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Castle: ABC Series Gets Full Season Order; Out of Cancellation Danger?

Published:October 21, 2009

Castle TV showABC gave sophomore series Castle an order for nine additional episodes yesterday, bringing the season order to 22 installments. With decent ratings, can fans of the show relax? Is it safe from cancellation?

Castle revolves around an egotistical novelist (Nathan Fillion) who teams up with a police detective (Stana Katic) to solve crimes in the Big Apple. The drama also features Susan Sullivan, Molly Quinn, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Tamala Jones, Jon Huertas and Seamus Dever.

Last season, Castle averaged 10.32 million viewers and a 3.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic. This season, Castle has been averaging a bit more than 10 million viewers and is down to a 2.5 rating. The numbers have bumped up a bit in the past couple of weeks and it’s been suggested that that news was encouraging enough for ABC to give it a full season order.

Still, the news isn’t all positive. Aside from the large year-to-year dip in the all-important demo, Castle consistently loses a significant amount of viewers from its lead-in, Dancing with the Stars. This week’s installment lost almost 45%. ABC is surely not pleased with these losses.

On top of that, Castle is expected to have its biggest challenge in the next several weeks. Throughout its first season and thus far into its second, Castle has always been blessed with the hugely popular Dancing to help attract viewers. That’s going to change in November. When Dancing goes on hiatus, Castle’s not going to have that big lead-in any longer and will have to stand on its own.

If you remember back to the 2008-09 season, Samantha Who? always did quite well with a Dancing lead-in. When it was left to fend for itself last season, the ratings fell apart and it was cancelled.

Dancing with the Stars is set to end its season in November. Will Castle be able to survive or will ABC decide it can do better? What do you think?

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{ 86 comments… read them below or add one }

KAY October 21, 2009 at 8:33 pm

My friends and I all love Castle! The chemistry between Castle and Becket is great!!!

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Cel October 22, 2009 at 8:16 am

If ABC cancels Castle they are making a serious mistake, it’s an incredibly original show that;s funny and upbeat. I think it deserves 3 seasons, anymore than that could be overkill.

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Iene October 22, 2009 at 8:39 am

I love the show, it’s everything in one show

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Tammy October 22, 2009 at 9:14 am

I’m not a fan of “Dancing”, but tune back to ABC for Castle. The writing’s clever & witty, plots intriguing, sexual tension between Castle & Becket right on. I hope we hear more about Kate’s backstory. I like the way he’s growing sensitive to it, so that life’s not all about him. Interesting arc. And besides, Castle’s dimples are easy to look at!

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maureen October 22, 2009 at 11:02 am

Castle is Moonlighting updated. Great sexual tension between Castle and Becket with great writing. Their chemistry makes the show. And the daughter’s relationship with Castle is fantastic, she is the only adult in that family. All the women I talk to love to watch, so ABC get your act together and do some real market research on who is watching this show and WHY. You will be surprised.

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Val October 22, 2009 at 11:49 am

Castle is a great show. If the network tried promoting it like they do dancing with the stars, it would have a chance. Unfortunately if ABC is still in 2008 mode then the show will likely be cancelled. Not because it is a bad show but because the Execs at ABC do not know what they are doing.

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SES la vie October 23, 2009 at 5:40 pm

I don’t watch “Dancing with the Stars”, but do tune in to ABC to watch (and DVR) “Castle” every time it’s on. I *love* this show. I started watching it because Nathan Fillion was in it and I love him from his work with Joss Whedon on Buffy, Firefly and Dr. Horrible. The show has exceeded my expectations. Every show has a murder to be solved, but the show itself is really more about the relationships of the main characters. It’s really witty and funny. The show never fails to make me smile and always keeps me wanting more and looking forward to the next episode. It’s also kind of cool that they expand the show beyond the actual episodes themselves via twitter (@WriteRCastle) and actually publishing a book called “Heat Wave” by Richard Castle. It adds to the whole fan experience!

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Davidgalvan October 23, 2009 at 9:29 pm

Castle is a GREAT show! i hate dwts. dont watch it, i just tune in for castle. its a great show!!!! Its by far one of the best shows ABC has. i think the show is better off at a 9pm slot. abc should really try that out, take out shark tank and put in castle!

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Rumours October 24, 2009 at 8:31 am

Latest In TV Gossip:
Eva Mendes pitching sitcom to ABC?
Kate Gosselin arrested?
Mandy Pantikin returning to Criminal Minds?
Hank Cancelled?
The Simpsons to end in 2013?
New Star Trek series in the works?
Bob Saget’s Surviving Suburbia picked up by TBS?

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webdiva October 25, 2009 at 9:22 pm

Castle is one of those rare shows that has smart, witty dialogue and plotlines that strike a nice balance between an intelligent whodunit/police procedural and sly, dry semi-romantic comedy. It’s a fun romp and a delightful opportunity to see Fillion and Katic stretch their acting muscles in this direction. Charming Fillion (who knew from Firefly that the dour former space captain could be so debonair??) and the lovely Katic (who knew she could nab ‘em and book ‘em with the best?!) have unmistakable , infectious chemistry. They’re a treat to watch, as is Susan Sullivan in a shrewd diva turn as Castle’s suitably dramatic mom. All in all, great fun — hope it stays on for several seasons!

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webdiva October 25, 2009 at 9:27 pm

ps — never bothering with DWTS, on Monday nights I turn from House to DVR-recorded Heroes (there’s nothing else I want to watch from 8-9 Central time) to Castle at 9pm. That’s switching around among three different networks. I wonder how many viewers come directly to Castle (as I do) **without** watching DWTS or anything previous on ABC that night — ? ABC should look into that: we’re not all ballroom fans.

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bec1973 October 26, 2009 at 1:01 pm

Love Castle, can’t stand DWTS. It’s definitely a character relationship show. The mystery plots aren’t that suspensful, but if that’s all you’re looking for watch CSI or Criminal Minds. It’s my favorite guilty pleasure show; Castle & Beckett have great chemistry.

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Kate October 27, 2009 at 10:42 am

Dancing With the Stars is like a wedding reception and panders to voyeurs. FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance is a much better reality show, IMHO, because their dancers actually have talent and inspire others.

Castle is a bright, interesting, well-written show, which means it will probably be cancelled. It has drama, wit, humor, quality camera work and editing, excellent directing, great sets/locations, and an excellent cast, so it’s not long for this world, if ABC execs are true to form. It would be nice to see the television industry return to producing more intelligent entertainment like this that makes people think and use their imagination. Keeping Castle on the air for another few seasons would be a step in that direction.

Oh well, anything for a buck, even selling out integrity and creativity, so Castle will probably only see two seasons. Guess I’ll invest in more books and go it unplugged again if I can’t get good stories on TV anymore.

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Melissa November 5, 2009 at 9:54 pm

I agree with Kate. I would so much rather watch a show with a story line, or, at the very least, TALENT, than stupid B-list celebs making fools of themselves. Remember “Murder, She Wrote”? That was on for like 12 seasons. With the SAME actors, even! Why can’t we do that anymore?

Keep Castle. And keep Eastwick too, while you’re at it. Both are funny and cute and entertaining. Best of all, they’re not depressing, like Grey’s always is. Otherwise, my TV is going off, and, like Kate, you can find me at the library.

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Bev November 7, 2009 at 11:20 am

Both Castle and Eastwick are entertaining shows with excellent writing and acting. They are fun and also the only two shows on ABC that we watch. Without these two shows, we can just delete ABC from our favorite channels line-up.

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