CRIMINAL MINDS: BAD BUSINESS?
By: Jackie C
I might be getting a little paranoid and not have all my facts 100% correct but I am beginning to wonder if CBS is trying to purposely make this show fail? The fact that pretty much all the major players for NCIS just got new multi year contracts makes me wonder who is paying for all this....to me, the answer is obvious....the Criminal Minds cast is. For far too long this show has been the red headed stepchild of the network. It is a true workhorse...gaining in viewers and popularity year after year and yet other shows, like the CSI franchise have dipped and lost their audiences and still they continue to get all the press and attention.
The show is co-owned with ABC and if CBS doesn't want to foot the bill for it anymore then ABC should take it and put it on their network (I would gladly follow it there as long as the cast remains intact). I have to wonder if that is part of the reason this is happening to this show because it is not a solely owned CBS show and the network has to share it with ABC. I have to wonder if CBS is asking itself, “Why are we funding a show we don't totally own when we can cut them back and save for our own shows?” Again, if that is the case, then ABC should just take the show and put it on their network.
Medium was on NBC for years but owned by CBS. NBC canned it last year and CBS picked it up and put it on their network....where, imo it belonged. I wonder if this is gonna be a trend? Networks cutting back on the shows and casts that they don't solely own so they can pay for their own shows?
While Two and a Half Men and the CSI's are owned or produced by Warner Bros or Bruckheimer, CBS still has to foot some of the bill in the area regarding sets, locations, guest actors etc. Not to mention that in order to keep the shows on their network they have to contribute in some way to paying the actors. Two and A Half Men maybe produced by Warner Bros but I am pretty sure that CBS is the one who pays the actors. Charlie Sheen was able to get so much more money because not only is he the star of the show, but he co-owns/produces the show as well....basically he is double dipping.
Alex O'loughlin is good example of CBS paying for and owning an actor. He is under contract with the network not any particular show, which is why CBS continues to try and find him a show that can stay on past 5 episodes without getting cancelled. He is an up and coming actor so they don't want to release him from the contract and lose him to a rival network. But in turn, CBS is then obligated to find him a show to star in....which, of course, costs money.
Since AJ and Paget are CBS employees, they are paid by CBS like the rest the Criminal Minds cast. NCIS, I think is solely owned by CBS so therefore they are all payed by CBS and CBS is solely responsible for all the bills. Wonder how much all those actors got in their new deals from a network crying austerity?
How much, do you think, Forrest Whitaker is getting paid to star in the spin off? God knows he didn't come cheap! And unlike the NCIS cast, AJ and Paget's contracts weren't up and they weren't looking for more money, so wtf CBS?
They may have moved CSI Miami to Sunday’s, possibly because of its ratings slip but the only person they cut was Eddie Cibrian and THAT I can honestly say was solely because of “creative reasons.” He [Eddie] was brought on last year to fill the empty space left by Adam Rodriguez when, oh yeah, CBS fired him! Now Adam is back and there is no need for Eddie’s character. So that decision makes sense. But as many have said, Adam probably didn't come cheap this time around, so there is another raise in money.
In the end this is all pathetic because it is very obviously about money and the only ones who suffer here, other than the actors themselves are the fans. I have been saying for years that these networks and the powers that be treat us fans like mindless un-opinionated drones who networks seem to feel will watch anything they put on....like we can't think for ourselves and we are just waiting for the all mighty networks to tell us what to do! Well, we are not and it is such an insult to our intelligence and totally pompous on their part. The last couple of years though it is coming back to bite them in their asses...especially given the advances in the internet and social networking. Used to be by the time fans found out an actor was being released or a show cancelled it took a long time for the news to travel and fans be able to mobilize to stop it but now with Facebook, Twitter, blogs and forums the news travels almost instantaneously and reaches millions thus allowing fans to react and complain quicker. The “new technology age” also allows for the fans to be heard by the masses. In the past, mailing letters and emailing the networks made it very easy for the complaints to get lost or fall into a black hole. But now, with all the social networking sites the networks can't escape fans complaints from being read by everyone all around the world. The more information that comes out, ie the NCIS cast getting multi year contracts just makes CBS’s lame “creative reasons” decision more, well, lame.
But the question that still begs to be answered and bothers me personally the most is; why these two? Why did it have to be AJ and Paget? I am not saying it should have been someone else on the show but why TWO women? Why? It is a simple question and CBS certainly has a lot to answer for and they should be answering us because without us the show is going to go down the drain in viewer ship and quality....but ya gotta wonder too, if that is not what CBS is trying to do? Think about it, the show has great ratings and is popular you would be an absolute fool to cancel it now while it is at the top of its game. The only reason or fault the network would possibly be able to find with the show in order to be able to cancel it, is the ratings.
In the end, the question that everyone on the internet seems to be pondering, wondering and screaming is, WHY? Why would you purposefully push away fans from a frequently rated in the Top 10 of shows watched each week? What network does that?
