Criminal Minds is one of the most popular procedural series on television, yet every attempt to reproduce it has failed miserably. Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior was the first of several attempts by CBS to transform their hit series into a franchise. Unlike the NCIS spinoffs, however, this one failed to attract viewers and only lasted one season.
The original Criminal Minds was groundbreaking when it first aired because it featured the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, which was tasked with tracking down serial killers. The show had a 15-season run and has remained so popular following its 2020 end that a revival series has been ordered by Paramount+. So, with such a large fan following, why did Suspect Behavior struggle to get off the ground?
What Was Suspect Behavior: Criminal Minds About?
When Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior first aired in 2011, producers expected it to be a huge success. Its plot revolved around a newly formed team within the BAU whose mission was to investigate cases involving human trafficking and attempted assassination. With the exception of Kirsten Vangsness, who was playing her fan-favorite character Penelope Garcia, the cast was entirely new. It did, however, have some name recognition because it starred Forest Whitaker and Janeane Garofalo as the team’s leader, and it also starred Matt Ryan before he became known as John Constantine.
The roster showed promise, but the show didn’t focus on the aforementioned human trafficking or assassination incidents. It just turned out to be another season of Criminal Minds “unsubs” without the actors that fans had grown to adore. CBS attempted to make the Suspect Behavior characters as diverse as possible (including an ex-convict, a British marksman, and a chaotic good rebel leader), but they simply couldn’t match the original group. When the original show’s viewers were getting the same kinds of storylines, the spinoff had nothing fresh to offer.
What Was the Reason for the Cancellation of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior?
Low ratings demonstrated that die-hard fans were wrong. The first season of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior left fans of the show bored. The show debuted at a time when procedurals were not seen as complete blocks of programming, therefore the cases weren’t as promoted and the characters weren’t as fascinating. In 2011, there was just one NCIS spinoff on the air, and the One Chicago franchise hadn’t even begun.
As a result, spinoffs were judged against their predecessors rather than as extensions of them, and Suspect Behavior fell behind the original series. It started out well, with over 13 million people viewing the first episode, but by the season (series) finale, that number had decreased to 7.25 million. CBS terminated the series after losing slightly less than half of its initial audience, leaving an unsolved cliffhanger concerning Garofalo’s character Beth Griffith.
This wasn’t the first time CBS tried to turn Criminal Minds into a franchise, but it wouldn’t be the last. Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders premiered in 2016, but, like Suspect Behavior, was cancelled after two seasons rather than one. The original cast lineup and overall look of the core series are what make Criminal Minds so successful, and CBS learnt this the hard way.
