Criminal Minds is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was revived in 2022. It follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), using behavioral analysis and profiling to investigate crimes and find the unsub (unknown subject), the team's term for perpetrators. The show tells the story of the team as they work various cases and tackle their personal struggles.
CBS announced in October 2009 that Legacy Interactive would develop a video game based on the show. The game would require players to examine crime scenes for clues to help solve murder mysteries. The interactive puzzle game was released in 2012, but the show's cast was not involved with the project so it did not feature any of their voices. The second game, developed by Tilting Point, was released on November 20, 2018, for Android and iOS devices.
The Season 5 episode, "The Fight", introduced a second BAU team and launched a series called Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior. The spin-off series debuted February 16, 2011, on CBS but was canceled after a short 13-episode season owing to low ratings. On September 6, 2011, CBS DVD released The Complete Series on a four-disc set. It was packaged as "The DVD Edition".
A proposed new series in the Criminal Minds franchise to be named Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders was announced in January 2015. Former CSI: NY star Gary Sinise (who is also a producer on the show) and Anna Gunn were cast in the lead roles of Jack Garrett and Lily Lambert, though the latter departed after the backdoor pilot. Tyler James Williams was cast as Russ "Monty" Montgomery and Daniel Henney as Matt Simmons, with Alana de la Garza as Clara Seger and Annie Funke as Mae Jarvis further being cast as series regulars.
The series follows the FBI agents of the International Response Team (IRT) helping American citizens who are in trouble abroad. CBS aired a backdoor pilot on April 8, 2015, in the Criminal Minds slot, with a crossover episode titled "Beyond Borders". The second spin-off series debuted March 16, 2016, on CBS. On May 16, 2016, CBS renewed the series for a second season. On May 14, 2017, CBS canceled the series after two seasons due to low ratings.
In 2016, a study by The New York Times of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook Likes found that "like several of the other police procedurals", Criminal Minds "is more popular in rural areas, particularly in the southeastern half of the country. It hits peak popularity in Alabama and rural Tennessee and is least popular in Santa Barbara, Calif."
In 2017, tvN launched their own Korean version of Criminal Minds. The episodes are based on the original American version after its third season. On the cast is Lee Joon-gi as Kim Hyun-joon (Derek Morgan), Moon Chae Won as Ha Sun-woo (Emily Prentiss), Son Hyun-joo as Kang Ki-hyung (Aaron Hotchner), Yoo Sun as Nana Hwang (Penelope Garcia), Lee Sun-bin as Yoo Min-young (Jennifer Jareau), and Go Yoon as Lee Han (Spencer Reid). The episodes are hour-long.
Criminal Minds became a rating hit for CBS, regularly featuring as one of the network's most-watched shows throughout its 15-year-long run. Its success has spawned a media franchise, with several spinoffs, including a South Korean adaptation and a video game. The show was renewed for its fifteenth and final season of ten episodes, which aired from January 8, 2020, to February 19, 2020. It was the final series in the franchise to end, following its two spin-off series, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, which had been cancelled previously due to low ratings. A sixteenth season of the series, Criminal Minds: Evolution, premiered on Paramount+ in November 2022. A planned true-crime docuseries, titled The Real Criminal Minds, was also ordered by Paramount+.
In February 2021, a revival of the series was in early development at Paramount+, with a 10-episode sixteenth season revival officially greenlit. As of the Television Critics Association winter press tour a year later, it is still in development. In July 2022, Paramount+ officially gave the revival a full season order. The main cast of the previous seasons are all set to return, with the absence of Daniel Henney and Matthew Gray Gubler, the latter of whom has been with the series since the first episode. The season begin filming in August 2022. In January 2023, Paramount+ renewed the series for a seventeenth season.
On January 12, 2023, Paramount+ renewed Criminal Minds: Evolution. The seventeenth season, like its predecessor, will contain 10 episodes. Showrunner Erica Messer confirmed that all main characters from the sixteenth season will be returning. Filming for the seventeenth season began in January 2024.
All episodes are available to stream on Paramount+ in the United States and on Disney+ in Canada. The series, which ABC Signature co-produces while also handle worldwide distribution, is available on Disney+'s Star content hub with all 16 seasons in selected territories. Despite Disney's international distribution rights, the first 6 seasons of the show began surface on Paramount+ in international territories where the service is available like Australia, Canada and the UK in October 2023. Disney+ however continues to show all 16 seasons in these regions (including the Paramount+ seasons).