Criminal Minds: Paget Brewster Upped to Series Regular in Season 12 Following Thomas Gibson’s Firing
For longtime Criminal Minds fans, this should take some of the sting out of Thomas Gibson’s abrupt dismissal.
In the wake of Gibson’s controversial firing, the CBS procedural has turned former co-star Paget Brewster‘s temporary Season 12 comeback arc as SSA Emily Prentiss into a full-time return. A CBS rep confirms that Brewster is once again a full-fledged series regular.
“We’re all so excited to have Paget with us full time,” said exec producer Erica Messer in a statement. “The BAU family has definitely missed her, on screen and off. Having her back on set has been great, it’s like she never left.”
Earlier this month, Gibson was let go from Criminal Minds after an on-set dust-up in which he allegedly kicked a producer. In the past, Gibson had been made to attend anger-management classes after reportedly shoving an assistant director. At the time of his ouster, the actor — who is said to be exploring his legal options — said in a statement: “I love Criminal Minds and have put my heart and soul into it for the last 12 years… I had hoped to see it through to the end, but that won’t be possible now.”
TVLine reported last week that Criminal Minds is looking to add two new series regulars following Gibson’s exit, with one of the characters (presumably Brewster’s Prentiss) eyed to succeed Hotchner as team leader. Previously announced Season 12 tweaks include Adam Rodriguez’s full-time arrival as Alvez and Aisha Tyler’s promotion to series regular as Dr. Tara Lewis.
Criminal Minds‘ 12th season bows Wednesday, Sept. 28. Brewster’s first episode back airs Oct. 12.
This is great news. As sad as I am about Gibson, I’m so glad to have Prentiss back full time.
Don’t think it matters much, the show’s done without Gibson. Still, good for her. She’ll hold her nose and grab all the money she can. Can’t wait for the train wreck ahead. Two shows and re-runs.
These CBS procedurals have survived worse. I’m not worried yet.
Unfortunately, it’s a 12-year-old procedural that’s near it’s end. Ratings-wise, I’m pretty sure Paget Brewster won’t do much to offset the loss of Gibson. Not sure anyone could at this point. But, keep thinking positive.
If nobody could then what does it matter if Gibson is gone?
Near its end ratings wise? It actually has great ratings considering its 12yrs old(9-10mil)! It’s nowhere near bowing out. Several shows have lasted through major cast changes without a problem.
CM was doing pretty good for a 12-year-old show … with Gibson around. But that’s not the case anymore. They fired him and there are lots of angry and unhappy fans that plan to stop watching and boycott the show. I don’t think the numbers will be so hot after the first couple of shows and if Paget Brewster (and some other stiff) is what they’re slapping themselves on the back for and trumpeting now, they’re in big, big trouble. It would have lasted longer with Gibson around, but yeah, I think the show’s done.
There were a lot of angry and upset people when the NCIS folks let Ziva walk and they were also predicting the end of the show. In the intervening years, it’s only been the #1 Drama every season.
Now with Tony leaving, we’ll see how that affects the show The same folks that were up in arms predicting the demise of NCIS are back predicting the demise of NCIS now that Tony is gone. But we’ll see how this goes, the show has been renewed for two years.
I think NCIS would be in serious trouble if Mark Harmon was abruptly fired from the show. His departure, not the others, would have a much bigger impact on the future of NCIS. NCIS without Harmon is a much better comparable to the current situation of Criminal Minds without Thomas Gibson. And, no, I don’t think NCIS would survive too much longer in this situation, either.
Sure. That occurred to me when I posted my reply. And Mark Harmon/Gibbs is really that show; the rest are fillers. I’m not certain that Hotch’s character fills that role as completely as Gibbs. Whereas the Gibbs role is front and center; the take charge guy, Hotch’s tends to be more of ‘one of the members’ who happens to be the Team Leader. Up until recently, everybody seemed to be relatively equal in the BAU (other than Penelope; she’s not a field agent, but has an important role).
The show won’t be over because of Gibson. They’ll suffer more without out Shemar’s personality than Gibson’s monotone. If it’s going to be over it’s because they’ve been on so long they’ve already been recycling storylines for a couple of seasons and there’s only so much more they can squeeze out of it.
Right. Firing Gibson will have nothing to do with the show getting cancelled this year. Not having Shemar around will hurt more. Right. Sorry, but I’ll have to disagree with you on this one.
Your opinion. I see it from a completely different view point. Can’t make it without TG. He speaks and says what is written for him. Complain ViRgil Williams!
… Thomas?
Lol seriously, I’ll miss Morgan. I won’t miss Hotch. I am THRILLED to see Prentiss not only coming back but full time !!! I quite like Lewis and I hope the new Alvez character will be an interesting one.
As long as I get to watch the girls and Spencer I’m good anyway, but with Prentiss back I can’t wait to see the group dynamic again! Yay!
I agree Sarah.
I totally agree. They continue to replace the ones that made CM
and many of my friends are tired of all the reruns and are tired of seeing the BAU team be replaced by others its no longer a great show. Miss Hot Derick Morgan, and others coming and going and now Hotch has been fired
Absolutely!!!
Is she the star now? Will she get top billing and the paycheck to match?
Doubt it. Joe Mantegna will still have top billing. I assume Paget will have the ‘and’ credit that Gibson had, if her agent is smart enough. It may have been a factor in her coming back full time. That and more money than she was earning before.
Stopped watching 7 years ago. Sick of the serial killer of the week getting worse and more bloody.
I did too. Plus I can’t stand the character of Prentiss.
I stopped watching years ago, too because the show is just too dark. But I am a big fan of Paget Brewster, who can do drama and comedy eqully as well.
Yeah, I actually liked Prentiss more than Hotch. That’s not a knock on Hotch though, he’ll be missed. However I think that they have some strong people to carry on the show. Happy about Tyler’s promotion as well.
I agree about Prentiss being more if a draw than Hotch. I used to watch TG on “Dharma and Greg,” so I was surprised to hear of his anger issues. I rarely watched it the last 2 yrs because it was getting too disturbing, but I’ll give it a try w/Prentiss back. I think Shemar is a big loss give overcome though.
That’s great news. Love Paget. Does this mean Aisha Tyler is out as a regular (I hope so). Couldn’t be less happy about that choice.
So you have a problem with a black woman being added as a regular? Your problematic views are showing.
You can’t make it a race issue just because she happens to be black. Maybe she just doesn’t like Aisha’s acting.
The maybe Angle425 to explain why she’s not happy about Aisha Tyler joining Criminal Minds and if the reason is because she just doesn’t like the actress.and not because Aisha’s black.
People often tend to not feel the need to go into depth when sharing a basic opinion about something like a cast change, because they probably assume that they’re not going to be accused of things like racism if they don’t.
Exactly what I thought. Good response Steven.
Are you kidding me!? That is where your mind goes? I think that says more about you.
I personally prefer Aisha in comedic roles and don’t think she fits well with the team. I didn’t think Jennifer Love Hewitt fit either. It must be because I am a self hating woman.
Get a grip, it isn’t all about race. I loved her on Ghost Whisperer, but she eleft to persue a comedic career. I don’t like her in this genre either.
Really? You went there?
When some people took issue with Jeanne Tripplehorn or Jennifer Love Hewitt being added as regulars at one point, did you automatically assume that it was cause they’re white.
I really like Aisha Tyler. She has been on off and on and I was hoping she would be a regular with Gibson leaving.
You are what is wrong with the world.
Get over the black stuff always come back to black
I doubt it. Paget can come back and Aisha can stay. As of right now, they have Aisha, Adam, Paget, AJ, Kirsten, Joe and Matthew. That’s 7. Which is how many the usually have and were going to have this season.
It’s also possible that Paget could be one of the 2 actors they were planning on hiring. So if they hire one more it would just up the total to 8. A bit much, but not unreasonable.
Those seven make a strong cast. If CM doesn’t make it, it’ll probably be due more to the repetitive storylines than the actors/characters.
I don’t think they will reduce Aisha’s status back down to recurring, I think she comes a bit cheaper since she is already under contract with CBS Daytime for The Talk.
I prefer Aisha over Hewitt any day. Funny, I didn’t see Hewitt hanging out with Kirsten, AJ, Paget and Aisha months ago. Aisha is family. Jhew isn’t.
Hope Hewitt is not coming back. She was awful in this role.
if JLH had a choice she’d choose to come back and get Aisha Paget and AJ FIRED. She thinks losing TG isn’t heartbreaking enough for the CM family.
Aisha Tyler is now a series regular. See the second to last paragraph.
No, as it states above.
Good news, now she can be the head of the department. In fact I think having a female at the top might make this show a little more current.
CM fans are very happy about Paget Brewster’s return since the firing of Thomas Gibson. Would her return help or hurt the series in Season 12? No complaining
Is this that Mr. Tran K guy who used to comment on every article stating the obvious?
Yep that’s him.
Looks like he still hasn’t gotten a life outside this site. Inb4 him complaining about people complaining.
THIS IS FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But still no word on whether she is the new unit chief?
Because that would make her return even better!!!!!!!!!
I’m really hoping/thinking she will take over for Hotch. Would Prentiss really give up being the leader of her own team to come back into a lower position and taking orders from someone else? In 10×01, they had Rossi, JJ, Garcia and Morgan talking about replacements for Blake and they mentioned Hotch tried to get Prentiss back but she declined. Of course, she could have a change of heart but for some reason I think she’s going to be offered the position.
I don’t want to see her back to be receiving orders from someone who isn’t either the Section Chief Matt Cruz or the Director , I WILL RIOT!
She deserves that position, she is the only one on the team with both seniority and experience in a leading position, apart from Rossi but he just doesn’t want it. Maybe he will be in charge for a while while Hotch is away and then he’ll ask Emily to take over definitely, I’d be fine with that too, Rossi has taken over for Hotch many times while he couldn’t, so it wouldn’t be too weird seeing him there for a bit, so long as Emily gets the spot permanently.
Either that, or she’s going to want to come back because Hotch is gone. I’m interested in how they write this into the storyline, and if it does portend what actually happens to Hotch. Maybe he gets killed off and she feels she has to come back. Or if he lives, it will go back down to him asking her to return again, as he’s leaving.
I don’t believe Cruz has enough history with her to go get her back; I would think it would be Hotch and/or the team to lobby for her. Or lobby Cruz to go get her.
It’ll be either Emily, JJ or Rossi. All three are cool with me.
I just yelled BOO YAH really loud in the office and after explaining why, no one here seems to understand my enthusiasm.
LOL! That made me genuinely smile and laugh!
It doesn’t take any of the sting away. No hotch no watch.
Exactly!
Bye then.
I’m not surprised by this news because Criminal Minds might realized it was better to bring back someone the viewers already knew than bring on someone new to replace Gibson.
They’re still hiring someone else to replace him though (not necessarily in the leadership position)
It was a ridiculous, rash move to fire Thomas Gibson – he is an integral part of the show, as was Shemar Moore. Having Paget Brewster back is great, but the compounded and unnecessary loss of ‘Hotch’ is untenable. Undo this mistake if its not too late.
rash move? He was violent at the work place. In no other job would it be acceptable to behave like that and show business should be no different. I love him on the show but even I can agree with their decision to fire him.
Tired of the work place argument. Hollywood is not a normal workplace (egos, fights, abuse galore). Can’t believe they couldn’t settle it without getting people fired, but I guess it’s all about lawsuits now. Truth is, there’s no way the network would want to get rid of Gibson without being forced to.
It’s not “an argument.” It’s the facts. You can claim that Hollywood is some special land where people have to suck it up and be abused as long as you like the actor, but studios have to look out for the entire cast and crew. If someone can’t learn how to behave like a grown-up, they need to go.
And there’s no way that the network would have been able to get rid of Gibson if they didn’t have ample reasons, reasons that fans on the internet aren’t privy to.
I just told you the reason, it’s called a lawsuit. Simple math. They can beat Gibson in court, Williams not so much. So, Gibson’s gone.
I agree
If this was his first offense yes. But it wasn’t.
The worst thing is happened months ago and we just heard about it. So why it was “released” is a little weird. Seems to me like CBS wanted to save $$.
You seem to know a lot about Hollywood workplaces, Catton. Do you work in TV?
Grown up no other work place I seen worse
People can say they shouldn’t have fired him or fired the boss, but none of us know what exactly was in Gibson’s contract. He could have had a clause regarding his anger management.
I just don’t get this. Was Thomas Gibson really big crowd puller for anyone. Ignoring the rights or wrongs of the reason for his departure I really struggle to see why it would make anyone more or less likely to watch. He really was the least interesting character (in a team of generally lightly drawn characters). And I have watched every episode up to the middle of last season.
One could argue thst what Gibson did was ridiculous and rash behavior, too. He got himself fired because he kicked a co-worker. Williams may have been aggressive but Gibson could have walked away and not gotten physical. Maybe he thought he’d get away with nothing more slap on the wrist just like when he shoved another crew member in 2010. He even got a raise when he got a new contract at the end of that season. Too bad for Gibson that networks wasn’t having any of that this time around. The networks have fired other cast members (Cook and Brewster) for far less.
Great news. I always liked her on CM
Just when Prentiss thought she was out, the BAU pulled her back in! Great news for us Paget Brewster fans… but storyline-wise, wouldn’t this be a demotion for her? (I thought Prentiss was the head of her own Interpol division, last I heard.)
First off, “we’re so happy to have her back” line they can shove up their can. They had a great time getting rid of all the female characters a couple years back, and now look. Maybe CBS should be a little nicer to their female actors. Secondly, why would Prentiss be leader, and not David.
Rossi may not want it. He’s been trying to reconnect with his daughter and her family and her mother and having difficulties because of the job adding more responsibilities would make that even harder to accomplish.
Technically, the person responsible for dismissing Paget Brewster and AJ Cook, Nina Tassler, left CBS a long time ago. But I do agree with how they made a mistake getting rid of the two actresses. I’ve said this in other posts, but if I ever met Ms. Tassler, I’d probably give her the brogue kick, the running bullhammer, the stone cold stunner, the F5, the tombstone piledriver, the pedigree, and the RKO all at once, and for good measure, suplex her through a table. I swear, Vince McMahon could have done a better job running CBS than what Ms. Tassler did.
Erica Messer or another show producer was the one who said they were happy to have Paget back. Erica and the CM producers didn’t have anything to do with getting rid of Prentiss and JJ. That was the head of CBS who forced the show to do so. That’s why in JJs final episode there was the mentions of “how could they do this? They’re tearing apart our family”. The show’s writers threw those lines in as a “screw you” type of thing to the network head. So glad Tassler is gone from CBS now.
I still like a couple of people on the show, Reid and JJ, but I haven’t even finished the last season and I may be done with this show now. Sad, but it really hasn’t done much for me for several years now.
Now that Hotch is gone, FORGET IT! The show is really screwed!! Will not be watching anymore!
I’m with you. Hotch was my favourite character. I won’t be watching.
I agree, the show is finished.
Criminal Minds is done with Hotchner’s exit. Stick a fork in it, I’m not watching it anymore. First Morgan, now this? I’mean out!
How can they justify Prentiss leaving the head of Interpol to return to the Bau?
While it would be a step down for her, chances are that whatever reason is given for Hotch’s exit will also be used to help justify Prentiss staying.
If the team is (presumably!) in crisis, her return makes all the sense in the world.
First, she isn’t the head of Interpol she is head of a department in Interpol. Second, there are a number of reasons they could come up with to have her come back even if it was a step down. Maybe her mother is ill and she wanted to be back in the states to be close to her.
Was silently hoping that this move is what they were quietly negotiating as it makes so much sense – and would especially love it if she does turn out to be the new team leader . This is great and hoped for news.
Very good news! I always liked Paget Brewster and while I’m sorry she’s available because Grandfathered was cancelled, I’m glad she’s come back home.
have said all along, if Prentiss can replace Hotch as boss, then all will be fine. She’s THAT popular!
Keep drinking the Kool-Aid. C’mon, get serious.
You seem to have it out for the show. There are a lot of people who work on these shows besides the ones you see in front of the camera. Many of them don’t pull in loads of money. Do you always hope for people to lose their jobs?
I am really glad Prentiss is coming back. I really liked her. Sad about Gibson. Now if they could get Shemar Moore back, that would be awesome
This does not make me any happier. I don’t like Prentiss nearly as much as I loved Hotch.
Really happy “Emily” will be back – she was a great part of the cast and I missed the character. Hate that Hotch is going to be gone. Hope Morgan comes back!!
The husband says, “I’ll be watching for Delko. I’ll check it out to see how he does. Too bad they couldn’t get Ryan Wolfe, and the whole gang.” He didn’t much care for the Prentiss character, but he will check out the Adam Rodriguez addition.
As long as she still does “drunk history” everything will be cool.
This is cool. We can never get the band together again, but this is good enough.