Nathan Fillion’s 'The Rookie’ Predecessor Makes a Major Return on Digital

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Makuochi Echebiri is a News Writer for Collider. He has been interested in creative writing from as far back as high school, and he would consume pretty much anything that’s film or TV. However, his truest love lies in the presence of historical epics and thrillers.

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Obsessed with storytelling and having works of his own that have yet to make it to print, he is content to use that ability to communicate to as many as are reachable. In his spare time, he looks out for avenues where he can aid people aside from his plans to reign over this earthly realm. Yes…you heard that first here.

Nathan Fillion is a man of many talents, that much is certain. From playing in the war movie everyone should see at once, in Saving Private Ryan, to featuring in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Beyond the big screen, the actor and ABC have an exciting partnership that has seen Fillion's police procedural, The Rookie, return for an eighth season. The series has been one of ABC’s top-performing titles since it first premiered back in 2018 and has since endeared audiences. Its viewership record speaks for itself, with audiences tuning in week after week to follow the life and career of Fillion’s John Nolan. However, before The Rookie, the actor starred in another ABC cop drama, Castle, which premiered in 2009 and featured Stana Katicalongside Fillion. Nearly two decades after its debut, the remarkable ABC procedural has returned to the digital charts with a surge in PVOD viewership.

According to FlixPatrol, it was among the most-watched series on the domestic Apple TV charts when the leaderboard was topped by Landman. A strong central partnership is the secret ingredient of great crime procedurals, and it's fair to say that Castle fit the bill and took it even further. It can be argued that the series challenged the parameters of the genre while bringing an inventive mixture of comedy and drama to the fore. Unlike The Rookie, Castle did not follow conventional law enforcement pathways. Fillion's Rick Castle isn’t a traditional law enforcement officer as he embodies an author who finds himself solving crimes alongside the New York City Police Department.

What Is ABC's 'Castle' About?

So, how did Rick Castle end up in the NYPD? The premise of Castle portrays Rick as a famous author who decides to kill off the main character in his novels (step forward, George R.R. Martin). So his brilliant idea as a crime author in need of inspiration is to get some real experience that will inform his upcoming projects by joining the New York City Police Department, where he helps to solve many high-priority crime cases. Besides his crime-fighting work, Castle is paired with and ultimately falls for the veteran homicide detective Kate Beckett (Katic), and the Beckett and Castle romance would become a main feature of the crime procedural series. Castle also featured a vast supporting cast of characters that made the mysteries being solved more interesting.

While we reminisce about an older series, Fillion's The Rookie is getting into its groove with its eighth season. While that continues to ramp up with new villains coming on board, the franchise is set for an expansion with Insecure star, Jay Ellis, leading the cast for its upcoming spin-off, The Rookie: North. The series is also set to star This Is Us alum Chris Sullivan.

Stay tuned to Collider for more streaming updates.