Criminal Minds

What have our favorite tv profilers been doing during the WGA strike?
Shemar Moore is helping celebrate Black History Month at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. He will make a guest appearance tonight at the Annual Black History Month Culture Show. Carleton University also hosted Angela Davis this month to discuss black history as someone who had participated in it. Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and is a political activist who used to be associated with the Black Panthers. She is infamous for her arrest and trial for the murder of Judge Harold Haley. Eventually she was acquitted. Her arrival on campus brought a lot of controversy. Shemar Moore is a less controversial subject, but his appearance will help bring focus to Black History Month. (Oh, and he was also one of People Magazine’s Sexiest Men.)

Joe Mantegna will be a presenter for Sunday night’s Grammy awards. This one is a live show with performers and presenters, unlike the press conference style Golden Globes. Some acts include Beyonce and Tina Turner, Fergie with John Legend, Rihanna, Josh Groban with Andrea Bocelli, Feist, Foo Fighters with John Paul Jones, Alicia Keys, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige.

Kirsten Vangsness appears in the movie, In My Sleep. Matthew Gray Gubler also hit the big screen with an updated Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Hopefully, we’ll see them all in new episodes soon!

Tonight, Agent Morgan is in the spotlight as CBS replays “Profiler, Profiled.” He returns to his hometown for a visit only to have a murdered child show up. He becomes the focus of the police investigation, and his BAU team members are working to clear this up. He refuses to talk about his past, which leads them to the conclusion that he’s hididng something. This episode from season two is a good one if you missed it the first time around, and good for giving some background and depth to Shemar Moore’s character. “Profiler, Profiled” on on at nine tonight.

“3rd Life,” guest starring Gina Mantegna, will air on January 9. This has been pushed back a few weeks from its original airdate. This episode is eagerly awaited for two reasons: one, star Joe Mantegna is the father of Gina, who plays the missing teenager. Also, it’s the last of the new Criminal Minds episodes for the foreseable future.

(The picture above is from People Magazine - which named Shemar Moore as one of the sexiest men alive. He came in at a very respectable #10.)

Even with a rerun, Criminal Minds won its Wednesday night timeslot. CBS won the night overall as well. “Clash of the Choirs” and “Duel” didn’t make huge waves, but they did about as well as they had for the previous airings Monday and Tuesday.

CM reaired “About Face.” This was a good episode, and seeing it again was cool because it was the first time Joe Mantegna made his appearance as David Rossi. At the end of the episode, he and Hotch have a little difference of opinion - Hotch says that they are a team, they think individually but share. Rossi refers to “group think.” Anyway, there was a definate need for adjustment. When Rossi started, they worked solo. They didn’t have all the support -no Garcias, no computers, no jet - so it is a big switch for old-school Rossi. In subsequent episodes, Rossi does take charge on occasion (like when he was interrogating Penelope about who shot her), but he hasn’t really overstepped the team’s boundries.

The story of “About Face” was pretty good. I liked the twist with the second victim, Enid, going missing. She actually bought a gun and is in hiding because the first victim reported seeing the missing fliers and no one helped her. But the killer finds her anyway. It was a rough first day on the job for Rossi - he has to shoot the suspect in the end, but he ends up saving Morgan.

The team dynamics are definately interesting with Rossi instead of Gideon. He gives the show an entirely different tone. Hopefully next week, we’ll see the new episode “3rd Life.” The last new one for a while, so it better be good!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, CM won the Wednesday nine o’clock rating race, beating Pushing Daisies and Bionic Woman. This pushed CBS to a second place finish in the 18-49 group and a victory in overall viewers. Good news for Pushing Daisies though. They rebounded from last week’s poor numbers and had higher than average ratings. Bionic Woman didn’t have the same luck - the show had its lowest 18-49 score of the season. CM had its highest ratings since February 7. Whether it’s Joe Mantegna or the dramatic “Penelope” episode, more viewers are tuning in to Criminal Minds.
The big winner of the night was “Shrek the Halls,” on ABC. The half-hour special had the highest 18-49 rating of the night.

P.S. If you’re a devoted CM fan but want to check out Private Practice or Pushing Daisies, ABC has the full episodes available online. You can also see Bionic Woman online at NBC.com.

AJ Cook spoke with LA’s Daily News about the strike and Mandy Patinkin’s departure from the show.

In the beginning, it was very stressful because nobody really knew what was going on, but it’s been such a great transition. If ever there could be a great transition, this was it. Joe’s fabulous, he really does feel like he’s been there from the very beginning. He fits in so perfectly.

AJ seems like the type of person who is as nice as she appears. Hopefully, the writers and networks will reach a decision soon so we can see more of JJ’s evolution.
Ratings for the new season are just as high as they were for the previous two seasons with Patinkin. Another thing that AJ likes is the way her character, JJ, is changing.

I like that J.J. has seriously evolved. She went from being a couple of lines per episode to really coming into her own. I love it whenever she gets to pull her gun out - that’s exciting for me. Or when I get to put the FBI vest on and storm a building with everyone else. It’s a lot of fun. She’s badass now, I like it.

She’s also an important part of the team - Hotch takes her advice very seriously. There are cases that he agrees to investigate based on JJ’s say-so.

On the WGA strike:

We are entering into the great unknown here and I really feel for our crew. Many of them live paycheck to paycheck and can’t afford to have a five- or six-month strike. I support the writers and I understand; I just want it to be over quickly.

Last night marked Joe Mantegna’s second episode with Criminal Minds. A funny part of the episode had Emily, Spencer, and Morgan looking through his office and profiling him. Of course he walks in. Emily and Spencer were properly embarrassed, but Morgan just looked annoyed. He is not accepting of David Rossi at all.
So the action of the episode revolved around a former militia member in Colorado, Francis Goehring. He was being pursued by the police when he blew himself up, taking a police officer with him. He’d kidnapped four women, the fourth only a half hour or so before he killed himself. Goehring’s ex-wife leads them to her parent’s land, where the women’s bodies were found. Rossi discovers that the last woman had been killed only a short time ago, and couldn’t have been killed by Goehring.

As they search for his partner, they find several clues as to his personality. He is a submissive partner, he tried to please Francis Goehring, and he was also in love with him. His identity was so wrapped up in Francis that when he killed himself, he took on Goehring’s personality - or tried to. The partner, Henry, kidnaps a woman from a gas station and is preparing to kill her. The team and sheriff find the location (Spencer had been working on a geographical profile all episode). A sniper is the only way that they’ll be able to save the woman. The best sniper they have is not even a cop. He’s the leader of the local militia, which Morgan objects to strongly (because they had a little run in at this guy’s bar). Anyway, the sniper kills Henry, and the woman is saved.
There’s a lot of back story that played into the events also. Brought up numerous times was Ruby Ridge and the surprise that Montana authorities actually asked for the FBI’s help. I thought it was interesting how the show brought up actual events, and especially events in which the FBI is shown in a poor light. It comes out that Rossi was at Ruby Ridge -and doesn’t want to talk about it.
At the tail end of the episode, Morgan and Rossi are talking and Morgan asks him why he came back, which he’d been suspicious of for a while. Rossi just said “Unfinished business,” and walked away.

This scene bothered me a bit, and I’ve been trying to find a word that fit it since last night. The best I can come up with is cheesy. Or maybe melodramatic. We get that Rossi has unfinished business and is tortured by some case that was unresolved. I think it doesn’t really need to be said anymore - we know. It’s much more dramatic and mysterious if very little is said about it, but it comes up very frequently. I don’t know if anything needed to be said at all - a former FBI agent has a lucrative career as a writer and lecturer and he gives it up to come back as a subordinate in the BAU. Last week, he kept touching the bracelet with the children’s names. We get it. We don’t need anymore hints that he has a troubling secret.

That was just one part that I thought could’ve been better, but otherwise, I liked the episode. It was dramatic, and I liked the local characters. When Henry is kidnapping the last woman in front of a gas station, the woman who was working there ran inside when she saw what was happening. I assumed that she went to call 911, but she came out with a shotgun. I also liked how they were able to get the militia to help them. Militia hate the FBI, the government. Rossi told them it wasn’t about them, it was about this woman from their community who was missing and in danger. This made the militia members seem human, which is not always done on tv or movies. They’re caring people, they just don’t care for the government.

Next week’s episode is going to be a good one - this one features Penelope. It’ll be good to have her get her own show!

Note: I feel like I’ve talked about the strike a lot, so today I’ll just give you links to two good articles that talk about the impact on your favorite shows.
This one from the San Jose Mercury News talks about new and returning shows and what potential schedules could look like. This one from Seat 42F will tell you how many scripts are prepared for your favorite shows.

If you missed last week’s episode, which heralded Joe Mantegna’s arrival, here’s a clip. In it, he is talking to Erin Strauss (the big boss) - she can’t understand why he came back. He helped start the BAU, and now he’s coming back to work under Hotch. This, as it turns out, appears to be hard for him. He takes over and leaks important information on a case to the media without consulting the rest of the team.

Youtube is a very dangerous place - I was looking for one video, and I got sucked into watching a bunch. Couldn’t resist this one. What better combo than Weird Al and Spencer Reid.

Advertising Age had a review of Criminal Minds on their website Wednesday. This article was interesting because it was from the advertising perspective (surprisingly enough, coming from Ad Age, right?). Anyway, Ad Age TV Editor Brian Steinberg reviewed new and returning shows to give marketers an idea of the best times and places to show their ads.
Mr. Steinberg had never seen an episode for CM before. After all the when Mandy Patinkin left and Joe Mantegna showed up, he decided it would be a good time to tune in.
Wednesday nights are also very competetive. CM is on, Bionic Woman, Private Practice, Gossip Girl , and Kitchen Nightmares- all at the same time. Advertisers need to know where to put their money, and Criminal Minds is a good bet because it has managed to keep its audience. Each episode is self-contained, so they sell the show as a new must-see thriller each week. Anyone can tune in - not just regulars. This is a good selling point. Steinberg’s verdict on the show is that it’d be a good place to put your ad (if you’re Verizon, Sprint, Singular, AT&T wireless, Home Depot, or a sleep aid manufacturer - those are the big sponsers of CM last year). Criminal Minds does better with older audiences, so if you’re trying to sell a product aimed at teens, you might want to go elsewhere.
This article was also interesting because Steinberg gives his opinion of the show. He says:

“Criminal Minds” is less about the people in the show and more about the crimes they solve…And the profilers are as determined as the crimes are heinous.

He talks about Mandy Patinkin leaving and Joe Mantegna joining the cast.

The show is exactly the same as it was before, only with a new sheriff in town, so to speak. But since the show isn’t really about sheriffs, or people, just crimes and arrests, “Criminal Minds” should proceed apace with few bumps in the road.

This definately lives up to CM’s reputation of being a solid, consistent show for CBS. I do agree that the crimes and criminals make the show different and entertaining. But I also like the characters - I think that they’re becoming more developed as the show progresses. We’re about to learn some more about Penelope. Criminal Minds strikes a good balance - it appeals to people who tune in occasionally because each episode can be understood on its own. It also appeals to people who regulary watch because you do find out more info on your favorite agents week after week.

A lot of people must have been celebrating Halloween last night. TV ratings for everyone fell. Private Practice was the evening’s top show among the 18-49 crowd, but it had its lowest ratings ever. Criminal Minds tied its lowest ratings of the season last night.
CSI:NY had a better night, winning the ten o’clock timeslot. CBS had the highest ratings of the networks.

And speaking of last night’s Criminal Minds, Film.com has a review of “About Face” and Joe Mantegna’s long-anticipated arrival. This excerpt is taken from Film.com:

Last night’s case — which was about a man who leaves “Have You Seen Me?” flyers and then kidnaps the woman shown on them — wasn’t especially involving. The main purpose of the episode was setting up Rossi’s relationship to the rest of the crew. While technically serving underneath Thomas Gibson’s Hotchner, Rossi primarily followed his own hunches and seemed uncomfortable with the collegial nature of the BAU. Right now it seems like an ill fit, especially the disconnect between Mantegna’s new role as the show’s titular star and his subordinate role on the team.

What do you think - Is David Rossi - or Joe Mantegna - an ill fit for Criminal Minds?
For this week anyway, the ratings aren’t really an indication. They were low for everyone, so we’ll see what next week brings.
Scroll down for a poll on David Rossi and cast your vote. So far it looks like we miss Gideon.

David Rossi made his first appearance in the BAU last night - and it was pretty quiet. He didn’t come in and take over, he didn’t act like he was superior because he’d created the BAU. At first. Later in the episode he leaks some information to the press without Hotch’s consent - now he pulls out his experience and tries to tell Hotch he knows what he’s doing. If you missed “About Face,” TV.com has a detailed recap (TV.com is the place to go if you miss an episode of anything - their summaries are really exhaustive).
There’s a back story with Rossi - he carries a bracelet with three children’s names on it, and throughout the episode, he had flashbacks. Section Chief Strauss thinks he has an ulterior motive for rejoining the BAU, and she’s right. The story will continue to unfold throughout more episodes, but Rossi obviously has some unfinished business.

How did you like Joe Mantegna as David Rossi? I liked him -especially how his character contrasts to Gideon. He’s very cool and collected.

P.S. If you’re a Tom Green fan, stop over at Sarah Lee’s Watching Tom Green for a cool contest. Great prizes and EASY to win. Hurry over.

I’m very excited - this is the first time I get to take my daughter trick-or-treating. I thought she was too young last year, so we handed out candy. She loved seeing all the costumes, which made me feel like the worst mother for not dressing her up. So this year, I asked her what she wanted to be, and she said a “friendly dragon.” Very cute.

Anyway, I’m also excited because tonight is Joe Mantegna’s first episode of Criminal Minds. In “About Face,” Agent David Rossi makes his first appearance. The story is about an unsub who taunts his victims by making missing posters of them before abducting and killing them.
Rossi is a veteren FBI agent who helped establish the BAU. He went on to lecture and write.
Joe Mantegna says of his character:

This is a guy who’s financially solid, so some of the mystery is the underlying reason he’s coming back. He explains it initially as just wanting to help, which is fine, but we may find out there are other motivations as well.

He’s also happy with the show’s writing.

They are spending a little more time getting into the personalities and stories of the individual members of the team. I’ve really liked the stuff they’ve done with Shemar Moore’s character, in terms of his having gone through abuse as a child, and Thomas Gibson’s character has had domestic problems. The writing staff is really dedicated, and for me, that’s where it starts.

One suggestion Joe had was to make his character Italinian-American. Known for his roles in Mafia-related movies (The Last Don, The Godfather III), he says, “I have no qualms about playing [mobsters], but given the opportunity to show it’s just as common for an Italian-American to be the cop as to be the robber, I’ll make that choice.”

The Chicago Tribune has an interesting article about Joe Mantegna and Criminal Minds today. Check it out.
Also, Erinn at Parenting Children has some tips for a good trick-or-treating experience tonight.

In a recent interview with the NY Daily News, Joe Mantegna spoke of his arrival on the set of Criminal Minds.

All I can do is just be who I am and just be myself. It needn’t complicate the rest of the cast’s lives any more than it has to because, obviously, there must have been some complications that needed an adjustment. I just felt that I’m there to do my best and fit in.

And of his character vs. Jason Gideon:

I use a sports analogue. Like if a baseball team traded a batter and brought in a new guy, it’s a totally different guy, but he’s still doing the same job batting at a certain number in the lineup. Hopefully, the audience will find that interesting and exciting, and we hope the show will continue to be the success that it is.

And Mantegna feels right at home on his new set. About 50% of the CM crew came from his previous CBS show, Joan of Arcadia.

It’s kind of ironic for me because the day ‘Joan of Arcadia’ finally got word that we weren’t being picked up, I went up to the office to clear out my trailer and I remember they were packing up all these boxes and they all had ‘Criminal Minds’ written on the side. Our two producers at the time both went to ‘Criminal Minds,’ they were the original show-runners there, and they took a big portion of the crew with them, so when I came to the first day [on 'Minds'], it was unbelievable.

Joe Mantegna’s begins his role as David Rossi October 31 at nine on CBS.

Last night, “Scared to Death” aired on CBS. This was Criminal Minds first Mandy-free episode, though his character was mentioned several times. When the show opens, Spencer is sitting at his desk rereading his letter. They quickly move on to other matters - a serial killer in Portland, Oregon. The team travels there to investigate and eventually figure out that the deaths had to do with phobias. From there, they need to figure out who is responsible. Through a lucky spotting of a flier in a laundromat, they are led to Dr. Howard (aka Dr. Goodman), in time to save his latest victim from being buried alive.

I really like Criminal Minds, I write a blog about it. But did anyone else think “Scared to Death” was kind of…boring?
The doctor was torturing these people, recording their responses, while having flashbacks to his mom making him sleep in the dark. Michael O’Keefe as Dr. Howard was kind of creepy, but it seemed like they crammed all of his motives into 45 minutes, and it didn’t quite work. It did cover all the bases; his abusive childhood, his naggy wife, his change in behavior, his treatment of his daughter. But it seemed like they hurried to put this all in so it’d make sense at the end.
Criminal Minds can be very creepy - like in “Revelations” or “North Mammon,” from season two. This one didn’t have the same feeling to it. It also felt like the characters were kind of wooden; they didn’t seem as dynamic as they usually are - with the exception of Spencer and Morgan getting stuck in the elevator…that was pretty funny.

What was interesting, though, was their response to Gideon leaving. Spencer is clearly upset. He talks to Emily at one point and says that Gideon confronted the most violent, dangerous criminals in the world. If he had enough courage to do that, why did he just leave a letter? Emily tells him to read it again and figure out why the letter was written to him. Out of all the people he left behind, why did he only bother to explain to Spencer?
Morgan also brings him up. On the flight home, he says that the team is doing just fine without Gideon.
Besides Gideon leaving, the only personal note was when Hotch tells Morgan that Haley has left, and he didn’t know if she was coming back.

“Scared to Death” was all right. It wasn’t one of their best episodes, but it was still entertaining. I’m looking forward to Joe Mantegna’s debut (on October 31 - Halloween) to bring some tension to the team and move some action along.

According to SyFyPortal, the premiere of Bionic Woman beat out Criminal Minds in the ratings Wednesday night. First was Dancing with the Stars, then Private Practice. Criminal Minds came in a surprising (to me) fourth place. Overall, CBS finished second for the night, behind ABC and ahead of NBC.
Michael Hinman of SyFyPortal writes:

In terms of audience demographics… “Bionic Woman” was a big winner, according to Variety. In the key demographic of adults 18 to 49, “Bionic” was a big winner with a whopping 5.5/14, the best rating in that timeslot since the premiere of “The West Wing” in 1999.
“Bionic Woman” clearly won the night in the key demo categories, even beating out “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff “Private Practice,” and was able to build on a poor lead-in from “Deal or No Deal,” which has seen better days.

Criminal Minds faced tough competition Wednesday.
Dancing With the Stars has been insanely popular with viewers worldwide. There are a bunch of different versions based on the English Strictly Come Dancing, and the format was the most popular type of programming in the world in 2006. It is shown in countries such as the US, Australia, Austria, Chile, South Africa, Sweden, Poland, India, Israel, Japan….and many more. I had no idea it was this popular - I have never seen an episode and I’ve never heard of any of the celebrities they have on this year. Kind of takes the fun out of Dancing with the Stars when you don’t know the stars.

Private Practice is also a highly anticipated show as it’s a spinoff of popular Grey’s Anatomy.

Criminal Minds is one of those shows that just quietly does its business. I think it has a loyal following and will attract new viewers with the Mandy Patinkin-leaving drama and the addition of Joe Mantegna. Hopefully, as the newness factor fades for Bionic Woman and Private Practice, more people will tune into CM. This season is off to a good start, and it looks like it’ll be as exciting and dramatic as usual. E!Online reports that the 2007 premiere of Criminal Minds was down three million viewers from the season two premiere. And CSI:NY, while the most watched show of the ten o’clock hour, was down 3.5 million viewers. Maybe they’re stronger in reruns? But these shows do have an advantage - you don’t really need to see the premiere to watch the show. Both are pretty self-contained, and viewers who missed the premieres can definately catch up next week.

I saw the new ad for Criminal Minds season three on CBS last night. I’d seen the YouTube video before that. Here’s where I need help: on the YouTube one, I could have sworn that Elle (Lola Glaudini) spit in JJ’s face. Then when I saw the commercial on tv, I saw it more clearly but wasn’t paying total attention. I thought it was Elle again. Can anyone deny or confirm that I am crazy? I swear it was her.
Nothing much is going on in Criminal Minds world. Ed Bernero commented on the character David Rossi, to be played by Joe Mantegna.

In looking over the world of television shows, the show I think that replaced characters the best of all time was M*A*S*H,” Bernero said. “M*A*S*H always replaced a character with an exact opposite. When McLean Stevenson left, who played a total anti-authority guy, they replaced him with Sherman T. Potter, who was a regular Army stick-in-the-mud. They filled the same role, but with someone who was the opposite. That’s what we wanted to do.

Rossi is the antithesis of Jason Gideon. Where Gideon is very sensitive to the unsubs, Rossi doesn’t display as much emotion - he’s much more cool and doesn’t display emotion as freely as Gideon did. I think it’s a good idea to make the character completely different. That way, Joe Mantegna doesn’t have to try to “fill” Mandy Patinkin’s shoes. He can create a whole new direction for the show. He also was unconcerned that the violent content would affect him, saying that he could detatch himself from his work pretty easily.
Before, I’d written about rumors that the cast didn’t want to work with Mandy Patinkin and they used a different crew to film his final scenes. Then, it was reported that that was a rumor. Now, Glenn Kershaw (a CM producer and director) says in a New York Times article:

We then put together an entirely different company, and I spent a day directing Mandy up at the Disney Ranch. He only had to face me, since we’re starting with a flashback about why Mandy is writing this letter, and that cuts into the case from last year. Ironically, the day I was shooting Mandy’s scenes, I got a call up that Joe had been signed.

So, whatever the reason, Mandy Patinkin did shoot his final scenes without his former costars.