Why ‘Castle’ season 9 isn’t happening (and why tonight marks series finale)
We know that there have been countless headlines both around the internet and also here at CarterMatt regarding the future of “Castle,” though at the same time we realize that it would be a mistake to just assume outright that every single person reading around the internet tonight is well aware of all of the headlines. After all, the vast majority of this show’s viewership watching the show casually, and checks out headlines on the show here and there.
So for those of you who are just finding out that tonight is the series finale, hopefully we can provide some further context into what happened here.
1. The ratings for the show dropped – You can cite either viewer fatigue or some controversial twists (Rick’s disappearance, the separation); no matter the reason, the ratings were down big in season 8. Were the show averaging around a 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic, you better believe it’d be coming back.
2. Stana Katic’s imminent departure – One way or another, the show had to cut costs if it was to come back for a season 9; the longer a show goes, the more money the stars tend to command. We cannot speak specifically to Katic or Nathan Fillion here, but the decision to dismiss Katic and Tamala Jones was supposedly a financial one. Could you have cut other cast members instead? Maybe, but we’re not privy to those meetings and we don’t know what went on.
3. The backlash – Fans were not happy about the idea to dismiss Katic and Jones, and understandably so. While the low ratings were already a reason to cancel it, it may have become clear to ABC that they were better off cutting their losses than moving forward with a polarizing season 9. They’re a network, and they have to make ruthless decisions sometimes that cause cast and crew members to look elsewhere for other work. Plus, in this case executives new that there was an ending for tonight’s episode filmed that would work as a series finale.
So that’s how we got to the show ending tonight. Ideally, it would’ve been great to see another year featuring the entire original cast, but unfortunately, it’s clear that this wasn’t going to happen even before ABC’s final call.
savinghorses2
May 17, 2016 @ 12:50 am
They should have let it go forward like a Hart to Hart series where they got on with a beautiful relationship and longterm solved crimes and together shared adventures. The separate character episodes destroyed the viewer connections. People are looking for a tv relationship that lasts. Thats what will sell and improve ratings. I watched for their stolen moments of love. The other cast members were just as awesome! Cudos to them all for superb work. I think the ratings were offed by the writers.
Leo
May 16, 2016 @ 9:10 pm
6.23 and season 7 killed the series . The rating numbers for 8.01 did not fluxuate much throughout .the entire season. Winter/Hawley had in fact little effect on the ratings. Half of the fans had already abandoned the series before their stewardship. That fact was driven home with the 2 or 3 excellent episodes that didn’t budge the rating meter. The biggest drop occurred from 7.01 to 8.01, the numbers don’t lie. It became apparent to ABC financially Castle was done. If you find it necessary to place fault, try the 6.78 million viewers who left and never returned. Paul Lee had this information when he gave SK that contract that exceeded the financial limits ABC had set in place leading to the now infamous firings .
georgee
May 17, 2016 @ 1:33 am
Strike three for Hawley. Again maybe if they did not talk about the separation Rick and Kate all last summer they would have better number. With the big Bold move they changed the heart and core of the show. Season 7 ended with 1.59 average for the 18-49 group and 8.5 million total viewer, would of love those numbers this season. Should have changed plans after episode 2 they did not. That is a fact, why? Than after the 77 days off all they could talk about was a spin off, why not try to fix what they had. But at this point what does it matter. As for 6.23 it was a mistake, but by 6 episodes of 7, problem was fixed. Now in season 8, 20 episodes after the mistake of episode 2 they finally to fix it by, no more Castle.
Leo
May 17, 2016 @ 3:52 am
Where on earth do you get your information? Go to the rating tables on spoiler tv, they have the weekly numbers for the entire season and the previous season if you search.Season 7 was a constant loss of viewers and demos, You are so far from the facts it sounds like you’re picking numbers out of thin air.Many here try to keep to the facts.
georgee
May 16, 2016 @ 8:29 pm
Just maybe if our show runners were not so bent on the BS separation of Rick and Kate from the beginning of season 8 the ratings would not have gone side ways and down. We had no loose ends to be answered, by the end of season 7 they were all answered. The show had so many different roads to travel, they just picked the wrong one. No one wins, all the people who lost there jobs, ABC Brand name and the biggest one is the millions of Castle fans worldwide.