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Criminal Minds fans launched a massive campaign to bring back co-star A.J. Cook, whose option for next season wasn’t picked up, including setting up an online petition that has gathered more than 35,000 signatures and mailing thousands of lipsticks and file folders to CBS. Well, I hear she might be coming back in the fall but only for one episode. CBS has been firmly standing by its decision to part ways with the actress, and there is no deal in place with her, but I hear showrunner Ed Bernero is behind the idea to get Cook back for one episode so her character JJ’s story could be tied up and given a proper exit. Cook had been largely quiet on the controversy besides tweeting a note to the show’s fans last week, thanking them for their support. Meanwhile, her co-star Paget Brewster is in discussions with CBS over the network’s offer to keep her on the show as a regular but for reduced number of episodes.
CBS’ ‘Criminal Minds’ Cuts Female Cast But Will Add New Female Cast Member; Fans and Co-Stars Back ‘Minds’ Actresses
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Until CBS/Nina Tassler reverse the desicion and bring back AJ Cook and Paget Brewster FULL TIME I am going on hunger strike. Extreme, yes? But maybe it’ll show them that sexism is a serious matter.
CBS, CBS, CBS, what are you thinking? WE’re not going to give up!
Technically, A.J. is not a “co-star” — she’s a series regular.
Technically speaking, an actor in the opening credits is, in fact, a star of the show. However, if they aren’t plaing one of the one, maybe two or three central characters, they are definitely co-stars. And even two leads are co-stars of each other.
The terms “star” and “co-star” aren’t the most precise terms in the world due to the subjective, relative aspect to determining them.
– Rob
Oh, CBS, you and your sexists and silly ways. Pissing off your viewers, even though they stick to this show through that plague american idol.
Good luck. You are gonna need it.
I’ve never been moved and so shaken by something I read/see about a tv show. I’ve always loved Criminal Minds. It’s an excellent show and the chemistry between its characters and actors is incredible. Proof, this is the first time I sign petition, write on some blogs and contact CBS ,through it’s obvious they don’t care of their viewers but I do that for those gorgeous actresses and also for the show itself, it’s such a good one. It won’t last, for sure. Criminal Minds survived two departures in the past. I guess they think it would survive JJ/AJ’s departurea and Paget’s reduced screen time. What a mistake ! They ruined Without a Trace and they’re ruining Criminal Minds too. I hate what they do. I hate to think of what AJ may feel. She doesn’t deserve that, it’s disgusting. It’s truly sexist. I will never forgive them ! She always did a great job. Of course, because of what happened to Hotch, the fact the job is in any case hard they already found the script to exit JJ for good. It won’t be coherent, but who cares ? Certainly not CBS. Considering Paget didn’t post anything on her twitter about her “big meeting later today. Figured I should have a back up plan if things don’t go my way. Anybody hiring bartenders? ‘Cuz I still got it ! “. I don’t expect good news for her either. It’s untolerable, she doesn’t deserve that either ! Her character is so important for the show, it’s pretty obvious when you watch CM. I will never forgive them about her either. Paget, AJ, I wish you could read those lines : they don’t deserve you. And I want to say to Thomas Gibson, Shemar Moore, Joe Mantegna, Matthew Gray Gubler and Kirsten Vangsness : they don’t deserve you either. They’re ruining this show. I’ll watch the show just for the actors, they’re still there. However, clearly I’m not enthusiastic about this 6th season, even if in France all of this is quite far.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the ratings were a disaster. They couldn’t turn back time if this happen ! The show always had great ratings, obviously no change is needed.
In France, we’re still at season 5. My heart is broken each time I see Paget and AJ. I wonder if people (for the ones that will watch, of course) will be able to accept the new female character that would arrive, considering how AJ has been unfairly fired and Paget semi-fired. My heart is with them, I wish I could tell them.
I have no words to say how much I’m disgusted and angry. It’s, in any case, one thing that make you understand better why actors prefers movies than tv. Too ungrateful, too disrespectful, too insulting, too despising.
I’m so sick and tired of the drama surrounding this show in every season break. What gives? Does CBS really needs to mess around with it even though it’s followed by 13 million people every week?
But you know what, lay off the guy drama and write for your female characters Criminal Minds. And focus back in this show and not that sad attempt of a spin-off. And do not make JJ leave because of her MAN, her baby, since that sellfish as hell Hotch didn’t bother to do, or kill her off like bastards!
I’m hoping that AJ tells them to suck it and doesn’t come back at all to clean this mess that CBS made. And I hope Paget stays, because 45 minutes of Hotch being serious, Rossi being spoiled, Morgan being annoying and MGG being girly will make me sad I kept watching. Oh, and less Garcia and her need to question herself for picking this job.
What is it with all the Garcia bashing on this thread. She is (arguably perhaps, but by reading twitter) the favourite of the three CM ladies. But that’s it. They are a three. I would rather none of them went.
I cannot believe this. I don’t want her back for 1 episode, I want her back for the next 50 seasons. It won’t be the same without her. Nor with less Prentiss.
I’m glad I’m in The Netherlands, so I don’t have much to do with CBS. Which doesn’t mean I won’t boycot them in any way I can. Don’t they want good ratings? Shouldn’t they calculate how a decision affects a fanbase? I think this will cost them viewers. More viewers than they anticipated.
CBS =
Criminal
Bonehead
Sexists
Time to move on Criminal Minds fans!
And I mean move on from this show.
Because it’s doomed.
Because CBS has been trying to kill it for years now. And now they are finally going to do just that.
And on that note, congrats CBS, you really outdid yourselves this time.
PS: NOT WATCHING THE SPIN OFF!
If CBS thinks we’re just going to go quietly into the night by the promise of ONE tiny little ep for JJ, they are out of their minds! This will NOT do. We’re NOT gonna take it! CBS, wise up! You’ve made one horrible decision after another this season and the viewers have had it with you! Not only will this move to get rid of JJ and reduce the episodes for Emily backfire by causing the show to have much much lower ratings, it will also most likely cause many to stop watching your network altogether! Many have already said they would. CBS, you must remember that in this age of internet, people can watch these shows online somewhere other than CBS.com, at least I would imagine they could since you can pretty much find anything on the internet these days. So either way, your network ratings will go down along with your idiotic decision making!
The comment someone made above is worth repeating. It’s obvious from the crapfest that is CBS that the mindset is to marginalize and humiliate women but seeing an actual mandate is shocking. Women you’re being made into fools.
______________________
“CBS has an in house policy to not allow mixed race couples, gay characters in leading roles and to keep the percentage of female leads to a minimum on their network.
Sexist and misogynistic to say the least. If you are upset call Les Moonves not Nina Tassler. She just wants to protect her job at all costs.
Women are paid less for equal work at CBS. I know.”
Looks like the conspiracy theory was right–CBS _does_ want to kill this show off because the net has less-expensive/fresher/younger stuff on deck.
The only shows that I watch on network TV are Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, The Office, 30 Rock & Glee. Correction, the only shows that I watch on network TV are The Office, 30 Rock and Glee. Guess that I’ll have to continue sticking to the cable networks to fulfill my need for shows that show strong, three dimensional female characters. That dumb Charlie Sheen show has the worst portrayal of women, so there should be no surprise it is on CBS. Shame on you, CBS. And shame on you, Ed Bernero for letting this happen.
Way to go CBS ruining a perfectly good show. The strength of Criminal Minds was the dynamic of the characters, the balance between them and the crimes and they chemistry between the actors.
And now, what’s left? Boys’ club to get yet another buddy cop procedural?
CBS is being unbelievably sexist in this decision. As a woman I want someone strong and independent to represent me, not another Carrie Bradshaw clone. Adding a new female role just shows that CBS thinks actresses are interchangeable and expendable. Way to go, CBS. You lost another CM fan.
Forgive me if I missed something in the post or a prior thread, but exactly how is CBS being sexist by letting this actress go? I caught the part where it was written that the cast will be like 90% male, but I also read how Cook is being replaced by another female. Some shows tend to be more male cast-centric, and others (think Sex and the City) are almost completely female.
Again, I may have missed something, I have never watched one episode of this show, but why is everyone so outraged, angry and screaming sexism??
And on another note, can we please just GET OVER IT with the sexism comments already in general? So tiresome. We ALMOST had a woman as President, you’ve got women on the Supreme Court, in Congress, as CEO’s (esp in entertainment), you go to any major university out there and the student population is at least 50% female and actually usually higher, women are now in the military…I mean, Jesus, just stop with the whining already.
So what you are saying is that since women have now access to higher education, well paid jobs and almost got the presidency they cannot complain anymore when they are obviously victims of discrimination?
I suggest that everyone read the current issue of Atlantic. It’s the annual ideas issue and the top idea is “The End of Men.” Let CBS promote sexist plots. They may be bucking for the new 4th place broadcast network soon. See me smile.
@Anonymous: “Forgive me if I missed something in the post or a prior thread, but exactly how is CBS being sexist by letting this actress go?”
Yes, you did miss something: which is that the firing of A.J. Cook and the demotion of Paget Brewster are the latest in a line of what can only be described as sexist behavior that also includes the firing of Liz Vassey from CSI and the cancellations of Ghost Whisperer and Old Christine. Twice is a coincidence, three times is sexism. And add two high-profile cancellations, and what CBS is doing is transparent and patently indefensible: nickel-and-diming on the backs of the women in front of the camera.
Rob Jensen,
somewhere in Central Missouri
By that same token you could say CBS is out to get men. Gary Unmarried was canceled. Numb3rs didn’t even get a full season before cancellation. And Eddie Ciprian was fired from CSI: Miami…. Oh, and NCIS: LA killed off Adam Jamal Craig. That’s four times. Definitely a pattern.
Holly, your analysis is amusingly shallow.
Eddie Cibrian being fired from CSI:Miami is a non-starter because he was hired in a failed effort to nickel-and-dime Adam Rodriguez. Rodriguez’s fanbase got him back onto his show. So once he was back, they could drop Cibrian. Obviously, Rodriguez was the canary in the coal mine regarding CBS nickel-and-diming its non-headliner opening-credits actors — which has resulted just in the past month in the firings of A.J. Cook from Criminal Minds and Liz Vassey from CSI and the demotion of Paget Brewster. But Rodriguez and Cibrian are both minorities, so let’s just keep that in mind as we look at CBS’s attitudes toward women and minorties some more.
Cancelling Ghost Whisperer and Old Christine in the male-skewing environment of CBS is like cancelling two or three Gary Unmarrieds and one or two Numb3rs in terms of the proportion of shows headed by women versus shows headed by men. Heck, I was even being generous in that ratio by not including Cold Case and Accidentally On Purpose. (You’re welcome.)
And that’s before you take into consideration that a network will launch 2 or 3 Gary Unmarrieds for ever one Old Christine.
As for Dom being killed off NCIS:LA — Dom was one of only three minorities among the lead characters on the two NCIS shows, with LL Cool J being the other minority on NCIS:LA and Rocky Carroll floating between the two series. NCIS:LA losing Dom is like, say, the two NCIS’s losing between them a total of three members of the non-black rest of the casts, or like losing one of the women.
Good thing that Cote de Pablo’s contract wasn’t going to be coming up for renewal until the end of this next season anyway or she likely would have faced the same nickel-and-diming that’s happened to Cook and Brewster. Something for de Pablo to look forward to, I guess.
Eva La Rue, too, depending on when her contract for CSI: Miami expires. Oh, and Hill Harper had better be on the look out, too. Lots of men on that show and only two women. He’ll be the one that CBS squeezes the next time his contract is up. ‘Cause he’s the one minority. On a show set in New York City.
But okay, I’ll play.
Adam Rodriguez — Latino. Adam Jamal Craig — Black. A.J. Cook, Liz Vassey, Paget Brewster — all women. Two minorities by ethnicity/race (three if you count Cibrian, but his status as a place-holder for Rodriguez muddies the waters), three minorities by gender. And two shows with women headliners cancelled due far more to penny-pinching than ratings.
CBS isn’t just being out-and-out sexist, it’s showing a trend toward even more general bigotry. Women and minorities, the first ones to whacked by the budget axe.
Rob Jensen,
somewhere in Central Missouri
CBS has made a calculated bet and obvious choice to disregard it’s female audience and try to cater to a male audience. This is sexist and stupid. Women watch television. Women, Women, Women- get with it CBS, how many fans do you plan to alienate by getting rid of your female stars-
For example why would you cancel a series that has won it’s time slot and it’s night for several seasons- oh yeah, the star is a woman- Sorry Ghost Whisperer.
Too bad, I too will join the many women on and off this board that have decided CBS doesn’t care about their female audience, see ya, no more CBS-
CBS are idiots. This stupid spinoff will crash before it even gets off the ground. And if this “canning of the two hotties” plays out, CM will soon be on its death bed.
As for this “brief return,” seeing as AJ is no longer under contract (I would assume), I for one hopes she gives them the symbolic middle finger and refuses to appear. Let the writers work with THAT!
-”CBS has made a calculated bet and obvious choice to disregard it’s female audience and try to cater to a male audience.”
Yeah, cutting out two of the hottest babes in primetime is a surefire way to cater to the male audience alright.
/sarcasm
Not good enough.
This show in particular abuses female characters in the worst sort of perverted ways, and here is the ONLY female character who is a mother, a compassionate spokesperson not just for the victims of unspeakably sadistic crimes, but for the crime-fighting team too, and this is the character CBS wants to be rid of?
Whatever the financial loss CBS thinks it will save by screwing Cook & Brewster cannot possibly amount to how much they will lose by screwing its female fans.
I’ve already deleted CM & CSIs 1, 2 & 3 from my DVR & my futon critic page. Next I will junk NCIS. Last to go will be Medium, The Good Wife & Katie Couric.
And if CBS still has ties to Showtime & the CW, I may not stop there.
It’s exasperating that there seem to be so many indications and conclusions that men and women will not watch the same shows. Yes, there are shows and content that deliberately skew to certain demographics. There are also shows that attract viewers across demographics. And I think CM was one.
I think CM will lose myriad mixed viewers for the actions its undertaken.
Anonymous – we have now have an African-American president, but that doesn’t mean racism has disappeared. Just because we have women as CEOs, in the Supreme Court, in the Congress and the Senate does not mean sexism has been erradicated, which is proved by the fact that CBS has cut the female actors of a top-rated ensemble show while leaving the males actors intact. If the cuts were across the board to all the actors, then there would be no issue, but they’re only cutting the women. It is also a little suspicious when they’ve cut many of their female driven shows that had good ratings, like The Ghost Whisperer. And using our voices to stand-up for ourselves and the actors on this show, is not whining and I am proud of all the people getting on here to state their outrage to this obvious sexism.
I really hope this isn’t CBS’s idea of pacifying the fans. This is the kind of stuff that will just make them angrier.
Believe it or not, one episode is worse than none, and everyone knows you can’t simply wrap up a characters storyline in one episode (especially without any foreshadowing that the character may leave).
That’s true. Especially if she’s already gone for part of the season and then comes back. It won’t make any sense for the character to explain why she left for the audience’s benefit. You’d assume the rest of the team would already know when she first left. Unless they write that JJ just up and disappeared one day and then comes back for a proper good bye.
Oh well, I wasn’t that emotionally invested in the show anyway, so no big deal to stop watching it. I liked it because of the strong female characters. The character played by Shemar Moore guy grated though, so it will be a relief not to hear him addressing a grown woman by the title ‘baby girl’ anymore.
So now 99% of the women on Criminal Minds will either be dead bodies or someone waiting to be tortured. That’s super smart, fellas.
Or locked in a computer room, protected by two doors, only been allowed to make phone calls, while the big, strong men run around saving all the estrogen in need on this planet.
They should have fire Joe Mantegna instead. No one would miss him too much. I would even change Shemar Moore for A.J.Cook. And i STILL miss Lola Glaudini from first seasons. I liked her so much. At least they could hire her for Spin-off. Fans would love it.
Even though I have heard wonders about Joe Mantegna, I agree.
David Rossi is a character that shouldn’t been added to the show to begin with. But they thought that the 6 couldn’t care the show so they stuck us with a big name.
And how wrong were they, those episodes between Mandy Patinkin and Joe were some of the best of Criminal Minds.
I’m still very upset and I don’t think I can even tune in to watch AJ being fired like a dog in one episode, even though her character has been there for 5 years. If this is how the network chooses to treat a show, the producers, the actors and the audience, I don’t think it deserves my attention.
Hey! No going after the other actors on the show!
1) They’re all supporting the petition through Tweeting (and even signing the petition), so they all deserve our loyalty just for that, and
2) Issues with character direction of characters can be fixed some other way than cutting a character that’s currently being neglected, whether it’s J.J., Prentiss or the currently underwritten Rossi, and
3) Most importantly, any attempt to suggest someone that should be cut instead of Cook and Brewster buys into the net’s silly argument that someone, anyone should should go — preferrably for them women, but when they eventually cave, no one else in the cast should become any sort of collateral damage of their sexism, even if it’s a white male actor. Because collateral damage of sexism is still damage rooted in sexism.
Rob Jensen,
somewhere in Central Missouri
I’m already looking for a show to take Criminal Minds spot comes fall.
Any suggestions? But please, only show that are not part of a network that likes to ruin them with their bad, bad, decisions.
Anything good at the same time at ABC? FOX? NBC?