Aired: 2009-2016 ABC 
DAD: Rick Castle (Nathan Fillion) / Divorced Guy
DAD’S JOB: Mystery Writer
KIDS: Alexis Castle (Molly C. Quinn) / 14-ish
WHERE’S MOM?: Meredith – divorced
STAND-IN “MOM”: Martha Rodgers (Susan Sullivan) / Grandmother
Yep, here’s someone I won’t get to interview
Nathan Fillion gets to be a combination Joan Wilder / Ellery Queen’s dad-type detective writer who is prone to adventures. Unlike Jessica Fletcher, though, he’s probably capable of climbing fire escapes and dodging bullets. The 14-year-old daughter is probably in the script to act as a hostage every third episode.
And the PR Department said (and please understand the names for the characters were different in the pilot):Cross a mystery novelist with a rock star and you would get Nick Castle. He’s got Jagger’s swagger and James Bond’s way with the ladies. Although the handsome writer seems to have everything – fame, fans, and females – he’s grown weary of it all. In fact, he’s just killed off the legendary character who’s sold millions of books for him. But when a real-world copycat murderer starts staging murder scenes from Nick’s novels and NYPD Detective Beckett asks him for help, Nick feels the old blood pumping in his veins again. Is it the thrill of the chase – or the fact that Beckett is a strikingly beautiful woman? When Nick’s freewheeler detective style clashes with Beckett’s conservative approach, the sparks certainly fly – leading to both danger and a hint of romance. Keeping him grounded are his washed-up Broadway diva mother and his quick-witted teenage daughter; his poker playing buddies James Patterson, Sue Grafton, and Stephen King; and his long-suffering ex-wife Gina, who also happens to be his editor. From producer Armyan Bernstein (Spy Game, The Guardian, Children of Men) comes a comedic crime procedural centered around smooth yet self-effacing literary phenomenon Nick Castle. If it was a book, you wouldn’t be able to put it down.