“Criminal Minds,” the CBS procedural which wrapped in 2020 only to have a second life due to pandemic binge-watching on streaming services and memes on TikTok, was set to have a revival in 2021. However, star Paget Brewster set fans up for heartbreak when she tweeted that the new series was “dead” a few months later. During Paramount Plus‘s TCA executive session on Feb. 1, network leadership confirmed that the revival was alive and well.
During the session, chief programming officer Tanya Gills said, “We are still very much in development on ‘Criminal Minds.’ We’ll have more to share soon on that, but it is alive and well.”
Following the discussion, president of original scripted series Nicole Clemens spoke to Variety more specifically about the show’s status.
“I can’t comment on why Paget said that [it was ‘dead’], but these things ebb and flow,” she said. “As I mentioned, I came in in the summer and so it took a second to gear up and figure out, ‘What are we doing? ‘There’s not a hidden monster under the water there. It’s just been in its process, so it’s in development… We have always thought it’s a fantastic idea to have ‘Criminal Minds’ on the service, so that hasn’t changed.”
As for next steps, “We are still in development, so coming soon would be closing up all the deals, getting material. So we have time to go,” Clemens said.
The original series ran for a whopping 15 seasons with 324 episodes, with a cast that, through its run, included Mandy Patinkin, Thomas Gibson, Shemar Moore, Matthew Gray Gubler, Paget Brewster, Joe Mantegna, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Jennifer Love Hewitt.
In 2021 on Netflix, which offers seasons 1-12 of the show, “Criminal Minds” was the most-viewed TV show among the U.S. streaming platforms tracked by Nielsen.
