‘Castle’ Season 8 Return Date Changes (Yet) Again; Spoilers Reveal Series To Host New Plot

The return date for "Castle" was first reported to be on Feb. 1, but it seems the ABC moved back the schedule a week later. Meanwhile, spoilers for season 8 teased that Rick would find himself in an unfamiliar territory.

"There has been some odd scheduling shifts going on with the return of Castle," ENStarz noted. "Back in November, the ABC winter schedule stated that it was returning on Monday, Jan. 4, but this was then changed to Feb. 1 in the promo at the end of the midseason finale."

Could it have something to do with the declining attention from viewers for the series?

Showrunner Alexi Hawley talked to TVLine and addressed the ratings issue for "Castle.

"I know we used to be 13 [million], I understand that. Even Quantico, which is a hit for ABC, is doing seven to eight million a week [with DVR playback]," he said. "Obviously the 18-to-49 demo number is not as strong as we'd like it to be, but all we can do is try to tell really good stories and hope that people want to watch them."

He also said that they were averaging 9 to 10 million viewers each week, "which is a really healthy number these days for network television."

Meanwhile, showrunner Terence Paul Winter dished spoilers to TVLine as he said that on "Castle" season 8 return date, the series would show a trial inside a courtroom, a first in the show's history.

"I think it will be a treat for our longtime fans," he said. "Because it refers to several things that have happened in the last few years."

"He's an 'interesting' guy to give testimony. He has to take the stand- annnnnd it kind of goes sideways," he laughed.

Hawley added that Rick's testimony will have some consequences.

"So then there's fallout from that, some scrambling to do damage control!" he added.

"Castle" season 8 return date is on Feb. 8 on ABC. Watch out for more spoilers before then.