Birdgirl Star Paget Brewster on Criminal Minds Reunion

In February, audiences learned that Paramount+ was exploring a revival of Criminal Minds -- just a [...]

By Russ Burlingame

In February, audiences learned that Paramount+ was exploring a revival of Criminal Minds -- just a calendar year after the series finale aired in early 2020. Paramount+, the rebranded identity of the streaming service formerly known as CBS All Access, already has The Real Criminal Minds on their docket -- an unscripted show that provides a look at the real-life criminal profilers who helped inspire Criminal Minds in the first place. The original Criminal Minds aired on CBS for 15 seasons, and longtime star Paget Brewster told ComicBook that one of the potential advantages of a move to Paramount+ is a change in the audience which, she admits, was aging out of the advertiser-preferred demographics by the end of the CBS run.

While the announcement of a new Criminal Minds is not yet official -- CSI: Vegas just got its announcement last week -- Brewster says that she and other members of teh original cast and crew are in talks to come back. She stops short of saying how close it is to happening, but certainly thinks everyone wants to see it come to fruition.

"We're very thankful that they came to everyone who was in the cast for the last four seasons -- they came to all of us and said, 'would you all come back?'" Brewster told ComicBook during an interview in support of her new animated series, Birdgirl. "And every one of us who can, who isn't already signed on to another show, we've been negotiating this. We're all hoping that it would happen and that we would be on Paramount+ as a streaming show, which would be a very different platform from what we had as a CBS show on network TV. We're doing our darnedest, and everyone's trying to make this happen. We really enjoy each other, and we really enjoy how much our fans like the show. Now we have all these new fans, who have been binging it on Netflix, in a different age group. When people used to say to me, 'You're on that show Criminal Minds,' I'd say 'yeah, your grandma watches it.' Now it's a whole new generation and we have teenagers watching. It's crazy."

In Criminal Minds, an elite squad of FBI profilers analyzes the country's most-twisted criminal minds, anticipating the perpetrators' next moves before they can strike again. Each member of the "mind hunter" team brings his or her expertise to pinpoint predators' motivations and identify emotional triggers to stop them. The core group includes an official profiler who is highly skilled at getting into the minds of criminals, a quirky genius, the former media liaison who manages to adeptly balance family life and the job, and a computer wizard.

The series starred, among others, Matthew Gray Gubler, Shemar Moore, Kirsten Vangsness, A.J. Cook, Paget Brewster, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez, Thomas Gibson, and Joe Mantegna.

Would you be excited to revisit the world of Criminal Minds? Sound off in the comments below!

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