Friday, January 14, 2011

Nina Tassler talks about Criminal Minds cast change at the TCA


From TheFutonCritic

-- And lastly, in regards to cutting A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster back on "Criminal Minds," Tassler said, "I wouldn't say it was just budget reasons. And I would say that over the past couple of years, you know, many shows take a look at adjusting their casts, their cast members, you know, sometimes for financial reasons. Other times, and in this case what it's about, which was we were developing a spin-off. And when we had 'Suspect Behavior' we looked at sort of the evolution of the franchise, we looked at what this vision of the FBI, how they actually did their jobs, what were the nature of the characters being introduced in the sequel and that did give us an opportunity to reflect back on the desired structure of the team on 'Criminal Minds.'

So there were some discussions about, you know, what role did A.J. play, what role does Paget play, is there an opportunity here with the spin-off to look back at the original show and say how can we build out that brand, how can we, we can evolve so that the roles of the agents in the original show? We hope Paget stays with the show, she has the option to stay there, we would like for her to continue on the show but I can tell you that across the board there are discussions about cast members changing [on every show]. It happens more often than necessarily is shared by the press but it is the nature of the evolution of any show.


From Deadline

On the decision to drop A.J. Cook from Criminal Minds. Tassler said it came out of the discussion related to the development of the show's upcoming spinoff. "We though, 'is there an opportunity with the sipnoff to evolve some of the roles (on the mothership series)?'." On Paget Brewster, whose episode commitment was reduced this season and whose future on the show is uncertain: "We'd hope that she would stay, she has the option to do so."

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Criminal Minds Promo Video for Episode 6.12 "Corazon"




International version by Kévin

Ed Bernero's Next Project Greenlighted by ABC studio




From: Nellie Andreeva

ABC has greenlighted two drama pilots, one from Criminal Minds executive producer/showrunner Ed Bernero and one from Grey's Anatomy executive producer Krista Vernoff. Both hail from ABC Studios. Ed Bernero's Partners is a police drama centered on two female police detectives who are fiercely loyal to one another since they’re also secretly sisters.

Shemar Moore on 'The Talk' Jan 17 2011


Shemar Moore will be on the talk show 'The Talk'!


UPCOMING GUESTS ON "THE TALK" ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

Monday through Friday (2:00-3:00 PM, ET; 1:00-2:00 PM, PT)
(*Denotes changes and/or additions to previous schedule, (n) Denotes new)

Monday, Jan. 17 Television personality/dancer/choreographer Paula Abdul ("Live to Dance"); actor Shemar Moore ("Criminal Minds") (n)



Source: CBS Press Express

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Kirsten Vangsness Talks about Cast Cut.


Kirsten Vangsness on 'Criminal Minds' cast cuts: 'I hate it'



Kirsten Vangsness is about to play one character in two series, but she admits her professional happiness is tempered.

As quirky techno-whiz Penelope Garcia, the actress has enjoyed a long run on CBS' crime drama "Criminal Minds"and she's carrying the part into the spinoff: Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior which will team her with Oscar winner Forest Whitaker and Janeane Garofalo when it premieres right after the parent show Wednesday, Feb. 16.

Vangsness landed the extra duty largely because of lobbying by co-star Paget Brewster, whose own "Criminal Minds" presence has been reduced this season. Also because of last year's dismissal of fellow cast member A.J, Cook, Vangsness maintains mixed feelings over currently being the franchise's representative full-time female.

"I hate it," she tells Zap2it. "That's the short answer. I can't even tell you it's bittersweet, though it is that in reality. It's like being a squatter in a house, since [the producers] have control over what they decide to do. The sweet part is that those women will rise like phoenixes.

"A.J. is going to be on [NBC's] 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' with Jeremy Irons tonight (Wednesday, Jan. 12), and I'm sure she's going to be amazing. She's great, and it's the same thing with Paget. I'm dear friends with both of them, so there is nothing shiny and sparkly to say other than ... I don't like it."

Vangsness has no worries about being so candid. "I can say 'no comment' about things, but I don't think there's anything wrong about speaking your truth about something like this. At the end of the day, it's going to work out fantastically for both those girls."

At least for now, "Criminal Minds" has a replacement in Rachel Nichols ("Alias"), playing an FBI cadet working with the Behavioral Analysis Unit. The third of her episodes was set to air this week, but it's been postponed by a last-minute shift that moves Paula Abdul's "Live to Dance" into the "Criminal" slot for one night.

"She's fantastic," Vangsness says of Nichols, "and I'm so glad she's here. It's so weird to have all these things happen. I'm still sore in my heart that A.J. isn't here, but so happy that Rachel is -- and they're entirely separate things. I can have both of those feelings. It's not like one person smashed out the other."

Source: http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2011/01/kirsten-vangsness-on-criminal-minds-cast-cuts-i-hate-it.html

CBS Schedule Change for Jan 12 2011





Sorry to report that CBS as pre-empted the previously schedule Criminal Minds episode 'JJ'.