Oscar winner Forest Whitaker is nearing a deal to headline CBS’ in-the-works spin-off of Criminal Minds, sources confirm to me semi-exclusively.
Whitaker would play Cooper, the new team’s fiercely loyal and intensely private leader. A former star profiler in the BAU, Coop’s been off the grid for the last eight years — leaving only a trail of rumors in his wake.
Minds 2.0 will follow the NCIS/NCIS: LA model in that the new team will be introduced in an episode of Minds this spring before being launched into their own show next fall. Seasoned industry professionals like myself refer to it as a “planted” spin-off.
This is Whitaker’s first regular TV gig since his mesmerizing turn as Michael Chiklis’ arch-nemesis, Jon Kavanaugh, on The Shield.
Thoughts?
Photo Credit: John Spellman/Retna Ltd.
I just hope they don’t give the spin-off all the new, cool, and interesting story-lines and leave the real Criminal Minds in the dust.
I think he should star in a seuquel to “Bloodsport” with Jean Claude Van Dam, they were great together for the classic first movie.
That same thought crossed my mind! Whitaker and Van Damme were great in that film.
More spin offs
Say WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTT!!!!
in my opinion NCIS > NCIS:LA
i hope this spin off is good, but the original (aka spencer reid) will always have my heart
I agree, didn’t really get into NCIS:LA, like I did NCIS original. It is hard to used to a new crew when you know so much about the originals. Criminal Minds is my FAVORITE show on TV. Matthew Gray Gubler (AKA Spencer Reid) is my favorite actor on the show. He has gotten so hot over the years.
I completely agree. Reid is my favorite. As for the NCIS:LA, it’s alright, but not as good as the original. Maybe this will be different, but I’m sure the original will stay the favorite.
I LOVE SPENCER REID.
They could never leave original CM in the dust. It’s just too good.
I have the same feeling about this new spinoff series. I love the Criminal Minds series just the way it is. We just need to see more of the same and with at least most of the same characters.
He was amazing on The Shield and hilarious on American Dad doing a Jon Kavanaugh-like character. Would actually tune in, the interview with the creator of Minds at Nikki Finke’s site was well done and got me interested in the network crime show. Don’t watch anything on CBS except HMIMY & TBBT.
BOO! NCIS didn’t need a spin-off and Criminal Minds doesn’t either. Why do they feel the need to create more & more spin-offs?! Boo…
D, I agree 110%!! I hate the NCIS spin-off and CM definitely doesn’t need one. UGH. CBS overdoes this stuff. Don’t we have enough geographical spin-offs? Miami, NY, LA– get off it!
actually, NCIS is itself a spin-off of another series as well.
Just sayin’
Really? what series is that NCIS Dude?
Jennifer — NCIS is a spin-off of JAG.
JAG – Starring David James Elliott and Catherine Bell. DJE’s character Harm Rabb was accused of killing a naval lieutenant and Gibbs and crew were the investigators.
It’s silly to waste energy hating these spinoffs, though, because they don’t subtract anything from the parent show. If you don’t want to watch them, don’t–there are lots of other things to do.
One thing I was wondering about & I heard has upset the cast somewhat is that the BAU is supposed to be the only one – hence the travel all over the country. Anyone heard what this new unit is supposed to be?
The JAG spinoff thing is true but it was not an exact replica of the original and what they spun off was the Tony character and not the main character Gibbs.
As for a new Criminal Minds I will give it a chance like I gave NCIS: LA, but I did not care for that show, perhaps because they began it in NCIS with Chris O’Donnell’s character getting shot and then in the premier he was fine. That was too soapy for me right out of the gate.
I do agree with the BAU being a special unit that was created by Rossi, if all of a sudden there is another one it does in fact cheapen the importance of the original team’s purpose. They should make them another certain division like Law and order did, that way it won’t make the people that are saved on the original CM saying “thank you so much for choosing this crime in our small town” sentiment moot.
I just wish people would have original thoughts in hollywood and stop copying things, you can’t blame the writer’s strike forever. Truth be told networks cancel the good new shows and shove a spinoff down our throats because they know it is easy money. What they need to do is not screw shows around in a new time slot every week and murder it by making sure we can’t find it and therefore force us to watch their spinoffs because they keep them in the same slot.
I don’t agree, I think that 2 teams can perfectly coexist. They receive a pile of cases and JJ and the other team’s liason can pick from the same cases, and take their teams in each case direction.
Only one team to work the many serial killer / terrorist/ etc. cases they get is absolutely insane.
Good point! Is this what the major networks think “drama” means? Wheres the substance? Give me Breaking Bad, Dexter or Mad Men!
Well obviously it’s working in the ratings….Look at Law&Order, CSI…if it works keeping cloning.
I usually hate spin-offs but I actually like NCIS: LA. So much better than NCIS where you know what’s gonna happen. Murder, credits, smart quips at HQ, “grab your gear”, Ducky, snap-snap, interrogations, Abby, “I didn’t tell you the whole truth”, there’s the killer, fade to black.
I don’t really get the spin-off hate. I’m an NCIS fan, and I happen to enjoy NCIS: LA as well. It’s not groundbreaking television, and it doesn’t have to be. As Earl stated below, when I want edgy, award-worthy programming, I turn to HBO, Showtime, AMC, TNT, and so on. But when I’m looking for an entertaining romp with guns and explosions and angry bad guys, the major networks never fail to deliver.
As for the Criminal Minds spin-off, I’m quite excited for it. CM is my favorite crime procedural behind ABC’s Castle, and to have not one, but two episodes to look forward to every week is all good in my book.
Actually, I take it back. It’s my third favorite behind Castle and CBS’s The Mentalist. But that makes me no less excited.
And crap on CBS all you like, but you have to admit that The Mentalist is good stuff.
I agree with you Dan. As much as I like the procedurals, and CM and the Mentalist in particular, when I want GOOD TV, I switch to HBO, Showtime, TNT, FX, Etc… That’s where the best dramas are. I’ll take Dexter, Mad Men, or Rescue Me over anything the Big Three have to offer
I’m in complete agreement with you, Dan. I love and watch all the shows you mention. Have you tried “Damages”, a real head trip. Also I think Whitaker is a terrific actor and look forward to the series.
I agree. Several shows I have been following for years are ending this season, I am glad to hear that there are some shows in the works that have the potential to take their place on my viewing schedule. I never write off any show before watching it, sometimes shows can surprise you. The premise may not attract you, but then there’s something in the chemistry that just clicks. My only complaint about NCIS: LA is LA. I am so tired of NY and LA. I wish they’d set it literally anywhere else. But (speaking of Oscar winners) it’s great to see the delightful Linda Hunt every week.
Really enjoyed his presence on The Shield, but Criminal Minds Spin-Off?? Come On!! He’s an Oscar winner! I’m going to miss seeing him on the big screen.
My thought exactly. Why would a relatively recent Oscar-winner want to give up on movies just yet?
I can see F. Murray Abraham or even Cuba Gooding Jr. doing it, not Forest Whitaker!
It seems to have worked for Glenn Close and Holly Hunter.
And why can’t he do both? It’s not one or the other…
“RECENT Oscar-winner” is the key phrase.
Maybe the material is just that good? I would think it would have to be to attract such high-caliber talent as Whitaker. I doubt he would sign on to such a project if he didn’t feel it would provide him a decent outlet to flex his acting chops a la Mandy Patinkin in the first two seasons of Criminal Minds (I miss him sooo much).
I don’t like NCIS: LA, but bearing in mind that the original NCIS spun off from JAG, I’m willing to give Minds 2.0 a shot. Just as long as they keep the Very Interesting Characters on the original. (Gideon, Frank and Tom Benton have been some of my favorites. And the BAU team itself, of course.
)
Another unneeded spinoff of another ho-hum procedural. Apparently, CBS stands for Criminally Boring Shows because they rarely come up with anything new while gem shows like Castle have to fight for viewers.
I’m sorry but I completely disagree. Rather than have a show centered around one brilliant but eccentric person where everyone else on the show acts as a vehicle for said brilliant but eccentric person to show off their brilliance (I’m looking you, The Mentalist), Criminal Minds has a group cast who are all brilliant at their respective jobs. Mandy Patinkin drew me in to watch at first, but as soon as Derek Morgan stepped into the killer’s shoes in the pilot and started talking as the killer in the first person I knew this was something special.
That all being said I’m not sure how I feel about a spin-off, I absolutely love Castle, and I never really gave The Mentalist a shot so it could’ve gotten better.
I love that they say he’s “intensely private”. That’s code for not writing him a fully realized character. Feel like something was left out? No! He’s just private!
Not necessarily true. Grisham on CSI and Gibbs on NICIS are intensely characters, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t fully realized. Not having the whole character revealed in the first five minutes of the premiere is an opportunity for a skilled actor to turn in a nuanced performance. Watch the show before judging it.
More derivative crap from CBS. In a few years, the entire network will be made up of all these spinoff type shows. There are 3 CSIs, 2 NCISs, and now 2 Criminal Minds. Each time they do one of these spinoffs, it’s the same show as its predecessor, except it’s set in a different city. Who do people watch all of these shows? And does CBS make any hour-long dramas that aren’t procedurals? Why won’t they try anything new?
And why is Forest Whitaker doing this? He’s better than this! If he’s going to do a permanent TV gig, why can’t it be something better than an uninspired CBS procedural? The Shield was a brilliant show and he was great on it. Why not something like that?
Ghost Whisperer is not a procedural show
Forgot about that show. I’m surprised it has lasted so long. Not surprised it’s always been scheduled on Friday nights. CBS has to leave the more important timeslots during the week for the derivative procedurals. At least it does well on Fridays.
Yet when u look a ratings more then half of the top 20 shows r all shows from CBS, soo it must b working 4 them!!
This sucks. He’s one of the best actors in the world and he’s doing tv. He’s gotta stay making movies, that’s where a guy like him belongs. Same goes with Larry Fishburne.
I’m sorry, did you just list Forest Whitaker and Larry Fishburne as two of the best actors in the world? In the world? Larry Fishburne isn’t even the best actor on his own show. And Forest Whitaker overacts in everything he’s ever been in. Ridiculous.
Fishburn ruined CSI. RUINED IT! I love Criminal Minds but mainly for Reed and Garcia. I like the new NCIS in fact I find it more interesting then the original.
Matt — I happened to see a CSI episode and honestly, since it’s an ensemble, Fishburne didn’t have much to do. So how can you claim he’s not good on CSI? That goes for most of these ensemble shows. You have to put the actor in a “real” movie to see how well he acts; or put him/her on the stage to see if they can carry the show.
Think about it: with commercial breaks at most the hour long TV show is content-wise about 45 minutes. Then you have 100 actors and each gets about 5 minutes to show their stuff; so once again, how can you determine how good an actor is in a TV show with only about 5 minutes of time?
I thought the same thing about 24. I watched last week’s episode, and the Jack character (Sutherland has won several emmys BTW), had about 10 lines of dialogue. The most dialogue went to Hastings/Wilkinson, and the ladies of the show. If I had been watching 24 for the first time, the Jack character would NOT have been a blip on the radar.
Laurence Fishburne didn’t ruin CSI. The writers/producers ruined it by not putting a strong character in to replace Grissom. Fishburne should have been his replacement as the leader, not some rookie!
Sally in Chicago- I didn’t say Fishburne wasn’t any good on CSI…I said he wasn’t the best actor on that show (kinda one dimensional and monotone). The notion that Whitaker and Fishburne are two of the best actors in the world is laughable, but that doesn’t mean I hate them. Whitaker was okay (if a little hammy) on the shield and Fishburne was decent when he was younger. But best in the world…c’mon.
Yes Withaker is so bas he has won an oscar and an award in Cannes and of course Fishburn nomination as the best actor for his role as Ike Turner was just a joooke
Maybe he needs the money? As these (black) actors especially reach their 40s and 50s there are fewer and fewer scripts. Most really good actors are doing indie movies, which don’t pay well and hardly get released. This is exposure and a paycheck for him.
You guys could be right. Idk. I dont really watch tv. Does it bother you guys that much lol my opinion on two people?
Geez, what a surprise, another spin off on CBS. Creativity really kicks the bucket on that network!
Ok I’m tired so I’ll condense these thoughts a bit.
I loved ‘Criminal Minds’ for about 4 years. Patinkin has his character down pat. Gideon was truly mesmerizing to watch or listen too. When he left it was hard but the show kept running. Also, they would do very dramatic episodes, some quite brutal, but for some reason, this season has me tuned out. The 100th was great but beyond that i can’t bring myself to watch it. I watched a couple that came after it but the 4th season finale and the early episodes this year would enough to make you want to kill yourself afterwards. Majorly dark and depressing.
I think its a bad idea to spin off the show. The original isn’t even up to the quality of what it used to be, beyond the fact they have fleshed out characters like Hotch and Morgan even more.
It lacks originality to spin off this show, beyond the obvious. I love NCIS, hate the spinoff (loved it when they made the backdoor pilot. If they hadn’t changed a thing, I’d still be watching.)
I am HIGHLY surprised a man who won the Oscar just 4 years ago is signing on to head up a spin off TV show. He deserves better than this, though I grant you that he has the captivating presence Patinkin did.
“Seasoned industry professionals like myself refer to it as a ‘planted’ spin-off.” Do you write things like that with your tongue planted in your cheek? Or, are you really that full of yourself?
CBS has proved how dumbed down and vanilla the audience taste really is. Spin off after spin off off ADD safe procedurals. No originality at all in this network
watch, The Mentalist spin off is right around the corner
They did have that episode with flashbacks of him and his dad. Maybe they’ll try to capitalize off of it even more by making a backdoor pilot for later in this season or next. Though, I’m not sure what story they’d really have to tell there.
i love forest whitaker and it makes me sad that he will drop his film career for a tv career. i love criminal minds and i think it is one of the most underrated, least talked about and praised shows on right now. i hope this spin off is as good as the original.
It really is a terrific show, very under appreciated. The cases are interesting, the ensemble works very well. I hope the “spin-off” is able to stand on its own, like NCIS, CSI: NY or L&O: SVU. Not sure if those last two are considered spin-offs, but it’s the same concept without the awkward “planted” episode. Movie actors are getting into TV more and more. It’s a little surprising, but not overall shocking.