An era of television ended back in 2020 with the series finale of Criminal Minds, which wrapped its long and (and sometimes tumultuous) run after 15 seasons. Barely a year passed before talks began of a revival coming to Paramount+ to do things a little differently after the series wrapped on CBS, but those talks seemed to stall over the summer of 2021. Now, however, there is an unexpected update on the revival, and that’s a good thing for fans!
Back in July, original series star Paget Brewster dropped some discouraging comments, saying that any progress seemed unlikely and she thought that the revival was “dead.” An executive for Paramount+ is now telling an updated story. Nicole Clemens, the President of Original Scripted Series for Paramount+, told Deadline:
We are still very much in development on Criminal Minds. We’ll have more to share on that soon but it is alive and well.
Nicole Clemens further explained that the delays for the revival that made it seem like it was dead in the water were actually due to changes behind the scenes at Paramount+ with executives taking on different roles. She herself became President of Paramount+ Original Scripted Series over the summer of 2021.
It’s not clear at this point who of the original cast is still attached to the project, or how many. Paget Brewster was certainly attached during the initial announcements about the revival, but her comments about the project being dead seemed pretty conclusive about it not moving forward. The actress hasn’t commented on the news that could have fans everywhere saying “wow” at the time of writing.
The cast of Criminal Minds over the years was quite expansive, but there are some legacy characters who are probably safe to say are unlikely to return. Thomas Gibson was fired from the show ahead of the premiere of Season 12, and the show wrote Hotch out in a way that gave the character some closure without needing him back in the flesh. Shemar Moore’s Derek Morgan may be unlikely to return in any role other than a cameo. Even though his character got enough of an open-ended departure that he actually returned to guest star after leaving as a series regular, he’s keeping busy as star of S.W.A.T. on CBS.
On the whole, there were plenty of surviving cast members with open enough endings at the close of Season 15 that it’s easy to imagine their characters returning for a revival. CSI: Vegas just proved that very thing is possible with the returns of William Petersen and Jorja Fox for a revival of CSI, even though neither legacy star will return for the second season. If the plan is still to showcase familiar faces mingling with newcomers, CSI: Vegas is proof that it can work.
Plus, a Criminal Minds revival coming to Paramount+ could benefit in similar ways as SEAL Team, which aired for four seasons on CBS before being moved to the streaming service. Star David Boreanaz spoke about his show getting to go “darker” with streaming as opposed to CBS, and the same could certainly be true for Criminal Minds. If the project remains “alive and well” moving forward and Paramount+ does indeed soon have more to share on a streaming revival, as Original Scripted Series President Nicole Clemens said, then fans have a lot to be excited about.
Plus, any fans who are excited about Criminal Minds coming back have a few options for revisiting the original series via streaming. The full run is of course available on Paramount+, while Netflix viewers (who streamed the show so much that it helped explain the quick talks of a revival) has the first twelve seasons. The last three seasons are available on Hulu. If you’re more in the market for some new TV options, you can find plenty on our rundown of 2022 TV premiere dates.
