chraume

That's a great point. Especially somewhere around the S6 mark, I believe that Beckett carried a good majority of the eps, so I don't particularly take issue with them earning the same amount for a final year where Katic had (in all likelihood) asked for reduced screentime. Seems to have been pretty fair overall. Agreed! Especially in later seasons, those small moments were what kept me watching among some lackluster cases. Fanfic was kind of made for a show like Castle, where we only get like five minutes of those small moments and fans can leave the ep and come up with a thousand creative ways to expand on those moments.

I'd argue that it's not so much liberties in storytelling as it is a very different format of storytelling -- Castle in particular was constrained by the time that needed to be dedicated to a case vs. the b-story, so a lot of the fanfic is about expanding on different elements of the relationship, and having more rounded conclusions to episode storylines than (for example) "Beckett's apartment blew up once and nobody ever mentioned it or thought about it again." I don't believe it's intended to be an exact nod to the show, with the case of the week and an analysis of all of the characters, just -- as you said -- a journey of the characters, a more in-depth look at what the show can't (in its own constraints) take a look at, or a totally different look of "what if x happened." Or, well, the good stuff is. ;) Definitely different talents, though, you're right; I don't have a talent for writing at all, but I definitely imagine it must be far more challenging to work within the constraints of a TV script, particularly with a procedural where you have to keep things fresh several seasons in, and come up with new cases, AND write only five or so minutes of action that deals with the relationships or personal dealings of the characters, while still trying to keep things moving and keeping everything relevant to the case and moving the longer arcs along. The Castle writers really excelled at that until, in my opinion, somewhere around mid-season five. And that's not even trying to tie in things like actors having time constraints for things like shooting other projects, or wanting time off, and having to deal with only having certain guest stars for x amount of eps, etc. etc.

I caught the Forbes list for the actors last week, but only because I was reading another article on the Forbes website. I didn't see it circulated around Twitter at all -- I wonder why? But I'm really pleased to see that they had equal, or mostly-equal, pay. Good for them; after eight seasons, with the two of them really holding up the show, it was definitely deserved. I'm still shocked that any Castle actors made the cut, but I guess there aren't a ton of shows on network TV at the moment that have passed the requisite seven-season-contract mark.

So much this. I'm still super bitter, not by the fact that it ended or that Katic left or got fired or whatever, but by the fact that an already-declining show (ratings-wise particularly, so less profitable) with a cast that required new, most likely expensive, contracts, wasn't just announced as final season when it was renewed. Or in January, when I assume it would've been clear that she was unlikely to return, at the TCAs. Or at any point before the absolute last minute. I mean, from a financial standpoint I know ABC had kind of a stinker of a year and the decision to renew a declining show vs. taking the risk of a new one did come down to the wire for them. But I appreciate now seeing the scope of how that decision was shaped financially, and I really, really wish that the decision had been made prior to the disaster that was the last four weeks of the show's run. Just for the sake of my own sanity.

I don't personally have any problems with celebrities using smart negotiating to get a good salary boost, although I absolutely agree that it seems ridiculous to me how much money they rake in, and it does rub me the wrong way when they then turn around and complain about their hours. I was definitely shocked by that ranking, though -- I mean, the amount is nothing to turn my nose up at, but seventh for the ratings of the 2014-2015 TV season seems astronomical. Castle's ratings were certainly better than they were this past season, but sneaking in just behind the leads of the TGIF giants that are Grey's and Scandal seems unreal! Katic's team must be phenomenal, and I do relish seeing the fandom crazies try to explain her limited screentime this season now; her team was great for finances but incompetent about the mountains of screentime she actually wanted? The huge pile of money was just to appease her before ABC stole all of her screentime (which she obviously 100% wanted) at Fillion's behest in S8? ABC figured, hey, we have to pay her anyway, so why would we get any bang for our buck -- let's just write her out of eps? So many possibilities for conspiracy storylines here! But seriously, while I do get why the art vs. finance thing is a little old to hear, that's a huge get and I'm incredibly impressed by the team that's behind her. No wonder it was such a task to get the contract finalized. Good for her -- it must make choosing more artistic movies a little easier now, but oh, that we all could work shortened schedules (or any schedules!) for a cool $12 million a year.

For sure. She gets a lot of flak for saying anything at all (see: the absolute meltdown at the implication that NF is kind and inclusive, as though you can't be both a nice person typically and kind of a jerk to people you don't like), but I have a lot of respect for the fact that she doesn't let the fandom steamroll her, even though it doesn't seem to earn her any popularity points.

Oh, it would've been brutal. I actually have a lot of respect for both of them in that specific regard -- although they're both quite active on social media in different ways, neither of them drag their personal lives into the public all that much, and none of the passive-aggressive vague tweeting, either. They, and the network, have done a remarkably good job of keeping it all quiet the past few years. Obviously it was pretty clear to anyone paying attention (I'll also note that, on top of the commentaries, NF also took to just not tweeting during his livetweets whenever Beckett was onscreen, etc. etc.), and they certainly weren't actively hiding it, but I appreciate that everyone involved kind of let fans decide whether or not they wanted to believe the fandom rumours. Which is substantially more difficult to do now, unfortunately.

Oh, agreed. That was my perception, as well. I know that some have interpreted that as actual vs. forced-and-scared-for-your-job friendship, but there does seem to be honest admiration from cast and crew from both sides, which I can only assume wouldn't be the case if one was a terror. I mean, obviously some play favourites -- some of the crew adore Stana, and Molly is obviously all about Nathan -- but that's true of everything, obviously sometimes people just like some people more than others. Well and, tbh, after eight years in the same job? I'd be bored out of my mind, too. It's not like Hollywood has a lot of "upwards" moves for actors -- it's all lateral, into new, and perhaps bigger, roles -- so staying in the same position would rarely have the challenges that keep people engaged in their jobs, I'd guess. No shame if she did want to try something new. I actually had the stupid idea to try to argue with one of her more ardent fans on Twitter earlier this year, who seemed personally offended at the implication that perhaps SK would be looking for new roles/would have asked for time off (which is not to say that I said that either of those had happened, or that I believed them to be true -- just that it was a possible alternative theory to reduced screentime instead of some massive conspiracy), which was as baffling to me then as it is now. I'd absolute want some time off even without BTS stuff to contend with. I love my current job and am still actively on a job search now to try to my hand at a new position with new challenges. That's actually a great question, I hadn't thought of it before. I know that there have been some tabloids over the years stating outright that they had been in a relationship, and while I thought it was BS then and honestly don't have enough information to form an opinion now, it is striking that even the tabloids that had previously speculated about it (like the Daily Mail, which is trash) went mum when given actual fodder for it (the lovers-gone-wrong angle would sell well, wouldn't it?)

I don't actually have any insider info or any knowledge one way or the other, but what struck me about the initial article from Deadline was the fact that it states the two-days-a-week stipulation, and it's the only part of the article that doesn't reference a "source" for the info, or say "allegedly," for what it's worth: "Fillion and Katic only filmed together two days a week this season, which was stipulated in Fillion’s contract amid reports of on-set tension between the two." I interpreted that (and the fact that, well, they weren't in an episode together for more than two days/ep) as more or less confirmation.

Oh, completely agreed. I absolutely would. I was thinking more along the lines of, there's a distinction between "we didn't have any problems," and "I didn't have any problems with him," for some reason in my mind -- like, if there are any problems, it's not on my end (much in the same way that, per that article, she wasn't making him cry, therefore if there are issues it's not on her). But I work with kids and that seems to be the argument I get the most, so that's probably a necessary distinction only for me haha

I just want to note, if it's at all relevant -- her camp didn't deny any issues, they denied that she had any issues with him. I'll be honest, the tabloid was when I first started to wonder who, exactly, had leaked the story in the first place. Again, just my own speculation, but it seemed mighty convenient to me that, just as the shock wore off and people started to go, "Hey, actually, budgetary reasons don't make any sense..." an article conveniently drops, again with only a quote from an SK rep, that again spins it favourably for her, and is again released by a source that had previously had an exclusive (the wedding story came about through Us Weekly, right?) But I also think that wonder if the obvious really is the obvious, and perhaps everything we've been told is actually how things went down -- who knows?

do agree that, if this were the case (which I believe it is), it would be abhorrent, don’t get me wrong. Not only because I hate the idea of playing into the narrative that her fans put out last season (that she was being written out of eps, vs. the oft-confirmed truth that she asked for eps off), but also because it threw literally every coworker under the bus. Forget NF; every cast- and crew-member who agreed to sign on regardless was harassed for not supporting her, called a terrible friend, said they were easily manipulated, only cared about the money (duh), sexist, etc. I don’t imagine that would have been the expected outcome, but it happened nevertheless – SK is the victim of a cruel, sexist workplace, was pushed out all season, was written out of episodes and given no screentime on purpose, but was intensely loyal to the show until she was unceremoniously shoved out, etc. etc. That said, I’m still not convinced that it would be career-killer. I’ll admit I don’t know much about it, so maybe I’m just a titch too pessimistic (true), but I’ve seen a reasonable amount of celebrities bash their employers (openly and publicly, neither of which really happened here), and still maintain good careers. Of course, the opposite is also true (although Heigl has managed to find work here and there, but she has the disadvantage of also having a publicly-tarnished reputation, too, and no fanbase to follow her from project to project). To be fair, I doubt that SK has the clout that a lot of the successful celebrities do, so maybe that factors in. I don’t know. If she sticks to (sorry if you love them, but – crappy) indies, I highly doubt she’ll see any damage at all. I just don’t expect to see her in a Disney movie anytime soon, or guest-starring on an ABC/ABC Studios show. But then, who did have anything to gain? ABC sure doesn't look good, nor does NF or, really, any of the cast and crew. I'd think that flying out of the country was an easy way to not do interviews tbh, one way or the other. If she did quit, best to have plausible deniability that she never said she was fired. If she didn't, best to avoid trashing your ex-employer. But I do think madmaverick is right. I think everyone shares a healthy amount of blame here, cast, crew, and network included.

I'm not totally sure what you mean by that (whether you're referring to being fired or the possibility of being the leak), but that's fair. I don't think being fired for budgetary reasons is the career hindrance that being fired for misbehaviour/any other reason is, as it's not even especially a career hindrance outside of Hollywood, but given Hollywood's sneaky nature (apparently the SK/NF feud was just an open secret that everyone in the industry knew about), I'd assume that whomever the leak was, if people have found out about the, they could face some difficulties with future employers.

I think it's been touched on here a bit before, but I'd guess because the alternative is to announce that she's decided to leave, thereby garnering the wrath of everyone who's not an SK fan. Cote de Pablo, Mischa Barton, Katherine Heigl, Nina Dobrev -- regardless of what the actual reason given is, people tend to assume that they left because they thought they were too good for the show, and any subsequent show-tanking is their fault, etc. etc. There've been some successful actresses to leave their shows for sure, but it seems like kind of a crap-shoot to me, so why risk it? Also, this is 100% just my opinion, but "I got fired because I was underappreciated" seems like the least of all of the evils of this narrative -- ABC is sexist/is idiotic/fired an actress because they preferred an actor/believes that actresses are expendable/is incompetent and doesn't understand the show and what makes it successful, NF has a huge ego/is sexist/is threatened at the prospect of not being the show's fave/pushed an actress out because he hates her success/is a general asshole. Seems like (regardless of what actually happened -- all of that could be true!) she did come out smelling like roses imo.

Too true. Katherine Heigl is a prime example of that. Hollywood is a weird beast, so I guess we'll see what happens! Completely agreed. Particularly roles that allow for travel or one-offs. Which is too bad for me, honestly -- I think she's a great actress, but I haven't enjoyed her choices in indie movies at all.