renewals

ABC Picks Up Castle for Third Season

Nathan Fillion and the rest of the Castle cast should probably be sending Kate Gosselin, Pamela Anderson, and company flowers tonight, as — after pulling series-high ratings last night in its cushy post–Dancing With the Stars time slot — Castle has been renewed for a third season. The detective drama has seen increasing ratings in the 10 p.m. hour, a feat increasingly rare on the broadcast networks, and ABC Entertainment chief Steve McPherson seems to think the show represents something symbolic for the network.

“This show hits a number of boxes in terms of wins,” McPherson said. “We were patient with it, and believed it was a great close-ended procedural with great characters, and perfect for our brand.”


His excitement does appear to be somewhat founded: Believe it or not, last night’s episode gave the network its best ratings (14.5 million total viewers) for a regular scripted series at 10 p.m. since 1996.

’Castle’ fortifies ABC’s schedule [Variety]

ABC Picks Up Castle for Third Season