Nathan Fillion Returns To ABC With ‘The Rookie’ One Year After ‘Castle’

Nathan Fillion will soon return to ABC with the network’s new cop dramedy, “The Rookie.”

One year after the cancellation of “Castle,” Fillion will headline the new series, and he will also serve as executive producer. ABC gave “The Rookie” a straight to series order, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Fillion will give life to the character of John Nolan, a rookie cop at the LAPD. He also happens to be 20 years older than the other rookie cops at the department. “Castle” co-showrunner Alexi Hawley will also produce the project together with the Mark Gordon Company.

The publication is predicting that “The Rookie” will also be a huge hit among viewers. After all, Hawley helped boost the ratings of “Castle” as a writer since 2009. Mark Gordon Company, on the other hand, brought “Designated Survivor” to ABC, and the series is now on its second season.

“Castle” was also known as one of the most popular procedural dramas on ABC when it premiered several years ago. Unfortunately, the series was canceled a few days after Stana Katic announced that she will no longer be reprising her role as Detective Kate Beckett. At that time, it was also announced that Tamala Jones, who played the role of medical examiner Lanie Parish, won’t also return.

ABC entertainment president Channing Dungey explained their decision to not renew “Castle” for another season despite axing the two female cast members.

“That’s a case where you have things running on sort of two parallel tracks. We were always very upfront with the studio and the producers about the possibility that we might not be bringing the show back for Season 9,” she said while at the Television Critics Association summer press tour (via Entertainment Weekly).

“So they did what they felt they needed to do in order to be ready if they did get a nod. Ultimately, for us at the network, we did not feel that it was the right thing to do to get another season,” she concluded.