ABC’s ‘Castle’ season 7: Boss on Nathan Fillion – Stana Katic deals, the future

Is there reason to be concerned that this is the final season of “Castle“? We understand the worry. Contracts are expiring for both Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic this year, and given that both performers are more than capable of doing other things, it would be hard to blame either one of them for deciding that it is time to move on.

With that being said, obviously we want to see them both stay a while. Luckily, so does the network in ABC. Speaking at TCA this morning, network programming head Paul Lee made it clear (per TVLine) that they are hoping to figure out a way to keep them both around for “many years to come,” and came close to even saying that the show is for sure coming back.

We do agree with him that “Castle” will almost certainly have at least an eighth season. The ratings are still pretty good given the timeslot, and the lower numbers Monday can be blamed on college football. It’s also a syndication warrior, and it has some other properties including all of the mystery novels that add more money to the bank. Just negotiate good contracts for Fillion and Katic to be paid what they deserve, and then move forward. Neither has expressed an interest in leaving, at least not as of this time.

The thing to remember here is that cast negotiations take time. We would not be shocked if season 8 is officially ordered before either one of them is locked in. There are a few exceptions here and there where a deal falls through (Cote de Pablo and “NCIS” is one example), but the majority of the time, a renewal is a big vote of confidence that something will get done.

For now, just look forward to the rest of “Castle” this season, including the new episode airing on Monday night! You can preview that further here, or be sure to sign up to gather up some more TV scoop on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)