'Castle,' 'Nashville,' and more renewed by ABC

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Following new series orders for the 2015-16 season — and cancellations of “Forever,” “Cristela,” “Resurrection” and “The Taste” — ABC has handed over renewals to a slew of returning series.

Most shows on the bubble will be returning including “Castle” for Season 8, “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” with Season 3, “Marvel’s Agent Carter” for Season 2 “Nashville” for Season 4. Also returning is “Once Upon A Time” with its fifth season.

Still up in the air is Stana Katic‘s status for the eighth season of “Castle,” which has locked down her male lead Nathan Fillion and will be seeing a shift in showrunner for the new episodes.

Dramas
No surprise here, but Shonda Rhimes trio of hits will be returning, in addition to her new drama “The Catch,” which was officially ordered and will star Mireille Enos. This includes “Grey’s Anatomy” — without Patrick Dempsey whose Dr. McDreamy was killed off last month — plus Kerry Washington’s “Scandal” and Viola Davis’ “How To Get Away With Murder,” which unofficially announced its Season 2 renewal during its finale.

Freshman dramas “American Crime” and “Secrets and Lies” will also be back for new seasons.

The John Ridley series, starring Timothy Hutton and Felicity Huffman, was not entirely expected to be renewed for Season 2, as ratings are not stellar, but critical reception is. Ridley originally said he envisions the dark drama as an anthology series, covering a new crime each season.

Though perhaps positioned as an “event series,” Ryan Phillippe’s “Secrets and Lies” was a solid performer for ABC throughout its first run, hitting a season high this past weekend with Sunday night finale ratings.

Comedies
As for comedies, ABC is bringing back freshman hits “Black-ish” and “Fresh Off The Boat,” plus “The Goldbergs,” “The Middle” and — no-brainer — Modern Family.” Fairy-tale musical “Galavant” was also renewed.

“The Middle’s” Charlie McDermott’s involvement in Season 7 is unknown, as he landed a pilot with CBS, which has yet to be ordered at the network. However, if gets picked up, ABC wants to keep the actor involved with at least guest bits.

Alternative
On the unscripted side, “The Bachelor,” “Dancing With the Stars,” “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “Shark Tank” and “Beyond the Tank” were renewed, along with “20/20.”

The renewals of “SHIELD” and “Agent Carter” set up a nice slate of Marvel properties at ABC, which could see two more projects from the studio in the near future, including a “SHIELD” spinoff, currently in development, and a top-secret project from “American Crime” creator Ridley.

“Revenge” was also cancelled, though previously announced, and will wrap up its final season this Sunday.