Criminal Minds

I received an email today informing me that Watching Criminal Minds has been ranked #35 (out of about 1200, so I’m happy!) among entertainment blogs in the category of Movies (I’m not sure why it’s movies) at Show Hype, which is a relatively new entertainment site. You can search for your favorite shows and movies and other entertainment news. You can also vote on stories you like. It’s a very cool site. Here’s a quote from louisgray.com: Silicon Valley Blog:

The latest “Hype” in the family aims to take the mantra of “The best stories, the biggest fans” and apply it to a world where people are more familiar with movie scripts than JavaScript, and the box office is more closely watched than the NASDAQ. ShowHype users can log in to view the most popular entertainment news, videos and blogs of the day, submit new articles or even create unique ShowHype stories for what’s sure to become a focused audience trading in the latest Hollywood dirt.

Check out ShowHype and find out even more about your favorite stars and shows.

Other good places to check out info is TV Bender, Watching Bones, or another one of 451’s great tv sites.

Another good episode of Criminal Minds. I’d say Good, not great, not extraordinary. It was good. I think I’m just more happy to finally see new ones than I am with the quality of the actual episodes. They are good quality, but the story lines could be a little more developed and interesting. But it is good to see some more personal stuff thrown in there: Hotch and his son, Morgan and his four properties (I wonder if that will come up again soon.) Rossi looked more leader-ish in this episode. Reid seemed kind of in the background though - I hope there are more episodes that foucs on him more. The rest of the season is supposedly going to set up a lot of stuff for next season, so more interesting things should be happening in the coming weeks.

According to the overnight Neilsen ratings, CM and CSI:NY put CBS solidly in second place behind Fox, which aired Idol Gives Back. Idol had about 17.6 million viewers, and CM had about 13…pretty good numbers.

I came across a blog post at StarPulse.com about celebrity fashion. Here’s what they have to say about our beloved Kirsten Vangsness:

Kristen Vangsness may play a savvy audio/visual tech girl on CBS’ “Criminal Minds,” but she sure isn’t as wise when it comes to her red carpet fashion choices. At the same event as Hal Sparks, Kristen appeared as if she were channeling her inner Madonna (circa 1980s) with those gloves slash inner dominatrix with that corset belt slash inner June Cleaver with that puffy dress. This, in the end, equaled an outer disaster. Which we, unfortunately, had to witness.

Well, you have to take some risks to stand out, right? And she does stand out. Plus she gets to hang out with Thomas Gibson, Shemar Moore, and Matthew Gray Gubler all day…I think she’s doing ok. Read the rest of the post to find out who else is band candy and who is good candy at StarPulse.

It’s hard to beat the unbeatable American Idol, but Wednesday night’s episode, “Damaged,” did a great job trying. Ratings for CBS went up during the time slot over previous weeks.

In the upcoming episode, “A Higher Power,” CM writer Michael Udesky consulted a handwriting expert for help in developing the show. Treyce d’Gabriel, owner of Center of Forensic Profiling in Arizona, is a handwriting expert of national renown. She has worked on murder cases (one in which she had to warn a woman her husband was trying to kill her and who did ultimately kill her a year later) and the defense of Michael Jackson.

“A Higher Power” has the team investigating a series of disguises suicides in Pittsburgh, and d’Gabriel was contacted regarding suicide notes.

d’Gabriel obviously sees the usefulness of handwriting analysis, but she doesn’t want people to think that it is all conclusive. From an article in the West Central Tribune:

She also cautions that handwriting analysis only tells so much. She watched one popular television crime drama in which a handwriting “expert” made conclusions that are really not possible at all. It upset her enough to contact CBS and voice her complaint.

She said the popular image of handwriting analysis ranges from those who lump it together with reading tea leaves and palms, to those who believe the science is almost all-revealing.

d’Gabriel said the science of handwriting analysis is often misunderstood, and sometimes abused. There is no licensing system for forensic handwriting analysts. The Internet makes it possible for anyone to hang out a shingle and pretend to be an expert, she warned.

You can check out more on Treyce d’Gabriel at the Center of Forensic Profiling.

Last night’s episode of Criminal Minds started with nightmares for David Rossi, which prompts him to visit Garcia in the middle of the night. An awkward moment ensues when David Lynch (Nicholas Brendan steps out of the shower).
From there, Rossi goes to Indianapolis to work on the twenty year old murder case that has been giving him nightmares. Morgan, Prentiss, and JJ find out from Garcia what he’s up to and hop on the old jet to follow him.

Meanwhile, Hotch and Reid are at a prison, visiting a death row inmate. They’re supposed to be interviewing him, but his plan is to kill them, and stave off the death penalty that is coming in the next few weeks. Hotch gets angry and takes off the tie and jacket. Reid jumps in and talks to the guy until the guards are back from the yard and can let them out.

So back in Indianapolis, the rest of the BAU team visits the three children of the murdered parents. They tell Rossi to go away, stop giving them gifts to remind them of the night their parents were killed. Of course, he hadn’t been sending them gifts. This is the piece of information he’d been waiting for, and from there, they find the killer. Who is a developmentally delayed son of a carnival owner. It was sad - the father kept telling him not to fight when they were arresting him. It’s hard to feel bad for killers, but I came very close.

So, all turns out happy in the end. Except for Hotch, who signs his divorce papers. I read in an article a few days ago, that the rest of season three is really working to set up season four, so there will be a lot of suprises coming, and maybe something to do with Hotch and his soon to be ex-wife. Garcia’s got her romance, and maybe another team member will (maybe JJ?? She is pregnant on the show too!)

Next week, “A Higher Power” airs. An unusually high rate of suicide in a particular area gets the attention of the team. Someone is putting depressed people out of their misery.

Tonight is CM’s first new episode for 2008. In “Damaged,” apparently there is a connection between a case the team is investigating and the one that has followed Rossi for twenty years. Make sure to tune in at nine on CBS.

Here is the promo for “Damaged” - it looks very creepy. Can’t wait!

The long wait for new Criminal Minds episodes is almost over. The first of seven new ones to end the third season will air on Wednesday, April 2. “Damaged” tells the story of Rossi’s 20 year obsession. He travels back to Chicago to look into the case that left three children orphaned. Their parents were killed on Christmas Eve, I think it was. Apparently, Rossi has the help of the rest of the BAU team (though I don’t know if it’s official).

Guest stars are Nicholas Brendan and Nicholle Tom (Maggie on The Nanny, if anyone is dorky enough to remember that show…yes, of course, I remember that show.)

Did anyone else notice that InFANity was not on last night at eight. I feel like I’m going a little crazy, because TV Guide listings said it was. I just didn’t want to miss seeing CM! But apparently, it’s supposed to air today too, at 2:00 pm, and again tomorrow at 11:00pm.

Also, in sort-of CM related news, Mandy Patinkin is thriving as a musician. Take a look at this article in today’s Sun Times News Group for more info. I still love Mandy Patinkin! He’s also going to take to the stage, in a production of The Tempest this summer. It’s good he’s doing what he loves.

Also, one more thing. Valeria, an Italian reader of Watching Criminal Minds and big fan of the show has asked for some help. Here is her comment:

Hi Katie! I’m an italian student, fan of criminal minds!
I’m really interested in product placement and I’m studing this phenomenon, comparing italian and american tv.
Could you help me? Did you, or someone else, notice some brands or products in a particular episode?
I remember, for exemple, Garcia using a Nintendo ds, in the first season.

I really need your help

thanks

I can’t think of any products off the top of my head, but I’ll keep an eye out. If anyone has any answers for Valeria, it’d be appreciated. Also, you might try Criminal Minds Fanatic…I know during the strike, they listed a bunch of the sponsers that appeared in each show, so they may be able to help you with product placement as well.

Tonight, on the TV Guide channel’s InFANity, we’ll get a backstage glance at Criminal Minds. Check that out at 8:00.

I have a new hero. Kirsten Vangsness. Not only is she funny and spunky, she is a shoe connoisseur. She, along with Nanny Stella, Rachel Harris, and Domenica Catelli, will judge what is the best open toed shoe for the summer. The event benefits The One Small Voice Foundation. One Small Voice is a fundraising program dedicated to the Children’s Hospital Los
Angeles’ research on Optic Nerve Hypoplasia, which is conducted by Dr. Mark Borchert. Dr.
Borchert is the only pediatric neuro-opthamologist in the world who is
researching the cause of this disease, which is the single leading cause of
blindness in children. The cause of this disease is the key to finding a
treatment and a cure.

Kirsten isn’t alone among her CM friends in her charitable work. Shemar Moore bikes for MS, Thomas Gibson golfs for charity, as does Joe Mantegna.

Shemar Moore made himself useful during the writers’ strike. “I bought a new place last year. I had some time to do painting and landscaping.”

In other news, AJ Cook is expecting her first child with her husband Nathan Anderson. The pregnancy, apparently, will be written into the show, so that’ll be interesting!! Congrats!
And thanks to Diane for the heads-up on that one!

Nicholas Brendan will appear in at least one more Criminal Minds episode. Here’s what it says on EOnline’s Watch with Kristen:

Nat in Nashville: I’m in dire need of Criminal Minds dish! Help a girl out, won’t you?
Nicholas Brendon starts shooting his third ep of Criminal Minds this week. He told me about his character Kevin’s thing with Garcia: “We’re doing it. Well, we did it. You’ll see. We did it—and then she became my partner.” Ooh-la-la!

For some more spoilers on your favorite shows, check this site out. There’s a lot of info.

I hate game shows…I especially hate The Price is Right…I especially hate when it is on at night when we should be watching something entertaining. I do like Drew Carrey, and yes, I even liked Bob Barker, but I cannot stand The Price is Right. Broadcasting & Cable is reporting that CBS ordered four - FOUR- more primetime Price specials to air Wednesdays at eight to serve as lead-ins for Criminal Minds. Apparently, no one shares my dislike of this show because it played on Fridays throughout February and won its time slot each time. So this is good for CM, if it helps pull in additional viewers. These specials will start airing on April 30.