‘Criminal Minds’ Cancelled? No Season 12 Without Shemar Moore?


Has Criminal Minds been cancelled, or will there be a Season 12? With no official confirmation yet, many wonder whether Shemar Moore’s now-confirmed exit will lead to the show’s cancellation.

Criminal Minds has had good viewer ratings throughout Season 11, but losing a main cast member who has been there from the beginning is very hard. The show struggled a little after the loss of Paget Brewster but managed to bring back AJ Cook to give fans a familiar face. It will be much harder to bring in someone on the back of Moore’s fan-favorite SSA Derek Morgan.

NCIS and CSI have proven how difficult it can be to replace a favorite character. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation struggled after the loss of William Petersen’s Gil Grissom, and NCIS fans struggled once Cote de Pablo decided to hang up her gun and badge as Ziva David. While both shows continued and one is still going, they never got the same number of fans back. The Vampire Diaries is another show that has struggled after the loss of an original main character, and that was only after six seasons rather than 11!

As Australia Network confirms, this is not the first time Criminal Minds has lost an actor. Mandy Patinkin left after Season 2, leading to the team losing its original leader Jason Gideon and receiving Joe Mantegna’s David Rossi. Jeanne Tripplehorn and Jennifer Love Hewitt have both stepped in, but both actresses eventually left Criminal Minds.

Moore, along with his co-stars Matthew Gray Gubler and Thomas Gibson, has racked up the most number of episodes, sitting at 252 so far, according to IMDb. It will be a big change for Criminal Minds fans to lose him, especially as he has had so many storylines focused on him. One of those was to do with grooming and pedophilia, showing that it really can happen to anyone.

CBS is still to announce its 2016/2017 line-up, and now Criminal Minds seems to be in the firing line. With the news of Michael Weatherly leaving NCIS, there were rumors that the show could be cancelled, but it received an early renewal. There are hopes that Criminal Minds Season 12 will get the same treatment.

With a show with so many cast members, it is possible that the writers can manage to help fans get over the loss of Derek Morgan. It would not necessarily mean a new character comes to the show. There are enough members of the team to keep storylines going. It could also mean a reason to bring Brewster’s Emily Prentiss back, someone many fans want to see.

Unfortunately, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders is also runs the risk of being cancelled, according to E! Online. This spinoff show has not taken off as well as expected, considering the show it is based on. That could be due to the connection fans do not have with the main characters.

The loss of one actor may not be too much of a worry for CBS. Criminal Minds continues to be a strong show for the network, and it may not want to get rid of the show just yet. It may depend on whether other actors are making the decision to leave. The show may be renewed for one more year just to see how it goes with someone replacing Moore or with the team the way it is now.

Right now, it is too early to tell. Criminal Minds fans are still reeling from the news that they will not see Derek Morgan as part of the BAU team anymore. Criminal Minds Season 12 may still happen.

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

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