Criminal Minds is an American police procedural drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005. It follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) based in Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. The show differs from many procedural dramas by focusing on profiling the criminal, called the unsub or "unknown subject", rather than the crime itself.
The BAU consists of special agents Dr. Spencer Reid, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, Penelope Garcia, Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, Dr. Tara Lewis, Luke Alvez, and Matt Simmons as they try to profile the unsub. Other former characters are Elle Greenaway, Jason Gideon, Jordan Todd, Ashley Seaver, Dr. Alex Blake, Kate Callahan, Derek Morgan, Aaron Hotchner and Stephen Walker.
In January 2019, CBS renewed the series for a fifteenth and final season,[1] which would air from January 8 to February 19, 2020. Two years later, the series was revived on Paramount+ as Criminal Minds: Evolution. Its first season, which was later dubbed the sixteenth season overall,[2] premiered on November 24, 2022 and ran for 10 episodes.
On June 5, 2024, Criminal Minds was renewed for an eighteenth season.[3]
As of August 1, 2024,[update] 344 episodes of Criminal Minds have been released, concluding the seventeenth season.