Castle is an American comedy-drama police procedural television series on ABC which was created by Andrew W. Marlowe. It stars Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle, a famous mystery novelist, and Stana Katic as NYPD detective Kate Beckett. The series premiered as a midseason replacement on March 9, 2009. On May 12, 2016, it was announced that, despite several cast members signing one-year deals for a potential ninth season, the show would be canceled instead. During the course of the series, 173 episodes of Castle aired over eight seasons, between March 9, 2009, and May 16, 2016.