. However when the show returns the “unofficial” separation remains fully intact with little or no Caskett interplay.

As far as a spinoff, there is really nothing there that I can see myself watching. Like many show with a titular character like Castle (Chuck was another), the show actually flows through the female lead. Without that character, the show doesn’t work.

Actually You are incorrect. Castle is the Draw! Nathan brought his fans and they are the bulk of the viewers. Later they liked Stana’s character for awhile but they remain loyal to Nathan. The bulk of complaints is Kate’s being bad for Rick.

Only because they’ve written her dumb enough in order to sell a really dumb storyline. Fans hating a show favorite character is very much a symptom of convuluted story telling.

Theresa, that’s nonsense. Nathan may have been part of the draw in the very early days, although I had never heard of him (or her TBH), but he is certainly no longer more of a draw than Stana is today. I would even say the biggest draw is the two of them together, acknowledging their incredible chemistry which used to be on display week in and week out but now only appears intermittently. Another big draw in the beginning was the premise of the show, which appealed to the millions of mystery readers in the country. They far outnumber the couple of million cult followers of Firefly.

As for comparing amounts of complaints directed at one character vs another and making that an argument for who has more loyal fans, that’s absurd. You can’t possibly be reading the same forums and posts I am b/c I could say the opposite. I personally can’t stand what Rick has become this season and I attribute a part of that to Nathan’s attitude and acting.

I quit watching Castle. Don’t care what happens to it. The grandma and daughter are great characters…

All of this explains more and more…why we see absolutely no interviews from Ms. Katic. She’s made no comments about the show, the abysmal direction of her character, etc. since resigning in July 2015. I just cannot fathom her signing on for Season 8, just to have this transpire. And I really cannot see her resigning for a Season 9. Why would she?

The Castle PI track of the show being laid out in Season 8 is now abundantly clear. And trying out different female partners (Hayley, Alexis, now Summer Glau’s character) to see what sticks is painfully obvious.

The only way to really make this mess end is to simply stop watching this show now. And once the ratings are so bad and after it comes back, maybe then, ABC will finally cancel this once great TV program. Really a d–n shame.

Forgive me for saying this but ABC made it very clear last year when they signed NF first that they were willing to continue the show without Stana, and no ABC didn’t beg Stana to come back as some would like to believe.

Judging from what I seen this season ABC forced Stana’s hand, and she signed knowing full well that her character would be taking a back seat.

Maybe. I do like the Beckett/Castle interaction but the show would survive without Stana. I know most commentators here will draw knives at me but in our household we watch for Castle, followed by Ryan & Espo & then Martha/Alexis – Stana is a welcome addition but not the main attraction.

The last season has shown that Castle can still draw enough viewers on his own. I’ve seen a few movies/other appearances with Stana & have not really being impressed – though I did like her voice over stuff for DC animations.

A “welcome addition?” When it’s her character’s backstory that has formed the backbone of the entire show and provided the reason for Castle to be involved with the NYPD to begin with? Your comment is laughable in the full context of the show.

Apologies if it offends but I honestly lost interest in Beckett’s various backstory iterations several seasons back. Absolutely the character provided the reason for Castle’s involvement with the NYPD but that’s not the debate (?). The issue is whether a non-Beckett Castle (not Caskett or Becastle) show would survive, for me yes.

grys — no offense and you’re welcome to your own opinion as well as to a Beckett-less spinoff should that transpire. I simply was calling you out on labeling Beckett/Stana as a “welcome addition,” as if she were there only as a backdrop or pretty face.

Her turn in a The Librarian mini movie was entertaining I thought.

I’m sorry RBA but first you said that ABC didn’t beg Stana to come back, but in the next sentence you say that ABC forced her hand. Which is it? Personally, I think ABC coerced her to return, most likely with negative coercion.

Yep, RBA, you’re right about ABC last year. But the rest is speculation. Who knows why Stana signed on for season 8. Maybe she thought the LokSat plot would be executed better. Maybe she didn’t know Caskett would be separated for so long. Maybe she wasn’t told the humor was going down into the dumps. Or maybe she couldn’t say no to money that would enable her to do her other projects. Whatever the case, I can’t see her re-signing for another season unless things improve greatly in the second half.

If one of them or both decide not to come back they should put the show out of its memory. End it while they still have something, even if they are doing all the wrong things. No one is interested in watching a show without Caskett. Who are the going to focus in the spin off? Alexis? Rysposito? Give me a break. They are good characters, but not that good. And im not interested im a Beckett-less, Castle-less or Casketless show. Lets all just move on. They are driving this show to its doom.

Can Hollywood truly be so out of sync with reality and normal people that they think they can just “reset” Castle without Stana and toss the whole Caskett storyline? Castle IS about a writer and his muse… Period. It is not about a writer finding his muse, losing her, surrounding himself with a new, un recognizable cast, and taking a new career. ABC, for the love of decency, let Castle be Castle, give it a dignified death this season, and spin off something with either new people or minor characters… (NOT Castle or Beckett). Ugh!

Yes actually Castle’s mysteries and humor does keep this show afloat. Stana is really not necessary anymore. The show will do just fine without her.

Really? You’re basically getting “Castle PI” this season and the show’s on life support.

No it is not! Season 8 is a hit overseas. The DVR and Internet numbers are increasing. Only the overnights which do not matter anymore are lower but they are lower across all shows not just this one.

The issue is that way more shows on ABC are doing better than Castle, that is now near the bottom of the pile.

When even TV critics are saying that a show has “lost its way”, you know things are bad.

Theresa, Season 8 has only just begun in most overseas markets. The current numbers mean nothing unless they stay up once the Caskett separation takes hold. Moreover, Stana is a bigger draw in Europe, perhaps elsewhere, than Nathan is. Once they start experiencing Beckett-lite and Beckett-less eps, let’s see what happens.

Exactly! Whatever botch job they have done to Caskett this season, one thing remains abundantly clear…Their fierce love for each other. So if Stana decides not to come back, and who could blame her, please let’s just end the show on a HAPPY note and move on! Anything shirt of that would add more insult to injury. Poor Stana was quoted a few seasons back as saying for her it was art over finance and she would rather end the show when it was on top. Looks like that is not going to happen. So very sad!

For a long time, my favorite scenes have been those with the characters of Martha, Rick and Alexis. That would be a fun Castle Agency …

The spin off should be centered on the detective agency and focused on McRaney and Glau as mentor and mentee. The name of the detective agency, and show, should be Firefly.

It is obvious that Nathan and Stantic are not happy working together. What a shame for Castle fans.

Yep, I’m getting a vibe very similar to that of Julianna Margulies and Archie Punjab which ruined the last few years of The Good Wife. The shows go out of their way to make sure the main characters don’t share scenes. The only reason they don’t use split screen filming in Castle is that the characters are supposedly married and HAVE to be in scenes at the same time. But even when they are, the chemistry isn’t the same.

It’s so obvious NF and SK can’t stand eachother. Reminds me of the whole Panjabi/Margolis fiasco. End the show with dignity, please.

Yeah because we all want to see rick and Alexis!! Looks like Beckett dies and that’s too bad. I don’t know if I can watch anymore it’s just too painful.

It’s already a different show and it’s seriously depressing. Either give us the Caskett we love or let it go! Please!

The only spin off I’d like to see is Esposito, Ryan, and Lanie but Castle the show was supposed to be all about Caskett. I don’t want to watch only Castle or Beckett. Why would they torture fans like that?

Still can’t stand Paul Lee and ABC. Not 100% sure whether Castle will end this season or will next season be its last.

The fact that they won’t give us more details about their plans scares me. If they break up Caskett or kill off Beckett it would be cruel to loyal viewers and I won’t watch!!!!

It’s classier to end a show with dignity than to ruin a show and try to squeeze out 1 more season. 8 seasons is a good run.

I don’t get the feeling the show runners or ABC care what the fans want so I don’t expect to like the way this plays out.

I swear the purpose of this season is to see how fans react to Castle/Alexis private investigations. That’s the sole purpose. The shows producers are fading Beckett and Stana out. It makes me sick thinking about all the screen time that has been wasted on Molly Quinn. I’m not going to watch castle without Nathan and Stana. They r Caskett

Unless “Castle” keeps the original cast of Stana Katic, Nathan Fillion, Jon Huertas, Seamus Dever,etc. I probably won’t invest my time in watching it. I think these writer’s are ruining this show. Perhaps the actors don’t want to continue with the show. If that is the case let us know and go ahead and cancel it. Either that or get back to business with the original show and quit trying to show-off your supposed creative skills.

They could just have Beckett in the State Senate (special election), off camera, and have Castle continue his PI business with the new members.

I hope they don’t kill Beckett off, but I don’t expect SK back for any re-incarnation next year.

They will want to have Castle available for a love interest. She’ll be gone – death or divorce

Yes, sadly, I agree. Death most likely. Hopefully, heroically.

I doubt that. Castle would have to have a transformation back to being love interest material. As he is now, who would have him except for his money? LOL

A Castle without its stars is just idiotic. Has he not looked at their ratings? This just confirms what I thought last season, that they are very willing to move on without Stana Katic. Just when I thought everyone there couldn’t get any more stupid. What makes Lee think fans will continue to watch a show that will, if he ” resets” it, will not even remotely resemble the show that fans love( although the case could be made they are already doing that right now) All I can say is good luck with your ” reset”.

What ratings are you looking at? The Overnights? They do not matter anymore. The DVR and Internet are doing fine actually they have increased this season for some reason! Perhaps it is China?

They can track who DVR’s it, but can they track who eventually watches it? A lot of former Castle fans I know DVR the show in case they hear that it is one of the 2 or 3 shows that are now worth watching each season, so most of the episodes end up going unwatched.

Yes technically their ratings week to week are steady, but take the demo number from last year to this and each succeeding week and they are not great. Demo numbers are what advertisers look at. Castle is now barely at a1.1 when not too long ago it was in the 2.’s . I know Castle does really well in live plus seven numbers but taking your two leads away or even one and those numbers will be even worse. If this story was just about an actual spin off of Castle that would be one thing its entirely another to say the show that for past eight seasons is very dependent on their leads will reset and become something else. Ratings or not this direction Castle is headed in is not good, and hope these changes will end up being worth it. Of course there is always the possibility that none of this will come to pass and both actors will re sign but the shows trajectory this season would seem to indicate otherwise

Castles c3 ratings…. which is what advertisers look at are around 1.4 which is decent enough for ABC to remotely consider it

A Castle “reboot” without Beckett could work. But there would have to be a clear and definitive end to Caskett. Also, viewers would have to be willing to tune in for a show that is no longer a rom/com.

Any Beckett-less Castle, with Rick Castle remaining as the main character, would not likely work again as a rom/com, because viewers would always (pun intended) compare NF’s Castle chemistry with anyone new, against what he had with SK’s Beckett chemistry. Which for many years and recently in “The Seduction,” was lightening in a bottle.

Yep, I agree and would add I can’t see Nathan managing a rom/com lead in any case any more.

Maybe they should worry about the fact that last season was bad and this season is unwatchable before worrying about the future.

However I would easily watch a spinoff with Alexis fighting crime or whatever in LA.

They are trying their best to ruin this show. As is happening with a lot of them. Pretty soon there will be nothing but “reality” shows and competitions. Then I guess I will turn off the tube.

They must be seriously desperate if they are willing to continue Castle without either of the stars, especially given current ratings. A new spinoff without either lead is fine. But to continue this show without either lead is stupid.

No castle and Beckett together is a no go for me. A spin off without either main character I’d maybe consider. But to continue the show with out one of the leads means they would have to kill of one of the characters which would puss me off big time. These two characters deserve a happily ever after. Even if the two actors who play them are done with the show.

We saw this coming. This is going to be Castle PI with no Stana. All the TVLine spin interviews in the world cant take back the crap spewed by Hawley about Caskett’s lovestory and making them stronger. It was never the plan. He was just trying to keep the flock from flying from their TV screens.

Finally, Hayley and Alexis super sleuth makes sense. I wont be watching. Wont be watching the rest of this season either. Why bother, know the ending.

If there is to be no Beckett and/or Castle for a Season 9 then spin it out like TNT did with The Closer – Major Crimes! There really cannot be a Castle without it’s two leads working together like they used to.

I’m confused, according to the showrunners season 8 was supposed to be a reset…a change in direction. Would season 9 be a reset of the reset or a continuation of the reset that was already started in season 8?

Personally, I think they should let the show go out with some dignity…there is still time to write series finale scripts to do that. I recall that, at different points in time, both leads have said they would like to see the show go out on top….sad to say, but it is too late for that to happen.

Good point about the reset of the reset. Gotta laugh at this nonsense.

Without Marlowe, I don’t see anyone else having a sense to end the show with some dignity. They’re going a to milk the cash cow as long as they possibly can.

What a pity to see a once entertaining show turned into a total train wreck.

Kind of like the time out from the time out.

So season 9 is a lock I knew it would be. Interesting how they are relocating to LA though. I suppose Kate will stay in New York permanently like being killed by LokSat? I like that Rick might be a part of a private det agency headed by Gerald McRaney and have Summer Glau character along with Hayley and Alexis I suspect staying in New York. This opens up a world of interesting cases and exotic locales.

They could have Beckett killed while saving Castle from Locksat after his/her identity was revealed. Castle’s PI office is the NY branch of McRaney’s LA firm.

It would be interesting if McRaney’s character is brother to Jackson Hunt Rick’s father Thus making him family as an lost Uncle perhaps?

AJ, that would be Theresa who also says the ratings for season 8 are terrific and that a Beckett-less Castle would be wonderful. [sarcasm intended]

I agree with Corie Stahl ” They’ve made Beckett a narcissistic, walled off control freak and Castle a desperate, emasculated door mat. Enough. The new writers are killing this show quickly and completely. ” Amen!

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