Castle (ABC series)

Castle is an American crime-comedy-drama television series, which aired on ABC: American Broadcasting Company (GoAnimate in Real Life) for a total of eight seasons from March 9, 2009 to May 16, 2016. The series is produced jointly by Beacon Pictures and ABC Studios.

Created by Andrew W. Marlowe, it primarily traces the lives of Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), a best-selling mystery novelist, and Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), an NYPD homicide detective, as they solve various unusual crimes in New York City. Detective Beckett is initially infuriated at the thought of working with a writer and goes to great lengths to keep him out of her way. However, the two soon start developing feelings for each other. The overarching plot of the series focused on the romance between the two lead characters and their ongoing investigation of the murder of Beckett's mother.

On May 12, 2016, it was announced that despite some cast members signing one-year contracts for a potential ninth season, the show was canceled.

Length: 60 minutes

Production Companies: Beacon Pictures, The Barry Schnidel Company (2009), Experimental Pictures (2009-2013), Milmar Pictures (2013-2016) & ABC Studios

Distributor: Disney-ABC Domestic Television

Premise
Richard Castle (Fillion) is a famous mystery novelist. Bored and suffering from writer's block, he kills off the main character in his successful book series. He is brought in by the NYPD for questioning regarding a copy-cat murder based on one of his novels. He is intrigued by Kate Beckett (Katic), the detective assigned to the case. Castle decides to use Beckett as his muse for Nikki Heat, the main character of his next book series and uses his friendship with the mayor to force the police to let him shadow Beckett. Castle's exuberant man child personality clashes with Beckett's more reserved and professional demeanor, but the two eventually become friends and then lovers. Their cases often deal with murders occurring within various unusual subcultures or milieus, including reality TV shows, vampire enthusiasts, a science fiction convention, and a man who claims to be a time traveler. A recurring plot line deals with the unsolved murder of Beckett's mother years before, an investigation which leads to an increasingly sprawling, and dangerous, conspiracy.

Cast
•Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle, born Richard Rodgers, a best-selling mystery writer, who shadows and assists the NYPD. Castle is the only son of an actress Martha Rodgers and a man known as Jackson Hunt, and also the father of Alexis Castle. He is the partner of Detective Kate Beckett. Castle's unusual theories sometimes irritate his coworkers, but often help solve the case. Richard has a complicated relationship with Detective Beckett. He lives with his mother and daughter.

•Stana Katic as Katherine "Kate" Beckett, an NYPD homicide detective. Beckett is a daughter of Jim and Johanna Beckett. She was raised in Manhattan. She was inspired to be a detective, because of her mother’s murder. She works with fellow detectives Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan, and medical examiner Lanie Parish, who is her best friend. In the beginning Beckett's relationship with Castle was strained, but after a while Kate and Richard start to understand each other.

•Jon Huertas as Detective Javier "Javi" Esposito, a former Army Special Forces soldier who now works in the homicide division as part of Beckett's team.

•Seamus Dever as Detective Kevin Ryan, a former narcotics detective who works as part of Beckett's team. He is best friends with Detective Esposito.

•Tamala Jones as Dr. Lanie Parish, a medical examiner and a friend of Beckett and on-again-off-again love interest for Esposito.

•Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Captain Roy Montgomery (seasons 1–3), Beckett's boss and captain of the 12th Precinct.

•Molly Quinn as Alexis Castle, Castle's daughter by his first wife, Meredith.

•Susan Sullivan as Martha Rodgers, Castle's mother, an actress on and off Broadway.

•Penny Johnson Jerald as Captain Victoria Gates (seasons 4–7), Captain Montgomery's replacement, formerly with Internal Affairs.

•Toks Olagundoye as Hayley Shipton (season 8), a quick-witted, free-spirited former MPS cop and MI6 operative who now works as a security specialist.

Recurring
•Maya Stojan as Tory Ellis, an NYPD Tech officer who assists on Beckett's cases.

•Arye Gross as Dr. Sidney Perlmutter, a medical examiner who assists on some of Beckett's cases and does little to hide his dislike of Castle.

•Juliana Dever as Jenny Ryan (née O'Malley), Ryan's wife. In the sixth season, she gives birth to their daughter Sara Grace. In the eighth season, she gives birth to their son, Nicholas Javier.

•Michael Trucco as Detective Tom Demming, a handsome robbery detective with whom Beckett briefly becomes involved.

•Monet Mazur as Gina Cowell, Castle's publisher and second wife.

•Victor Webster as Dr. Josh Davidson, Beckett's motorcycle-riding, cardiac-surgeon ex-boyfriend to whom Castle repeatedly refers as "motorcycle boy" and "doctor motorcycle boy".

•Ken Baumann as Ashley, Alexis' steady boyfriend.

•Scott Paulin as Jim Beckett, Kate Beckett's father.

•Jonathan Adams as Vulcan Simmons, a ruthless Manhattan drug lord.

•Bailey Chase as Will Sorenson, an FBI agent and Beckett's ex-boyfriend who wants to reconcile but immediately recognizes Beckett's attraction to Castle.

•Michael Dorn as Dr. Carter Burke, a psychiatrist who helps Beckett overcome her shooting and also deal with her various hidden emotions.

•Geoff Pierson as Mr. Smith, a friend of Captain Montgomery's, who holds evidence that keeps the murderer of Beckett's mother away from her.

•Darby Stanchfield as Meredith, an actress who was Castle's first wife and Alexis's mother. She is regularly portrayed as self-centered and dramatic.

•Michael Mosley as Jerry Tyson/the Triple Killer (3XK), a methodical and meticulous serial killer who returns to New York every few years to terrorize the city. He was believed to be dead, but has supposedly "resurrected" numerous times.

•Jack Coleman as William Bracken, a popular and charismatic senator representing the State of New York with ambitions of one day becoming president.

•Phil LaMarr as Dr. Holloway, a psychiatrist who evaluates the mental stability of suspects.

•Myko Olivier as Pi, Alexis's boyfriend (at the beginning of season six) with whom she shares an apartment for a while.

•Lisa Edelstein as Agent Rachel McCord, Beckett's partner during her brief time working for the Attorney-General's Office.

•Annie Wersching as Dr Kelly Nieman, a respected plastic surgeon with a secret life as Jerry Tyson's partner in crime.

•Matt Letscher as 'Henry Jenkins' (real name unknown), an impostor purportedly with the CIA who is involved with Castle's disappearance.

•Sunkrish Bala as Vikram Singh (season 8), a high-strung tech analyst with the Attorney General's office in Washington, D.C., where Beckett briefly works. He now works as a computer analyst for the NYPD.

•Kristoffer Polaha as Caleb Brown, an idealistic public defender found to have links to the LokSat conspiracy.

Real-life writers Stephen J. Cannell, James Patterson, Dennis Lehane, and Michael Connelly appear as themselves during periodic games of poker at Castle's apartment. Typically, they discuss Castle and Beckett's current case and tease Castle about his involvement with Beckett. Following Cannell's death on September 30, 2010, an empty chair was kept at the poker table for a year in his honor.

Episodes

 * Castle