What's Castle without Castle?
It's not the same show, obviously, but according to Seamus Dever, it could still work, and we might not be doomed to a Castle-less life after all.
During ABC's winter press tour, network president Paul Lee floated the idea of continuing the long-running procedural without its stars, since both Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion are still in contract negotiations for a ninth season.
"We'd love for Castle to keep going for many years to come," he said, but noted that it could see some major changes if it does continue past season eight. "There are a lot of conversations about how we can do that...there's lots of good ideas in there. So I am feeling optimistic that we have a lot of good ideas."
Hopefully, one of those good ideas includes taking advantage of the bromance between Kevin Ryan (Dever) and Javier Esposito (Jon Huertas), who have been playing backup to Beckett since the show first started.
"I've always thought that Ryan and Esposito would make fantastic spin-off material," Dever tells us in the video above, which we think would make a great 30 second pitch to ABC.
"From the very beginning, Jon Huertas and I have a really good rapport, great dynamic, and we have a lot of fun together," Dever continues. "Solving crimes together, I mean it's pretty simple. I mean, we're one of the only procedurals on ABC, so it's like hey, you need a procedural? Espo and Ryan, they're going to solve crimes just like they do on Castle!"
We actually think this is the best idea. As much as we love Castle and Beckett, we also love seeing them together. Castle without one or the other would not be worth it. A Castle spin-off starring Ryan and Esposito, however, could be the best idea this show has had since all the ideas they had before Castle and Beckett broke up "for his safety" or whatever.
(Can you tell we're still bitter about that separation?)
Anyway, we hope ABC is listening, because Ryan and Esposito is a spin-off we'd totally and completely watch.
Castle returns tonight at 10 p.m. on ABC.