‘Criminal Minds’ ending after 20 seasons as cast breaks silence over abrupt cancellation

See more of our coverage in your search results. “Criminal Minds: Evolution” is wrapping up after 20 seasons — but the abrupt ending has seemingly come as a surprise to its cast members. The long-running crime drama, which began on CBS in 2005 before moving to Paramount+ in 2022, will air its final episodes in 2027, the streaming service announced Friday. The final season will bring back familiar faces Joe Mantegna, AJ Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, RJ Hatanaka, Adam Rodriguez and Paget Brewster. “Criminal Minds: Evolution” will end in 2027 after 20 total seasons, Paramount+ announced Friday. Credit: Michael Becker/Paramount+ Vangsness, who has played fan-favorite technical analyst Penelope Garcia throughout the show’s 20-season run, addressed the news hours after it broke online. “Social media is sort of like getting to do your own press conference I guess. This has happened. It’s being cancelled but then it says right there it’s ending ‘for now,’” she said in an Instagram video with the cancellation report visible behind her. “You know the part in ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ where Charlie gets the chocolate and it’s a little bittersweet. He’s like, ‘Thank you so much for the chocolate. Look at how long [20 seasons], that doesn’t happen ever,’” she continued, reflecting on her mixed feelings about the news. Responding to fans on Instagram, Vangsness revealed she learned the news just 90 minutes before it was made public. The actress also made clear in her video she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the show just yet. Actress Kirsten Vangsness revealed on Instagram she found out the news just 90 minutes before fans. Instagram/kirstenvangsness “But I love my job and my boss Erica Messer says there’s so many more stories to tell. So if we get to keep telling them somewhere that would be amazing. I know all of us feel the same way.” “Everything’s OK. Aren’t we all in a death and rebirth cycle? Yes, so maybe this goes somewhere else? What an adventure,” she added. Hatanaka, who plays FBI agent Tyler Green, shared a group photo of the cast on Instagram, captioning it, “Just the finest group of people,” alongside a heart emoji. Actress Aisha Tyler shared a ranking of 2026’s most-streamed titles, which placed “Criminal Minds” at No. 11. Instagram/aishatyler Tyler, who plays Dr. Tara Lewis, reposted Hatanaka’s photo, adding, “Family for life.” She later shared an article ranking the most-streamed titles of 2026, which placed “Criminal Minds” at No. 11 after the show racked up 13.15 billion minutes watched. Cook, who has played Jennifer “JJ” Jareau since the show’s first season, also reposted Hatanaka’s photo, writing, “These people own my heart forever and always,” alongside heart and broken-heart emojis. “Criminal Minds” debuted on CBS in September 2005, following FBI profilers in the Behavioral Analysis Unit as they investigated criminals by examining their psychology. Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia and Adam Rodriguez as Luke Alvez in “Criminal Minds: Evolution.” Michael Yarish/Paramount+ After ending its original run in early 2020, the franchise returned on Paramount+ in November 2022 as “Criminal Minds: Evolution.” The franchise also spawned two short-lived spinoffs: “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior,” starring Forest Whitaker, in 2011, and “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders,” led by Gary Sinise, which ran from 2016 to 2017. The news comes after Brewster slammed ScreenRant critic Shealynn Scott earlier this year over her negative review of the series, accusing her of potentially putting 350 people’s jobs at risk and telling her to “do something better than what you do now.” Community Guidelines Welcome to the Page Six Community! Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas in a safe space. In order to do so, we've created a simple set of rules that will improve your experience. Simply put, keep it civil. Your post will/might be rejected if it contains: Spam Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language and threats of any kind Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author User accounts will/might be blocked if we notice: Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected Racist, sexist, or homophobic comments Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk So, how can you be a power user? Stay on topic and share your passion. Feel free to elaborate to get your point across. 'Like' or 'Dislike' when you are filled with emotions! Protect your community. Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules. Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Don't forget, freedom of speech is not the freedom of reach!