When ABC "took an axe" to its schedule last month (in AVClub.com reporter Sam Barsanti's words), it triggered a lot of shock among viewers. But "Castle" fans were at least a little bit prepared for the news, since it had already been announced that one of the show's two leads was leaving.

There are two different explanations going around for why Stana Katic left the show: one exciting and one boring. But they both seem to be more or less separate from the reason for the show's cancelation.

The boring explanation is that Katic was laid off so that the show could cut costs. The exciting one is that Katic and co-star Nathan Fillion (who played the title character) fought constantly on set and could no longer work together.

In either case, the problem was solved by Katic's exit, so the show could conceivably go on for another season. Yet it was canceled anyway.

It seems that the casting issues were just deck chairs on the proverbial Titanic. Given the number of other shows ABC canceled along with "Castle" ("Nashville," "The Muppets," "Agent Carter" and more), industry watchers agree that new ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey was determined to put her own stamp on the network's schedule. In that case, solving star squabbles or fixing budget lines wouldn't make much difference.

There's some good news for diehard fans: ABC has announced that the "Castle" universe will continue, in print. For the uninitiated, the TV series was about a mystery novel writer who helps the police solve crimes. But to capitalize on the show's popularity, Disney's book-publishing imprint Kingswell began releasing actual novels written (supposedly) by show's main character, Richard Castle. It was announced, after the show's cancelation, that Kingswell would continue releasing them. There are two new novels on the publisher's schedule, with the first due out in October.

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