Criminal Minds is a crime drama that premiered September 22, 2005 on CBS. The show follows the adventures of a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) at Quantico, Virginia. It starred former Chicago Hope actors Mandy Patinkin as Jason Gideon and Thomas Gibson as Aaron Hotchner. Criminal Minds differs from many criminal system procedural dramas by focusing on the criminal rather than the crime itself.

The series is produced by The Mark Gordon Company in association with ABC Studios (formerly Touchstone Television) and CBS Paramount Network Television (formerly Paramount Network Television).

On July 17, 2007, it was announced that Patinkin had been granted a request to be released from his role on the show. Joe Mantegna has signed on as his replacement. Mantegna joined the cast several episodes later after Patinkin left the show.

The series' third season premiered September 26, 2007. Its outcome was unknown at one point due to the writer's strike. According to Yahoo TV, Criminal Minds aired their last filmed episode on January 23, 2008. With the resolution of the strike, CBS has announced that the show will return April 2 2008, with seven episodes.

In this crime series, a crack team of FBI profilers flies from Quantico to the focal point of the criminal activity of various serial killers, to investigate the evidence on the crime scenes, compose a profile and try to prevent the next fatal strike. Top brain is the academic Jason Gideon, his more by-the-book operational right hand Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner; the still juvenile Dr. Spencer Reid is an erudite on everything except real life, Penelope Garcia a brilliant computer whiz who gets access to any database etc. As they are mobile, cooperation with local police and FBI agents is important but often poses jurisdictional and other problems, as do some witnesses and suspects. Written by KGF Vissers