SEASON PREMIERE

NATHAN FILLION AND STANA KATIC RETURN FOR SEASON THREE OF "CASTLE," PREMIERING SEPTEMBER 20 ON ABC

When the new season of "Castle" begins, Beckett hasn't heard from Castle since he left for the Hamptons months ago to finish writing his second Nikki Heat novel, "Naked Heat" (on sale September 28). The most Beckett, Ryan and Esposito have seen of Castle is a bookstore standee of him advertising an upcoming book signing. So when Beckett and her team burst into a shadowy apartment on the trail of a murderer, the last thing they expect to see is the real-life Castle standing over a dead woman's body holding a gun! As Castle protests his innocence, Beckett has no choice but to arrest him on suspicion of murder, on the Season Three premiere of "Castle," MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network.

"Castle" stars Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle, Stana Katic as NYPD Detective Kate Beckett, Susan Sullivan as Martha Rodgers, Molly Quinn as Alexis Castle, Ruben Santiago-Hudson as NYPD Captain Roy Montgomery, Tamala Jones as Medical Examiner Lanie Parish, Jon Huertas as NYPD Detective Javier Esposito and Seamus Dever as NYPD Detective Kevin Ryan.

Guest Cast: Michael Rady as Evan Murphy, Charlene Amoia as Ana Marie, Gino Cafarelli as Dean Carbino, Justice Gamble as bartender, Lisa O'Hare as Kitty Canary, Craig Gellis as Earl Moreland.

"A Deadly Affair" was written by Andrew Marlowe and directed by Rob Bowman.

"Castle" is produced by ABC Studios. Andrew Marlowe is creator/executive producer/writer, along with executive producers Rob Bowman, Laurie Zaks and David Amann.

"Castle" is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC's selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound. A TV parental guideline will be assigned closer to airdate.

"Naked Heat" (out September 28) is the thrilling sequel to Richard Castle's "Heat Wave," which spent 16 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list when it was published last fall. This is Castle's second mystery novel to feature Nikki Heat, a tough, sexy and professional detective based on NYPD Homicide Detective Kate Beckett, with whom Castle solves crimes and trades barbs from one case to the next. The two are no strangers to innuendos and unfulfilled sexual tension while trailing murderers.

For more information on "Castle," visit ABC.com. Viewers can also follow the show via http://facebook.com/Castle and Twitter: Castle_ABC