Shortly after Stana Katic’s Kate Beckett was fired and new contracts were signed for various stars, the sudden decision to cancel Castle came as a surprise to many. As for Nashville, Lionsgate Television had recently signed writers Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick to oversee season five. Now Abc’s Channing Dungey released a statement explaining the decision to axe both shows.
“At the end of the day, we didn’t feel that even though Castle and Nashville were wonderful shows and good performers for a long time, the future for us didn’t lie in those shows,” the Abc Entertainment Group president said.
She further told reporters that both Abc Studios and Lionsgate sought the best creative and financial methods for said shows to work, all while also fitting them among other programs in the schedule without compromises. “Looking at ratings, our own finances and looking at new development, decisions came down to the wire, which is the difficult thing about these jobs as we weigh and measure different things.”
Sources say that Castle’s showrunners Alexi Hawley and Terence Paul Winter prepared two versions in preparation for a series finale, and another produced in the event the series was ultimately kept alive. If renewed, Katic’s Beckett would have likely been dismissed. In such case, sources expected a 13-episode final season under a strict budget (with Katic’s dismissal being a money-saver for the network).
Despite its cancellation, Castle was a strong performer on Monday nights with roughly 10 million viewers. Nashville, starring Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere, enjoyed a 1.9 rating among adults 18-49.
Abc has effectively made room for new shows including Hayley Atwell’s Conviction, as well as Kiefer Sutherland’s Designated Survivor.