Image Credit: Karen Neal/ABC; Bergeron: Craig Sjodin/ABCHeads-up to Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien: Be sure to DVR the April 12 episode of Castle.
In a rare ripped-from-the-headlines detour, the hit ABC dramedy is prepping an episode inspired by NBC’s recent late-night kerfuffle — and The Powers That Be are mixing in a cheeky bit of ABC cross-promotion while they’re at it.
Sources confirm to me exclusively that Dancing with the Stars emcee Tom Bergeron has signed on to guest as Bobby Mann, a late-night talk show host who gets permanently shut up by… Well, the prime suspect is his would-be successor, a rival chatterbox (played by Bill Bellamy) who’s long coveted the victim’s timeslot.
In addition to Bergeron and Bellamy, the episode’s eclectic guest cast also boasts TV vet Fred Willard as Bergeron’s sidekick and 3rd Rock From the Sun‘s French Stewart as a Pellicano-esque investigator.
The title of said ep? “The Late Shaft.”
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My favorite show! <3
Hey Joe, it could happen. CBS is lending Neil Patrick Harris to Fox’s Glee. Both Castle and Chuck have a faithful, but small fan base. The cross promotion could help both shows.
Awesome! I love Castle, now we just need to get Nathan to guest on Chuck.
Oooooh! That would be AWESOME!
I am SO in favor of this. Maybe in return, Adam or Zach could guest on Castle! Or Ryan McPartlin could play Beckett’s new boyfriend!!!
yeah, just one tiny problem. castle is abc, chuck is nbc. no way that is going to happen.
I loved the first season of chuck, I love adam baldwin, but the show utterly sucks now. the plots are so far out ridiculous.
Would love to see Nathan and Adam back together again.
I love this show already, but EVERYTHING is better with Willard!
I’m calling it – the sidekick did it! (“Wha happened!”)
I say it was one of the network execs… or the boyfriend of some “assistant” the host was fooling around with.
Haha, I love “A Mighty Wind!”
See…I told you it was Willard.
Amen to that. Everything is better with a little Fred Willard.
Yeah, i love it
It is great to see Fred Willard used in a show I already love.
I love this show, but this one sounds like it’s even more comedic than usual. FRAKTACULAR!!!!!
Oh…Tom Bergeron!? That’s awesome! Can’t wait to see where this goes! Love Castle!
oh Castle….you are made of awesome!
NOOOOOO!! You can’t hurt Tom Bergeron — even if it is fake
He has to be “LLIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!”
Ok, that made me laugh out loud!
LOL. That was priceless
LOL that was great.
From the concept to the casting to the title, one word describes it all. Awesome.
I love Castle–both the show and the man. I agree, anything is better with Fred Willard.
Tom Bergeron and Fred Willard on an episode of Castle? So much awesome in one episode, I think my head just exploded.
Ooh, this is gonna be good~ Love Castle!! XD
Can’t wait for this ep! Will be hilarious, and beautifully handled, as this show is always tongue-in-cheek anyway! Kudos for the casting too!
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE CASTLE! This episode sounds great. Can’t wait! Long live Castle!
It sounds like great fun, but when will we get to see another poker game with Castle and his famous author buddies?
Love it; can’t wait!! “The Late Shaft”–too funny!