Castle: Behind-The-Scenes Facts Only True Fans Know

The decade of television that occurred between 2008 and 2018 was a particularly strong era for network dramas. Shows like "Nip/Tuck," "Fringe," various incarnations of "CSI" and "NCIS," "House," and "24" dominated primetime on weekdays, but the abundance of material was never overbearing. Each installment brought its own unique flair to the table, and it was no different with ABC's hit procedural drama-comedy show "Castle," which starred Nathan Fillion in the titular role of Richard Castle, a novelist and private eye.

"Castle" also featured a stellar ensemble supporting cast rounded out by Stana Katic, Jon Huertas, Susan Sullivan, Seamus Dever, and countless other terrific actors. During its run, the show secured numerous Emmy nominations, People's Choice Awards, and Teen Choice Award nominations for categories such as acting, music, hair, and makeup.

The legacy of "Castle" endures as new generations discover the show on streaming services. Though the series' end in 2016 featured some unprofessional production calls and removals of beloved characters, "Castle" remained thrilling, hilarious, and well-written all the way to the finale. Like any show with a devoted fan base and a memorable cast, "Castle" has plenty of exciting stories from behind the scenes. Here are some of the show's most interesting.

When on-screen together, Fillion and Katic are two romantically involved characters who play the "will-they-won't-they" card to an extreme before they get married in the Season 7 episode "The Time of Our Lives." Off-screen, however, Fillion and Katic could barely stand to act in scenes together. According to an exclusive Us Weekly report, an insider linked to "Castle" revealed that the showrunners made Fillion and Katic attend couples counseling together. Katic's representatives ultimately denied the allegations.

After Season 8 in 2016, Katic was not approached by production about reprising her role as Beckett. Soon after, ABC canceled the show altogether. According to an Entertainment Weekly interview in 2018, Katic explained that she was "still not clear on the thought process behind the way that it went down. It hurt and it was a harsh ending." It's unlikely that the full picture will ever be revealed about what Katic and Fillion's apparent feud entailed, but reports of Katic crying in her trailer and a source reporting to Us Weekly that she and Fillion "despise each other" aren't particularly hopeful.

It is not uncommon for co-stars to also be married. Acting partners such as David Tennant and Georgia Moffett from "Doctor Who," Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer from "True Blood," as well as Alexis Bledel and Vincent Kartheiser from "Mad Men," to name a few, were all betrothed in real life. In "Castle," Seamus Dever, who plays Detective Kevin Ryan, and Juliana Dever, who plays Jenny Ryan, were able to one-up everyone else by being a married couple both on-screen and off. They even have a daughter, Sarah Grace, in the series, who is born after Ryan and Esposito (Jon Huertas) narrowly escape death in the Season 6 episode "Under Fire."

While Beckett and Castle were often entangled in their "will-they-won't-they" arc across all eight seasons, the Ryans provided a long-lasting foundation of consistency throughout the series. "Castle" was not immune to its highs and lows, having a string of critics' scores on Rotten Tomatoes ranging from middling all the way to a perfect score. However, one of the show's most consistent and brightest parts was always Jenny and Kevin's relationship with each other. Their eventual parenthood to Sarah Grace just helped to solidify their bond and make them an even more important pillar of the show.

While Tamala Jones heard rumblings of her character's potential axing before Season 8 even finished, the news of it broke over social media before the actress received official confirmation. That situation became a trend, as the rest of the cast had not been informed by production that their co-stars would not be returning for Season 9 if it were to happen.

Jon Huertas, who played Esposito, had signed on to return in Season 9 but did not learn of the departures of Jones, Katic, and Johnson Jerald until it made waves on social media. The actor even confirmed it himself. "What else is sad???!!!! That I have to find this out online!!! This is my family! Why couldn't someone have told me #InADifferentWay?!" he wrote on Twitter. Despite Huertas' clear frustrations, it's unclear whether or not the production's handling of cast firings played any role in the show's quick demise. It appears, though, that a rift between the showrunners, network, and cast could have been imminent had they proceeded with Season 9.

Whenever network television employs similarly structured productions across different channels, comparisons between protagonists are inevitable, "Castle" found itself with a cast romance drawing similarities to another procedural drama. On Fox, the show "Bones" featured a protagonist couple, Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz), reminiscent of Castle and Beckett, due to them being crime-solving co-workers with a budding love.

What "Bones" did that "Castle" failed to do was give their protagonists' romance space to grow after marriage. The build-up was worth it on the former, as Brennan and Booth would marry in season nine and have three more seasons to capitalize on their togetherness and become even more layered as characters than they already were. In "Castle," however, Castle and Beckett's marriage was on the rocks by the series' end. 

This dissolution was likely in part due to Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic's ongoing strife behind the scenes. Beyond that, though, a show built on the back of its two main characters and their shared romance is unlikely to survive once those ties are severed in some way.

Stephen King's imprint can be found all across Hollywood, in both film and television. His books and stories continue to be adapted for the silver screen, and the horror author's mark is visible across "Castle" as well. Though it's unconfirmed if it was intentional or not, King and Richard Castle both have surnames named after chess pieces. Richard Castle is also a pen name for Tom Shaw, who wrote the real-life adaptations of Castle's on-air novels. Coincidentally, King wrote under a pen name, Richard Bachman, on-and-off between 1977 and 2007.

The most explicit reference to King comes in the Season 8 episode "The Blame Game." Castle is abducted when he is lured to a fake meeting with the horror author. In that episode, Castle has to open a cryptic, which reads "Salvation lies within" on it. That quote is a line from "The Shawshank Redemption," Frank Darabont's adaptation of King's novella "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption."

Dramas like "Grey's Anatomy" have ushered in a revolving door of ensemble casts over the years. As the shows continue production and their season counts rise, actors come and go. In "Castle," however, the show maintained a strong, consistent roster of actors and actresses throughout its eight-season run. Major characters rarely left and supporting roles earned the space to add depth to their arcs.

Still, only three actors were featured in all 173 episodes of "Castle" from 2009 to 2016. Of course, as the title character,  Fillion's inclusion on that list comes as no surprise. However, supporting actors Jon Huertas, who plays Esposito, and Seamus Dever, who plays Detective Ryan, also appear in every episode. Though Stana Katic, Susan Sullivan, Molly C. Quinn, and Tamala Jones are all credited on 173 episodes, the actresses did not actually appear in every entry. Across its eight years, despite the narrative's ups and downs and the show's shifting critic scores, "Castle" always kept its key players in the game.