Three Cheers for Castle Fans

ABC has given the show a third season pick-up!!!

What a difference a strong "Dancing with the Stars" lead-in makes.
A growth story for much of this season, "Castle has benefited big time over the last two weeks, thanks to a surging "Dancing". Now, ABC has given an early third season pick-up to the drama. Pick-up comes after Monday night's episode--the second half of a two-parter--landed the #1 slot at 10 pm, and also posted it's best ratings ever among adults 18-49 (3.7/10) and total viewers (14.5 million) according to ABC, "Castle" even gave ABC it's largest Monday 10 pm audience for a regular scripted series since 1996(!) and it's best adults 18-49 mark there since 2001.

Pick-up is for a full 22 episode third season. "Castle", which launched last midseason, stars Nathan Fillion as a novelist who winds up helping NYPD detective (Stana Katic) solve crimes. Susan Sullivan, Molly Quinn, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Tamala Jones, Jon Huertas and Seamus Dever also star.ABC studios is behind "Castle", which comes from exec producers Andrew Marlowe, Rob Bowman,Rene' Echevarria, Laurie Zaks and Armyan Bernstein.

ABC has pulled it's Castle two-night series
The sophomore drama had been slated to open a two-part installment on Sunday March 21 after Desperate Housewives and the second part on it's regular night Monday 22 at 10:00 pm.Now each episode will now air on March 21 and 29 respectfully.

Style Hunter: Beckett's black trench coat on 'Castle'

Source: EW.com
Dec. 9, 2009

We here at Style Hunter gave you the dish on the lipstick Kate Beckett (Stana Katic, left) wears on ABC’s Castle, but many of you Beckett fans also wanted to know about the sleek black trench coat she’s worn on a few episodes this season.
For the answer, we went straight to the source — Castle’s costume designer, Salvador Perez — but sorry style seekers, Perez informed us that Beckett’s Karen Millen jacket is from a past season and no longer available.
If you’re looking for a similar style, you might want to try Marc by Marc Jacob’s fine twill trench coat (nordstrom.com; $249), Juicy Couture’s bow-shoulder trench (urbanminx.com; $379) or if you really dig the buttons, go for this Anne Klein number (dillards.com; $129).


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Regis Philban Show

Tune in Monday morning January 11, 2010
Both Alyssa Milano and Nathan Fillion will be on the show talking about Monday nights episode, so check local listings for the time in your area.

Castle's Creator Discusses the Show's Double Identity

Source: TV Guide.com
Nov. 24, 2009
On Monday's episode of Castle (10/9c, ABC) Detective Beckett (Stana Katic) and Castle (Nathan Fillion) investigate the murder of a man who appears to have a double identity, a concept not unfamiliar to the show's creator, Andrew W. Marlowe.

No, Marlowe doesn't lead a double life, but his show is increasingly a mix of cops-and-robbers procedural fun and good ol' family drama. "Both Nathan and Stana have settled into their roles, and ... we've had the opportunity to open up some of our supporting cast members," Marlowe tells TVGuide.com. "We think they're doing a terrific job creating a real family ensemble show. We're trying to be unlike other procedurals on TV; we're trying to bring some humor and character into procedural storytelling."

At the center of it all is Fillion, who brings the funny both at the crime scene and at home with his teenage daughter (Molly Quinn) and live-in mother (Susan Sullivan). "I think the fun thing about [the character of] Castle is you're kind of able to see him as a complete man," Marlowe says, "Sometimes when he's with Beckett, you have the 12-year-old juvenile Castle, and then when he's at home, you see him very much as a strong father figure. We like showing that multifaceted approach because in real life, none of us are one person. We all play a series of different roles, whether it's with our lover or our parents or our kids or our colleagues. To be able to do that only opens up the character."

Marlowe's approach seems to be working. Debuting as a midseason replacement in early 2009, the show survived being on the bubble in May and has pulled strong enough numbers to earn a full Season 2 pickup. Marlowe gives much of the credit to his two stars, but he says he's excited to expand the story to supporting players such as Detectives Ryan (Seamus Dever) and Esposito (Jon Huertas).

"We're bringing them more into the cases, giving them a little more to do," Marlowe says. "They're just doing terrific work and they've really popped. I think in the latter part of this season, we'll have an opportunity to see a little more of them in their private lives.

"Tamala Jones [Dr. Lanie Parish] has been a terrific role player, and I am looking for an episode to feature her with a medical mystery," Marlowe continues. "I'd like everybody to get a moment in the spotlight as we move forward. As the show goes on and as viewers are more familiar with all of our people, we feel like we have an opportunity to add to our storytelling by exploring those characters."
But don't look for Marlowe to abandon what he calls the engine of the show: the will-they-won't-they romantic tension between Castle and Beckett. "Audiences expect forward motion... [but] you never want to resolve something like that too quickly," Marlowe says. "In this sort of relationship, when the romantic tension is running high, the opposite side of the spark is that there could be misunderstandings and wedges driven between the people. So we want to keep it going as long as we feel like it can sustain, but we also need to grow the relationship so it doesn't feel like we're stuck in the same gear. That's the delicate dance moving forward."

Marlowe is equally hesitant to wrap up the story of Beckett's mother's murder too quickly. "We do have an episode dealing with it coming up; there will be some significant movement in the case in that episode," Marlowe says. "It's so much a part of Beckett's character, this unresolved mystery, that we feel like resolving it too quickly would not be fair to her character. It's something that we will be developing over the next season or two until we get to the ultimate resolution."

And it's the concern Marlowe has for his characters can sustain, but we also need to grow the relationship so it doesn't feel like we're stuck in the same gear. That's the delicate dance moving forward."

Marlowe is equally hesitant to wrap up the story of Beckett's mother's murder too quickly. "We do have an episode dealing with it coming up; there will be some significant movement in the case in that episode," Marlowe says. "It's so much a part of Beckett's character, this unresolved mystery, that we feel like resolving it too quickly would not be fair to her character. It's something that we will be developing over the next season or two until we get to the ultimate resolution."

And it's the concern Marlowe has for his characters that he says drives him to make Castle unlike the rest of TV procedurals. "Some of those shows take themselves very, very seriously when they hang a line on a guy putting on sunglasses," Marlowe jokes. "But we want people to know that we're taking our cases and our people seriously.

"After a long day, I'm not sure I'm ready to delve into that darkness," Marlowe says. "There are a lot of people out there who do love the structure of the procedural, but don't want to go so far into the gutter. They want to have a good time and want to have characters to root for. We're giving people permission to have fun during the hour."

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Alyssa Milano to visit ABC’s ‘Castle’

Nov. 13, 2009
source: thecelebritycafe.com
Actress Alyssa Milano will be taking a step inside ABC’s sophomore detective comedy series, “Castle,” for a guest appearance as Nathan Fillion’s character, novelist Richard Castle’s, ex-love.

Actress Alyssa Milano, who will be the star of the ABC midseason comedy, “Romantically Challenged,” will also be popping up on ABC’s “Castle” for a guest stint.

Milano will be playing the ex-love of mystery novelist Richard Castle, played by Nathan Fillion, which is bound to put a wrench in the flirtatious laden relationship that has begun to unfold between Castle and NYPD detective Kate Beckett, played by Stana Katic.

“Castle” is into its second season on the network and has Castle, successful mystery/detective novelist, working with the NYPD, Detective Beckett in particular, to harness ideas for use in his new detective novel series, all the while aiding Beckett in solving incoming crimes.

Milano has been a television series staple since she was a child, appearing on two smash television shows. The first as Tony Danza’s precocious daughter, Samantha, on the hit ABC series, “Who’s the Boss,” which aired from 1984 to 1992. Milano’s second successful series was on the WB’s “Charmed,” as one of the “Charmed” Halliwell sisters, Phoebe Halliwell. The series was produced by the late Aaron Spelling and written and created by Constance M. Burge. The series followed the three Halliwell sisters as they used their potent powers as “The Charmed Ones” to battle and defeat the constant swarm of evil demons, warlocks, etc., sent to destroy them by The Source. “Charmed” aired from Oct. 7, 1998 to May 21, 2006 on the WB.

HEAT WAVE by Richard Castle (3 out of 5 Stars)

A Book Review
Nov 4, 2009
Source: DaemonsBooks.com
I'm a huge fan of the TV show Castle so I couldn't resist picking up Heat Wave, the book that lead character Richard Castle is supposed to be writing on the show. The premise of both the book and the show is that a popular author is shadowing a New York homicide detective and he helps her solve cases. It may sound like Murder She Wrote but it's actually a lot more fun because of the banter and romantic tension between the main characters. Heat Wave is what I would call a fun, guilty-pleasure book because it's a lot like reading an extended episode of Castle. For those familiar with the show, all the main characters except Alexis are represented but with different names. Beckett is Nikki Heat and Castle is Jameson Rook, a famous reporter with lots of female fans. While aheat wave is making New York City unbearable, Heat is investigating the death of a wealthy real estate developer with more than a few similarities to Donald Trump. He fell from the balcony of his fancy apartment and they m
ust figure out if he jumped or if he was pushed. The main attraction of Castle is the ridiculously charming Nathan Fillion and the chemistry between him and Stana Katic. I was concerned that this wouldn't translate into the book, but for the most part I think it did. Like I said before, Heat Wave reads just like an episode of Castle and I could totally picture the actors as the characters in the book. If anything, the sexual tension between Rook and Heat is even more amplified than between Castle and Beckett. I definitely recommend Heat Wave to Castle fans. It might not be great literature but it's a whole lot of fun.


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This just in: ABC picks up 'Castle' for full season

Source: EW
October 21, 2009
It’s the news (Murder, He Wrote) Castle fans have been waiting for: ABC has picked up the Nathan Fillion dramedy for a full, 22-episode season! The second-year show has been holding onto a decent chunk of its Dancing with the Stars lead-in, so the back-nine order wasn’t a total surprise. Still, it’s nice to get the official confirmation! That brings to five the number of shows ABC has given the full-season green light to. In addition to Castle, the net has picked up The Middle, FlashForward, Cougar Town, and Modern Family.

Castle Gets Full Season Order

Hollywoodreporter reports that abc has given the sophmore show a full season order of 22 episodes. The show has shown promise up against CBS' powerhouse CSI : Miami.The show has climbed from a modest 2.2 to a 2.4 rating.

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Castle: Is a Beckett-Castle Kiss in the Cards?

Source: TV GUIDEOctober 12, 2009
Nathan Fillion's character on Castle doesn't take many things seriously, something that perhaps has rubbed off on the actor. When asked what he thinks will lure viewers into the ABC procedural dramedy's second season, the 38-year-old former Firefly and Desperate Housewives star cracks jokes. "This season we decided to go with no hooks, no hooks at all," Fillion tells TVGuide.com. "That's become our mantra: no hooks, let's just coast. One episode, we actually take an episode from the first season and just changed everybody's names and filmed it again." Co-stars Stana Katic and Seamus Dever, who join Fillion on the other end of the line for a telephone interview during a break from shooting, laugh at most of Fillion's jokes. All the actors say humor is what sets Castle apart from the glut of other crime procedurals. "The writers are very realistic about the kind of show that we have," Katic says. "We're a crime procedural, but through a light-hearted, comedic eye. I think the other shows that we reference are kind of dark and try to be very realistic and scientific and pragmatic, and I think we just have fun with it." Dever is a fan of the show's focus on the nuts and bolts of being a homicide detective. "I think there's a little bit of a post-modern comment on other shows because we come around after America has been exposed to 10 years of CSI," Dever says. "I think we're commenting on what really is police work: pounding on doors and taking phone calls, rather than being about forensics. I think that comes from the police officers and detectives that work on our show."
Fillion the jokester can't help but capitalize on Dever's setup. "We hung out with a bunch of homicide detectives, and they're not haunting, they're not brooding, they're not tortured," FIllion says. "They were brilliantly entertaining, and they were incredibly funny. It's just that all their stories start with, 'So this guy gets killed ...'" Fillion says that playing the class clown is part of the fun of portraying Richard Castle, but Katic says there more to the character than being a cad. "There's a wonderful undercurrent that we get to see when he is in scenes with his mother and daughter. I think you see a real heart that beats there, and I think that as episodes continue, people will get to be charmed by that side as well." The question on many viewers' minds, however, is when, if ever, Katic's Detective Beckett will be charmed by Castle. Fillion is equally stumped, but says that's what makes Castle's attraction to Beckett fun to play. "One of the things that attracts him so much to Beckett is that he can't crack that shell," he says. "He can't get to that spot, so he keeps chasing her. And she's a real authority figure; no one else really has control over Castle the way Beckett does."
A guest-starring Debi Mazar (Entourage, Dancing with the Stars) will further complicate the relationship. As Paula Haas, a book agent from Castle's past, Mazar makes Castle an offer he'll find hard to turn down. But it's also one that could derail any hopes of a Castle-Beckett hookup. About the potential love triangle, Katic is expectedly coy. "Honey, we never kiss and tell. You'll have to watch and see," she says. So is that to say there is a kiss in the couple's future? Katic is silent. Dever laughs. Cue Fillion. "I'm always kissing everybody," he says. "I recently sneaked one in with [Dever's] Detective Ryan. It surprised him, that's for sure." Castle airs Mondays at 10/9c on ABC.

Interview: NATHAN FILLION SITS BACK UP ON HIS 'CASTLE'

Source: If Mangazine
October 12, 2009
The Television Critics Association has arranged for a set tour of ABC’s CASTLE at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, and quite a set it is. Besides the realistic-looking police office sets, there are also the lavishly and uniquely decorated sets for bestselling mystery author Richard Castle’s bedroom and home office. Nathan Fillion, who plays the fictional Castle, seems very at home on the office set, holding forth from behind the desk as he expresses his delight that the series has been picked up for a second season.
“I can’t remember when I had a second season of anything,” Fillion notes. “I was on the fourth season of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, but it doesn’t really count, because it was still my first season.”
Er, wasn’t Fillion on several seasons of ONE LIFE TO LIVE? Fillion doesn’t miss a beat. “Yes. I guess now I remember,” he deadpans.
There was a gap between the end of CASTLE’s first season and the announcement that it was picked up for a second season.During his time off, Fillion says, “I did a lot of traveling. The first place I went was to New York to promote the series. I traveled to Hawaii, I went on a trip with my brother to Europe and the U.K. We had a really good time. Mostly pleasure – I did a little bit of work when I was in London. I’m involved in this project called The Complete Hero Project by an artist named Martin Firrell, who is saying we have to redefine what ‘hero’ is for the twenty-first century, that our culture has changed enough that we have to redefine the word. And he’s been kind enough to ask to project my face onto the side of the building with some really poetic words. It’s an art installation.”
Then word came that CASTLE had been renewed. “I can’t remember what the date was. I was in Vancouver and I was having dinner with Joss Whedon, as a matter of fact, and we both found out on the same day [that both Fillion’s CASTLE and Whedon’s DOLLHOUSE had been picked up]. We were both pleasantly surprised.”
Given that Fillion and Whedon last collaborated on Whedon’s Emmy-winning Internet musical hit DR. HORRIBLE’S SING-A-LONG BLOG, it’s natural to inquire whether Fillion will be once again playing Dr. Horrible’s nemesis Captain Hammer. “Not right now, I’m pretty busy with CASTLE,” Fillion points out sensibly, “but I know that there are plans in the works for a second DR. HORRIBLE.”
Now that CASTLE has a second season, what is Fillion looking forward to doing this year? It sounds like he’s open to whatever the writers provide. “You know what? We had a really good time and the show was really well-received and it’s nice to go to work – I’ve got a dream job, I enjoy my work, I enjoy the people I’m working with, I like my cast, I love my crew. These people are great. So I think we’ve got ninety-five percent of everyone we had last season is back this season, so it’s like old home week. We’re just picking up where we left off. It’s really nice. I hear tell that we’re going to bring my ex-wife-slash-publisher back, if you remember her from the pilot, played by Monet Mazur. We’re very excited to have her back as well.”
When CASTLE’s first season ended, Fillion’s character was on the outs with Beckett, played by Stana Katic, the police detective he’s using as the model for his new heroine and as the subject of his romantic interest. How do they get back on speaking terms? “What happens is,” Fillion explains without being too spoilery, “circumstances first force Beckett and Castle’s at least proximity to each other. So she’s put under a little bit of pressure to at least hang out close to him and Castle sees this as his opportunity to get in there and try to work his magic, as he would call it – ‘annoying,’ other people would call it.”
What’s it like to play Castle, who is so focused getting Beckett to like him? Castle – I don’t think his primary goals are other people,” Fillion replies. “I think his primary goals are selfish. He likes Beckett, he wants Beckett close to him. He admires her, he thinks she’s great and there’s no character that really has that control over Castle. I think Beckett is as close as he has to an authority figure, which he hasn’t really had in his life. You look at his mother, the absence of a father, his daughter is the closest thing he has to a parent. So he has no authority figure in his life and certainly, I think we look to fill these gaps and I think one of his character flaws is that Castle’s incredibly selfish. He’s incredibly selfish. And that’s what he wants. He wants to be happy for himself, and in a selfish way, he wants to be around Beckett. At the beginning, he does not [understand why she’s angry with him], and again, that is his flaw, that he doesn’t understand. He’s just a little too self-involved, a little too selfish, and he doesn’t get it.”
All of this makes Castle fun to play, Fillion adds. “I learned on TWO GUYS, A GIRL AND A PIZZA PLACE to embrace your character’s flaws. Flaws are what make people great and likable.”
The set for Castle’s office is so beautifully decorated that Fillion says, “What the heck, I could live in this place.” He reveals its one drawback. “I’ll tell you this much – this carpet that you’re standing on, it sheds like you can’t believe. It leaves a nice fine white haze on everything and makes it slippery. So this is the only thing I wouldn’t have for sure.” Stuff he wouldn’t mind bringing home: “Right behind you here is a touch-screen TV. This photograph I find mesmerizing. This desk is absolutely beautiful. I spend a lot of time here. You’ll probably see a lot of my scripts here.”
Fillion may add a few touches of his own. “I think I’m going to try to grab some stuff from previous seasons I’ve done of other television shows, take little bits that I’ve saved and put them on the shelves.” This won’t include the red button from FIREFLY. “I don’t have that – that’s Joss’s now – but I have some other bits. I would love to take more credit for the incredible [production design] work that’s done. We’ve got a wonderful man by the name of Alfred [Sole] who designs these things so incredibly well. There’s a lot of [taxidermied]
bugs [in glass cases] – there’s bugs on the wall, there’s bugs on the desk here – and I just think that Castle bugs people a little bit. He’s just into that, the quirky, the odd, the interesting, because he is quirky and odd and interesting.”
The CASTLE writing staff and cast seem to have the same notions about where the characters and series should be headed, Fillion notes. “Yes, absolutely. We all know the flaws and we’ve all seen television series jump the shark – we’re not going to aim to fail.”
Molly Quinn is the young actress who plays Castle’s daughter. Fillion believes she’s got enough experience of her own not to need his advice on show business. “I’ve shared embarrassing stories with her, I’ve got tons of those, but she’s not a stranger to the industry by any means. If anything, until this season, she was a stranger to this schedule. It’s a heavy, heavy schedule. That’s the one major I think Kryptonite of one-hour dramas. It’s a long haul. I’m certainly busy, but it’s not constant. You have to be here the whole time, but it’s not like you’re completely taxed entirely all the time. It’s long days. It’s not rare that we do fourteen-hour days.”
Asked whether it’s harder to do thirteen episodes of fourteen-hour days or a schedule like the feature film SLITHER, which had a hurry-up-and-wait aspect due to the movie’s many practical effects (like on-set giant tentacles), Fillion replies, “After the film SLITHER, I’ll never read a script in the same way again, so I know if it says ‘Exterior Night Woods’ for half the script, it’s a month and a half, outside at night in the woods. So that’s going to be cold and wet and you’re going to be nocturnalized for a month and a half. Which is a difficult thing to do – to sleep all day to wake up at night and just not see the sun? That’s not easy.”
However, he adds, there’s no comparing the feature schedule with the TV series pace. “Apples and oranges. I mean, [on a feature], it’s a little more of a condensed atmosphere and a little more of a condensed experience, and then you’ve got three months and you’re done, whereas CASTLE’s a little bit longer, but we do things and it becomes very much a family here. Everybody here – we know each other, we know our families, we know what everybody’s up to here. It’s a good feeling when you come to work and you know everyone.”
In his moments of downtime, Fillion is known to make brief comments on Twitter. “Felicia Day put me on to Twitter when we did a promo thing for DR. HORRIBLE,” he relates. “We were sitting at dinner and she had me program it into my phone and start doing Twitter right there and then and it nearly crashed my server back home for all the immediate email notifications you get, so don’t start it on your phone, start it at home where you can say, ‘Make sure I don’t get notifications.’
As to the appeal of Twitter, Fillion says, “I like the brevity. It’s neat if someone has something to promote, they can say, ‘Here’s a website, go check it out, vote for this fan-made film,’ whatnot, that’s always a lot of fun to do. I only follow the people I actually know, to keep up with them and see what’s going on.”
One other thing that’s been going on with Fillion is his contribution to the newest version of the HALO videogame, HALO 3 ODST. “Not only can you play it with my voice, buy you can also play with my face on your character.” He did not do motion capture for the venture, but adds, “During the pilot for CASTLE, they came, sent a photographer down and took some snaps of my face and they just tricked it out.”
However, the pilot Fillion wrote for ABC is not happening. “Once you write it and they don’t do anything with it, it’s pretty much gone.”
Prior to CASTLE, Fillion spent a season on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES as the husband of Dana Delany’s character. Delany stayed with the series; Fillion didn’t. He’s philosophical. “As far as DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES goes, you know, drama dictates. You’re a slave to where the stories go and how things unfold and work out. There are a lot of cast members on there, I had a great time, it wasn’t my usual workload, but I got to work with fantastic actors telling great stories and working for wonderful people who’ve enjoyed a lot of well-deserved success.”
Being cast on CASTLE was not related to either the pilot script or the DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES gig, Fillion adds. “[ABC] did not say, ‘Hey, by the way,’ no. Things worked out the way they worked out.”
Although he loves the work, having CASTLE renewed doesn’t necessarily provide Fillion with a sense of rock-solid job security. “No guarantees in Hollywood. I learned that. I try not to fall in love with anything I do, and when something gets canceled, you think it ends and say, ‘Next.’ Because there’s more work. There’s more jobs to come. “
He acknowledges having fallen in love with FIREFLY. When it was canceled, “I locked myself in a room, ate chocolate ice cream and gained twenty pounds.” Then came the feature film SERENITY and the opportunity to revisit his FIREFLY character Malcolm Reynolds. “But I try not to fall in love with anything, because it’s the nature of the industry. Art is mating with finance and there are so many factors that are out of your control, I try not to worry about those factors.”
Fillion knows he’s not alone in his FIREFLY/SERENITY love, which he feels is all to the good. “I think any time you have a fan of one of your projects who follows you to your next projects – and I know I have those types of fans – absolutely. It’s just more fans.”
What are CASTLE fans like? Not that different from FIREFLY fans, it seems. Fillion can’t generalize, but he cites a specific example. “I’m always surprised by the strata of people who watch the show. The last time was this guy – he had sawdust all over him at Home Depot, we were in the big elevator at Home Depot and he turned and gave me the second glance. ‘Ah, my wife and I, we love your show!’ And every time he moved, sawdust was falling off him all over the place. It could be a guy in a suit, real clean-looking saying, ‘Your show is great, that new CASTLE show, I’m really into it.’ It’s a good feeling that they’re enjoying it.”
Any skills Fillion has learned on the job? “Quick draw I learned from SERENITY and I’m working on my three-finger typing here [on CASTLE].”
Being a scriptwriter himself, has Fillion pitched any ideas to the CASTLE show runners? “Yes, I have pitched a couple stories. We’ll see if they come to fruition. They’re a little too funny right now – I think I have to tone them down a little bit.”
As to upcoming plans for CASTLE’s hiatus, Fillion says, “I like to get to the hiatus before I start planning things, so right now, fourteen-hour days, five days a week, CASTLE, that’s it. I don’t have time for anything else.Someday I’ll plan ahead and say, ‘Here’s what I’m going to do with my time off,’ but my first thing is, I’m going to get out of here and I’m going to go relax.”

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Mysteries & Moonlighting: Five Reasons You Should Watch 'Castle'

Source: Express Night Out
Sept. 22, 2009

1. Castle's juvenile enthusiasm for being on a crime scene
It's not a coincidence "Castle" sounds a lot like "*******." Castle's business has been making up crime stories, so he has some trouble distinguishing fantasy gore from reality. Bizarre crimes, to him, are victimless, since he gets a cool story out of it, and his benign callousness is usually good for some laughs. Fillion's little-boy glee didn't get old during the first season, so here's hoping he makes it stick in the second.

2. Castle's ridiculous luck
It wouldn't be a dramedy cop show without a close scrape every week, would it? Despite frequently acting like a bumbling idiot, Castle knows all the right people, usually makes all the right moves, and ends up better than ever at the close of each episode. The real challenge for the writers will be mixing it up a little and having him get into some real jams, as well as introducing some deeper conflicts than dealing with annoying ex-wives.

3. Kate Beckett
Actress Katic is in familiar territory with the crime aspects of "Castle," having done work on "CSI: Miami," "24" and "Quantum of Solace." But opposite Fillion, she gets to cut her comedy chops and play the straight man, which has made for highly entertaining television so far. Her character, Beckett, of course has a tragic backstory — dead parent, failed relationship — and Castle of course will nose around in it, trying to make things better but making them worse in the short term. Giving Beckett some non-cliche problems would benefit the show tremendously, but she's doing just fine so far.

4. The supporting redheaded cast
Castle's daughter (Molly C. Quinn) and mother (Susan Sullivan) provide a little depth to his character and exhibit mostly potential at this point. His perfect daughter's wisdom and his mother's groan-inducing drama on their own won't get the characters very far or move the plot along, but if the writers are smart, they'll use these actresses, who are always fun to watch, to give a show a huge boost this year.

5. The chance at a really great overarching plot
Procedural shows differ from non-police dramas in that they're more about the day-to-day police work than a rich, "Fringe"-like mythology. "Castle" has given us only a hint at an ongoing plot — Beckett's tragic past and Castle's desire to help — but at least it hasn't screwed up yet. If the show keeps getting picked up (and the ratings were decent enough last year that it has a shot), the writers can dig deeper into the Castle/Beckett dynamic (the "Nikki Heat" gag shouldn't get dragged out any more than necessary) and hopefully uncover some really interesting and gritty details to balance out the silliness.

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STANA KATIC from Castle Exclusive Interview

variety.com Source: Daemonstv.com
September 6, 2009
This morning I got a chance to speak with STANA KATIC about the new season of Castle, on which she plays Detective Kate Beckett. She dished on Castle and Beckett’s relationship, some of the murders that will brace our screens this second season, and much more. Castle premieres on September 21 at 10pm on ABC, but until then, enjoy the interview below.

Are you excited to be back for a new season?
Stana Katic: Totally stoked. Everyone is really glad. We start episode six on Wednesday or Thursday of this coming week. It’s just been really, really fun this season.

So what’s coming up this season?
Stana Katic: Well, last season we left on a cliffhanger. There was a question of whether Castle and Beckett will be able to work together again and whether that relationship will fall apart or find its way, after he broke her trust. Basically one of the things that Beckett said clearly was, ‘Do not cross this line –’ and the line was to not research her mother’s murder. Of course Castle does and when she finds out it was kind of like, ‘Okay, we’re done.’ Then what happens is we open up the season with this fabulous PR stint for Castle’s new book ‘Heat Wave’ which is based on Kate Beckett’s character through a fictional character called Nikki Heat. So he decides to do this PR thing in the precinct and she’s forced to talk about him. In the meantime there’s a call coming in about a murder. The journalist ends up putting the two of them back together again and we go on a journey of crime solving and pretty much make amends quickly and get back to the fun of solving crimes together. I think that’s what audiences enjoyed last year, that repartee, that kind of chemistry between the Beckett character and Nathan Fillion’s character, Castle. So we get to do some more of that. There are some really sexy murders I’m looking forward to showcasing. We’re also going to delve into some of the other characters’ lives as well which is really exciting because we have such a really fabulous all around cast. We get to build on Esposito and Ryan who are my two fellow detectives. We’ll get a chance to learn more about Captain Montgomery played by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who just won the lifetime achievement award from the NAACP which is really awesome. We were all very proud and gave him a huge standing ovation when he came to set that day. Then we go into Castle’s home life as well with Martha and Alexis and learn a bit more about that. So I think it’ll be really fun. I’m looking forward to this next episode. It’s a Halloween episode. We go into that kind of vampire underground, coven kind of world. That’ll be fun, too. Very cool.

I see that you’re taking on the vampire aspect that everyone is crazy about right now.
Stana Katic: I know! It’s so crazy. It’s everywhere, even little TV shows are popping up aside from ‘True Blood’ which has been on for a little bit. I think The WB has something coming out. It’s just madness.

Can you give me an example of one of the sexy murders you mentioned?
Stana Katic: This week we found a girl stuffed into a manhole and we literally had to go to a manhole and when they opened up the real city manhole there were swarms of cockroaches creeping out. We’re all peaking out over this manhole and the cockroaches are charging at you full force. That’s not super sexy though [laughs]. We have a murdered model. We go into the modeling world during Fashion Week which is really exciting, in New York. I’m trying to think what our first murder was, but that’s probably the first example.

Is Beckett’s mother’s murder going to be brought up again and will there ever be a resolution for it?
Stana Katic: I think so. I can’t imagine that if Beckett found out about it, or found out a piece of information; I mean last year we find out that that’s the reason why she became a detective. From my talks with the writers and even trying to work on this character she was your average Manhattanite girl, going to university and getting ready for a fun life. That murder happened and that spun her into a different scenario and she decided to become a detective and didn’t want anyone else to suffer that same injustice. I can’t imagine that her finding a piece of the puzzle wouldn’t inspire her to get back onto it and solve that crime that was basically the thrust of her entire new life, her entire new journey. I know that the writers plan on delving into it. It’s going to take a little bit of time because that is a huge thing and so I think we’ll work it out by the end of the season, but taking time to get there.

Do you think that Beckett and Castle will ever get together or should get together?
Stana Katic: They’re definitely made for each other, definitely a fabulous pair and they solve crimes together so well. They’re both obsessed with it. I think like any really, really good meal you’re going to take your time enjoying it and I think the two of them have a lot to learn about each other still. There’s the question from Beckett’s perspective of what happened to Castle’s last two relationships, why did they fall apart and why would she just jump into something. I think they haven’t totally opened up with each other about their feelings for one another. Although, we do kind of flirt with the issue throughout this last episode that I’m doing right now which is really fun. We’re going to take our time getting there as well. There’s so much to learn about each other and I think since it is that kind of relationship that it makes sense and so why not enjoy the characters, enjoy what it is that makes them tick and then slowly bring them to that final point.

Is there something you wish would happen to your character, an event or a storyline so that you could play something specific?
Stana Katic: The writers are really fabulous and finding a lot of opportunities. There was a line last season that said, ‘So many layers to the Beckett onion. However will you peel them all?’ Beckett says that to Castle and he’s basically poking at her, trying to get more information about her life and she’s kind of like, ‘No way, buddy.’ I think this season especially the writers have a lot of fun, kind of peeling other layers of Beckett. We discover that she studied in Russia for a bit. You get to see another sassier, sexier side of Beckett which is really exciting to play. I think that a lot of those wishes are getting fulfilled because I think the reality of every working woman is that she has to be one kind of person at work. She has to be the consummate professional, but every working woman is I think a fun loving girl when she goes home. So it’s really exciting to be able to play that side of Beckett. I’d really love to see more of her home life. I’m sure that we’ll delve into the relationship with her father, which I’d be really excited to play because that’s her only parent now and the two of them share that history together and I think that’d be really beautiful. Also, then to get to know who she is outside of work, what she does when she decides to play. We’ve given some to it and I’m looking forward to the other stuff that we’ll be able to work with as we move along in the season.

Since season one, have you found it easier to get into character, and generally how is the set working differently from the first season?
Stana Katic: What’s amazing is that a huge majority of our crew came back to season two which is almost unheard of because so much of our crew are actually film people. So that was really neat, being able to step back onto a set and know everybody’s name and just fall back into it. Literally, in that first week, within that first couple of hours we all looked at each other like, ‘Wow, it doesn’t even feel like we had a hiatus because we just stepped back into the groove.’ Everyone knows each other and everyone understands each other’s rhythms as we move forward. So it’s been really easy to move back into it with everybody. A majority of the people are people from last season. As far as my character is concerned we did a lot of the groundwork last season and so now we’re having some time to play and discover the other things that make her tick which is really exciting. I think the first season they had a mandate to make her a detective and to communicate that and now we get to see that sassy, saucy side even more. I think that’s what the audiences really enjoy, that Tracy/Hepburn kind of repartee. I’m loving playing that and Nathan is just a really great teammate, bouncing that kind of dialogue off of. We’re getting to do a lot more of that and I think we did a fun job of it in the first season which is why we got a second season.

So this season we’re taking advantage of it even more. Apart from your character on the show, who’s your favorite?
Stana Katic: Of course Martha, right? She’s just so fabulous and so theatrical. It’s really great. I think she’s that extra jewel on the show. She just flowers it and makes it super colorful. I really enjoy her. I met a lot of people in New York who really got her, really enjoyed her because she is that kind of Broadway Babe, that Broadway game. I really enjoy her and she’s got great, great comedy, and especially this year I think they’ve really done her justice. It’ll be fun to see her again this year.

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Debi Mazar to join ABC’s Castle

Source: www.bscreview.com
September 2nd, 2009

Debi Mazar will be joining Nathan Fillion during the second season of ABC’s Castle. It will be a recurring role where I believe she will be playing a book agent of Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion). Seems her role will also start sometime in the October episodes. I really like Debi Mazar and any show she comes to seem to benefit. The problem I have with all the work Debi has gotten is that it means I do not get to see her as Shauna of Entourage on HBO. Castle returns to ABC with it’s season premiere on September 21st.

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Nathan Fillion on Castle

Source: www.canmag.com
8/28/09

Castle gives Nathan Fillion his first second season since Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. He actually had a season four on Desperate Housewives but that was his first on the show. Castle will pick up right where season one left off mystery novelist Richard Castle.

“He’s obviously crossed the line with Kate Beckett,” Fillion said. “That’s Castle’s flaw is he doesn’t know when to stop. He doesn’t know when to shut up, he doesn’t know when to quit. It makes him tenacious and great and it also makes him insensitive and selfish and self-absorbed. You get into the area of people doing the right things for the wrong reasons. So we’ve got 13 episodes to look forward to so obviously there has to be some kind of a resolution there. We take care of that. I think it’s really interesting how they go about it. It’s a delicate thing.”

After the last batch of episodes, Fillion knows how to play the pseudo-romantic banter with costar Stana Katic. “It’s easy because it’s already there in the scripts but what I find interesting is coming to a collaboration, a rhythm of collaboration. How do you make this work? We know that this is the tone. How do we make it work? What if this meant this? What if this was actually about this other thing? Oh, you’re right. Then everything comes into play. It’s nice. Finding that rhythm is a process. It’s nice getting started in the second season when that process is already behind you and you can develop it and enhance it.”

It’s also nice to have another trademark character that Nathan Fillion can call his own. “I like going to work and being able to enjoy kind of a life that I don’t have in my own personal life. So with Captain Malcolm Reynolds, it’s riding horses, flying spaceships and shooting guns and living dangerously. With Castle, it’s more of a kind of ne’er do well, devil may care, wears his joy on his sleeve super smart alec, no fear. He’s got no fear. No fear of danger, no fear of life. I think the only thing that really scares him is when things hit close to home.”

Expect to get a few more hints at Castle’s serious side this year. “When things start to matter to Castle, and I think it confuses him when his daughter is concerned. That’s when he gets his bristles up and that’s when things stop being funny is when his daughter is involved.”

Castle returns this fall on ABC.

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3/7/09
A show such as "Castle" (9 p.m. Monday, WLS-Ch. 7; two and a half stars) was inevitable, I suppose.
Ever since “CSI” became a monster hit, we’ve seen almost every possible variation on the police procedural. (Note to self: Register “Ballerina Detective” concept with the Writers Guild before someone else uses it.)

It makes sense that the networks would eventually attempt to merge, as several successful ’70s and ’80s shows did, the murder-mystery format with elements of romantic comedy. If a couple has to meet cute and exchange banter, why not do it over a dead body? The formula that “Moonlighting” employed has certainly worked for Fox’s unambitious but quietly successful “Bones.”

Nathan Fillion (“Desperate Housewives,” “Firefly”) is by far the best thing about “Castle,” ABC’s latest attempt to launch a procedural franchise. As mystery novelist Richard Castle, he brings frisky energy to the show, which almost makes up for the lack of chemistry between him and his co-star, Stana Katic, who plays detective Kate Beckett.

Little about “Castle’s” lead characters will surprise you. Castle is a charming rogue who knows everyone who’s anyone in New York City. Beckett, the cop that he trails for research purposes, is a no-nonsense type who has to constantly remind Castle of the police department’s procedures and protocols. She apparently harbors secret pain about events in her past, but Castle instantly perceives that pain.

As I watched the first two competent but mostly unexceptional hours of “Castle,” I wondered, once again, why so many female characters on network TV these days are relatively humorless, at least when compared with the men they’re paired with, who get to be subversive and funny.
As I noted in my October review of CBS’ “Eleventh Hour,” these days on TV, there are quite a few women who are “there to say no or to otherwise rein in the male character, who gets to be quirky and interesting.” Hasn’t the fact that “The Closer” is a massive hit convinced anyone that complicated female leads can anchor successful shows?

Perhaps over time, “Castle’s” Beckett will get more interesting, but as it stands now, she’s not that compelling, and the detectives on her team seem particularly interchangeable. All the quirk in “Castle” is reserved for Fillion’s character, who engages in arch banter with his responsible teen daughter and his “Auntie Mame”-type mother, both of whom live in his fancy apartment with him.

Given that the love-hate scenario between Beckett and Castle is fairly predictable, “Castle’s” success may ride on the quality of its murder mysteries, and it’s encouraging that the show’s second episode is better than the first, in no small measure due to a great performance from guest actor Sarah Drew (“Everwood,” “Mad Men”).

“Castle” may be playing it safe for now, but you never know—if its characters are given more texture and if a genuine spark develops between the leads, this dramedy may end up being an enjoyable bit of escapist piffle.

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