Some bad news for Medium fans. EW has revealed that CBS has cut the order for this season from 22 episodes down to 13. The network assured EW that cancelation of Medium was not why CBS shortened the season. Instead, they did so in order to make more room on CBS' midseason line-up.
You may recall that CBS recently picked up all five of its new shows that debuted this season. Doing so means there's considerably less space in their prime-time lineup for midseason shows. One of the midseason shows is currently titled Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, and stars Oscar winner Forest Whitaker. Whitaker, Beau Garrett, Matt Ryan and Michael Kelly originally made a guest appearance on Criminal Minds in April 2010 in order to set up a possible spin-off show. CBS has released some information about the new show. There's no annouced start date yet, but we'll provide more information as CBS releases it.
CRIMINAL MINDS: SUSPECT BEHAVIOR stars Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker in a drama about an elite team of agents within the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) who use unconventional methods of investigation and aggressive tactics to capture the nation's most nefarious criminals. Unit chief Special Agent Sam Cooper is a mentally and physically fierce natural leader who is not afraid to put his career on the line in order to stand by his convictions. Cooper strives to avoid political bureaucracy and has handpicked an eclectic group of profilers to work outside the confines of Quantico.
They include strong-willed and outspoken Beth Griffith, the newest member of the team who joins them from the FBI Threat Assessment Task Force; former British Special Forces soldier Mick Rawson, who is confident and handsome and works as a highly skilled marksman with an undiluted eye for rooting out evil; John "Prophet" Sims, a former convict with a street-smart edge and a calm, Zen-like presence, who is determined to make amends for past sins; Gina LaSalle, an attractive, tough agent armed with a cunning sense of perception; and Penelope Garcia, a computer wizard who has spent years aiding the BAU on its toughest cases. This exceptional group of FBI operatives is strong in their beliefs and steadfast in their mission to bring the country's most dangerous criminals to justice.
PREMIERE: Midseason 2010-2011
STARRING:
Forest Whitaker.................. Sam Cooper
Janeane Garafolo.................Beth Griffith
Matt Ryan..........................Mick Rawson
Michael Kelly.............John "Prophet" Sims
Beau Garrett....................... Gina LaSalle
Kirsten Vangsness............Penelope Garcia
Other possible midseason shows for CBS seem to include Chaos (a comedic drama about a group of rogue CIA spies in the Office of Disruptive Services, who combat threats to national security amidst bureaucratic gridlock, rampant incompetence and political infighting) and Mad Love (about a quartet of single friends in New York City - two who are falling in love and two who despise each other... at least for now).
clarissa @ tvovermind.com
twitter.com/clarissa373
I find myself losing interest in CBS. I was a HUGE Criminal Minds fan, but the cast changes and CBS's response to them has left a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth. They reduced Ms. Brewster's role this season and won't be bringing her back next season, she's been with the show since about a third of the way into the 2nd season. Worst of all is the way they treated Mrs. Cook who had been with the show for the first 5 seasons, since day one. They waited until just a couple of weeks before shooting for season 6 was to start to inform her that she wouldn't be coming back and then turn right around and announced they were bringing in another female to replace her mid season (I think they may have back tracked on that, not sure). The first excuse they gave is for "financial reasons", but just a few days later changed that to "creative reasons". So, which is it? I was also turned off by producer Ed Bernero's refusal to answer questions about it in a recent interview for a CM fan website. His excuse being that the issue had already been addressed. Really, where? Aside from CBS's "financial….oops, did we say financial, we meant creative" excuse, the fans haven't been told squat. Don't get me wrong, I like all 4 of the male actors on the show, but it was the balance of strong male and FEMALE characters and the chemistry between THOSE 7 that made CM so enjoyable for me. It also appears like they're trying to force the Garcia character. Shame, CBS pays Charlie Sheen over 2 million (and yes I know that the shows budgets a separate) to be a sorry piece of crap on AND off the screen, but these 2 strong females are kicked to the curb, thus turning CM into just another TV boy's club. Guess that's why the only new episodes of CM I will watch from now on will be the little bits I happen to catch while I'm looking for my remote to change the channel to Discovery to watch Mythbusters, they usually blow something up:-) As for the CM spin-off, it hasn't sounded all that exciting for the get-go.