Nathan Fillion

It makes sense for Nathan Fillion to play a writer on ABC's Castle (Mondays, 10 pm/ET&PT). The son of retired English teachers, he's co-founded a charity, Kids Need to Read, to provide books for underfunded libraries. And while he's unpretentious about his own reading habits — he lists Robert Parker's Spenser novels among recent favorites — he revels in mystery novelist Rick Castle's occasional arrogance on the show. Best known for playing Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the TV show Firefly and the movie Serenity, and for his role as Joey Buchanan in One Life to Live, Fillion got his start performing improvisational comedy in his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta. Castle, which pairs him with alluring detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), lets him handle drama and comedy alike. But as he explained to us, he plays them both the same.

Full disclosure: We love Nathan Fillion. We're dying for him to get a vehicle that allows his talent, charm and wit to shine.

Fillion first caught our attention on the short-lived but much-loved Firefly, where he played the dashing and loyal Captain Mal. And even though we loved seeing him on Wisteria Lane as Dr. Mayfair, we were much more excited to hear that he'd have his own show on ABC, called Castle. The previews were cute, kinda like Bones and Moonlighting squished together, and we could tell the show would have a procedural structure but a light and comedic tone. Could this finally be the Fillion vehicle we were hoping for?

Well, we watched the show, and like most pilots, it had some flaws. But, the jury's still out on Castle. So, we turn to you, mighty fans. What did you think of the premise, Fillion and costar Stana Katic's chemistry, and the poker party featuring other famous murder-mystery writers? Do you think Castle has what it takes to stick around past midseason? We're just dying to know.

Weigh in after the jump!

Nathan Fillion has won fans over alternately as Buffy's Caleb, Firefly's dashing Capt. Mal and a hunky Wisteria Lane doctor. Starting Monday, March 9 (at 10 pm/ET), Fillion will appear as Nick Castle, a wise-cracking mystery writer in need of inspiration in ABC's comedic crime drama, Castle.

Fillion and his smoldering costar, Stana Katic, spoke with TVGuide.com just ahead of the show's arrival to dish on their on-screen battle of the wits, what fans will see from Fillion that they haven't seen before, and why they were each drawn to the show.

Plus, will Fillion be teaming up with Joss Whedon again? When the cameras weren't rolling, the actor said he'd sign up for anything the Buffy creator (and current Dollhouse producer) asked him to join.

ABC has cut orders on two midseason drama series, The Castle and The Unusuals.

Castle, which centers around a horror novelist who helps solve crimes with NYPD, has now gone from a 13 episode order to 10. The show stars Desperate Housewives' Nathan Fillion.

Meanwhile, ABC's partner studio Sony has asked for the same cutbacks for The Unusuals, which is an NYPD ensemble dramedy starring Joan of Arcadia's Amber Tamblyn, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The bad news keeps on coming for the Alphabet network: The episode reductions came... read more 19 Comments