Nathan Fillion carries this welcome take on the police proceedural. He plays Rick Castle, a roguish and charming writer who gets pulled into a murder investigation when a killer pulls a murder scene from one of his novels. He finds that he likes the gig and forces his way onto a unit as he gathers research material for a new series of detective novels built around Detective Kate Beckett the lead investigator played by Stana Katic. Sure, there are some cliches here and there, but there is also at least one clever detective/ writer thing per episode.
Like Burn Notice, Leverage, and White Collar on the cable channels, Castle shows an influence of The Rockford Files by Stephen Cannell. He is all over the DVD extras and even makes an onscreen appearance. It is nice to see a bit of humor in the fictional murder business. The audio commentary give a nice insight into the world of television production.