Tuesday, April 17, 2007

CRIMINAL MINDS: SCHEDULE CHANGE


I just received this information from CBS regarding Criminal Minds. CBS has postponed the airing of DOUBT out of respect for the Virginia Tech tragedy. The latest news however is that they’ll now air a repeat in its place and Open Season will air as previously scheduled on 5/2.

58 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was not surprised at this change. In fact, was thinking about it last night. I respect CBS for this change. The tragedy is too fresh at this point.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad CBS is being sensitive to this tragedy. We Virginians are just heart broken.....we don't know how to explain such a senseless lost of life. Please pray for the victims and their families.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this info, Jill. I'm so glad you can provide us with updated information.

I'm truly pleased to see CBS' and CM are being so very sensitive to the tragedy that happened in Virginia. My thoughts and prayers are with the people who have been affected by what happened. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

I appreciate the respect CBS is showing to the familes and people so deeply affected by this tragedy. We can wait for a new episode. Everyone remains in my thoughts and my prayers as the healing process begins.

Anonymous said...

The main thing is that WE DID GET NOTICE OF THE CHANGE! I'm thankful for that. It doesn't matter "who" gets credit. The sensitivity and caring by CBS/C.M., our group leaders, is what matters!

FYI anonymous: I lost two friends in massacre at McDonald's restaurant San Ysidro CA, 1984. Wounds reopened..Need I say more?

slashgirl said...

I'm glad to see that CM and CBS are being respectful of the families and loved ones of those affected by the horrible tragedy in Virginia. My prayers are with everyone affected...

Thanks for the update, Jill.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the information Jill.

Most of us know what is really important.

Anonymous said...

I think that it is wonderful that CBS is postponing this episode until later. It would definitely be too soon if they aired it in the original time slot. I am glad that they are doing this out of respect for those involved in the Virginia shooting. Good on you CBS!

And I just want to offer my condolences to those affected too.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info. I definately appreciate the sensitivity they are showing by postponing the episode.

Anonymous said...

I add my deepest heartfelt prayers to everyone else's and kudos to CBS for doing the right thing. I am so glad that they made this type of decision. Thank you for the info about the episode changes. I really appreciate it.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the 411 Jill.

Anonymous said...

I am so glad that they made this change. Thanks for the scheduling info.

Anonymous said...

I respect CBS's decision, and my heart goes out to everyone personally affected by this tragedy.

With that said, I look forward to seeing 'Doubt' whenever it does air. It sounds like a compelling episode in a lot of ways.

Anonymous said...

Joyce: How aweful for your friend and for the families affected a V Tech. I can wait for a new episode and I promise not to complain one bit like I normally do when a repeat is shown.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update Jill. As I was home all day waiting for the internet repair-person, I watched a lot of coverage on TV updating the information and also the memorial service.

I have many friends in the Roanoke/Blacksburg/New River Valley area of Virginia and they are all devastated by this--as are all of us.

Thanks again for the update.

Anonymous said...

Lori: I can't begin to imagine what they are going through right now. Joyce: How horrible that people were killed in a McDonalds. Dreadful business. I am glad that cbs made this type of scheduling adjustment. Nobody needs to be reminded of this while looking for a diversion by watching television.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update. It so sad and awful thing to have happen again. CBS made the right call to pull this episode.

I feel deeply sadden for the people of Blacksburg, VA and for the familes involved.

Anonymous said...

I echo Blue's comment.

AJCookRocks said...

That's very nice of them to do that! To tell you the truth I didn't hear about it until today. News are not healthy for me. I get too depressed because of what people do to others. I just can't seem to think how can people be so ignorant and do things like that. I'm really sadden about all this.

P.S. Whoever keeps writting this stupid comments that Jill is not truthful should stop. Stop the childish games. If you don't believe her that's your problem and stop it! Seriously!
Find yourself something better to do. Please!

Anonymous said...

ajcookrocks: I had to turn the tv off also. Like you it upsets me too much to hear of such horrible things happening.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad they made this decision. I have a friend up here who's orginally from Virgina. He was actually phoning his friends before class started to make sure they were all safe. Poor thing couldn't reach two of them. Thankfully we found out later they were fine. I wish I could say that for all the other victims.

Anonymous said...

I like so agree and it will be the first time nobody complains about a repeat. Good decision. I am unable to watch anymore of it on the tv. It is so scary and it makes my whole family nervous.

Anonymous said...

I am glad they are doing that. I feel deeply for those families. I cant even imagine what they are all going through.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad they've decided to postpone it. A thoughtful and appropriate decision. As much as I hate to say it, I wouldn't mind if they didn't air it until season 3.

Thanks for the update, Jill.

Anonymous said...

I hope the other networks live up to the example CBS is giving and pull some of their shows that deal with sensitive material that would upset these poor people and the US as a whole. I agree that if we had to wait till next season then I would be okay with it. Prayers all around for everyone. Thanks for the info Jill.

lisaw918 said...

I'm sorry to sound insensitive (especially since V Tech is not that far away, and the shooting does horrify and scare me), but I have to say this: have you noticed how the instinct to suppress hits Americans when something awful happens? In the face of grief and horror, we're all so terrified of saying or doing the wrong thing that we run in the opposite direction. One thing might be insensitive, another might be seen as capitalizing on pain and tragedy. Well, it isn't capitalizing on anything in this case because they had already filmed and scheduled the airing of this episode before anything happened. Some people would watch and not be any more freaked out than they already are about every crime depicted. People who want to avoid the topic will do so, even if "Doubt" were to reappear months from now. Personally, even if I had more personal investment in this, if someone I know had been involved, I don't think I'd be any more affected than by "The Perfect Storm," for example (an episode which made me physically sick to my stomach, and although I love the show itself, I'm never watching this episode again). The timing is not good, but sometimes it just isn't.

I'm not saying that there were motives behind this decision other than respect for the victims' families and friends. But I am saying that I don't think it's necessary to scramble away from painful things. Even now, 9/11 is tiptoed around except as a fact, as in news programs. We're all so terrified of offending or hurting someone. People are strong. We survive. Some pain, like losing a child, never goes away, but it gets less crippling, and most people find a way to keep going. (That said, I really don't know how they do it, and I have enormous respect and admiration for people who can survive something like that.) Avoiding discussion or exploration of things like this, even when people are grieving, is sort of incongruous in a country that prides itself on its freedom of expression and discussion. "I'm sorry if I've offended/hurt you" is a meaningless phrase; if you've said something offensive or hurtful, you should be sorry, and if you haven't, you shouldn't. You can't base your actions on the possible interpretations or reactions of others.

Anonymous said...

Lisa: I really do understand and respect your opinion but I know in my case I am glad they are bumping it. Between the newspapers, tv and internet coverage it is all over the place. I bleed for these people but there is also an overload of info right now. People sometimes do need a break and tv can provide that outlet. I see your point and 9-11 is a perfect example for sure but this horror is so raw right now. I am glad they are moving it. Just my personal opinion.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update. My wife and I are praying for everyone touched by this horror.

Anonymous said...

I was thinking about this earlier today. I'm glad the network made this decision. Thanks Jill for providing us with this info. Directly.

Lee :)

Anonymous said...

I think it is appropriate and I respect their decision. I appreciate the fact that many people have very different opinions on matters like this and I think that is a good thing. I think there needs to be frank and honest conversations when things like this nightmare happen but I also think you can never be over protective of the feelings of victims. I applaud their decision and thank you for letting us know about the change in the CM schedule.

Anonymous said...

i was sad when hearing of the news. pray for the victims and their families too. it reminds me of one episode "Sex, Birth, Death " of criminal minds this season. if people around that murder had noticed his abnormality and tried to help him, maybe this tragedy could have been avoided.

Anonymous said...

Of course CBS and other companies who have shows like CM will dealy their shows and we must rspect them for this,what happend at virinia high tech, was really a sad and tragic thing and we should all think of those affected by this.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Lisa --

I thought your comment was very well thought-out, and in some ways I agree with you. On the other hand, I believe that what the network is doing is showing respect by not airing a show that -- let's be honest -- fictionalizes a very similar event for entertainment purposes.

I'm sure "Doubt" was a very gripping and intriguing episode when it was just fiction. Now that it's very close to fact, it would not be entertaining; it would just make us squirm. Do I think it should be canned forever? No, of course not. But delaying the airing for a time is entirely appropriate, in my opinion.

Do I think we're ready for 9/11 to be used as fiction? Nope. There's no logical basis for that, I just feel it in my gut. I'm not ready. And the new Adam Sandler movie that's out about it might be a fine movie, but it still makes me cringe. I think movie and film makers will get to it eventually, but the smart ones know the cringe factor is still there and leave it alone. There are exceptions, and some very well-done -- FX's series "Rescue Me" is set in a firehouse that lost team members in the Towers and they refer to it regularly. It's part of their history, their backstory, and it's handled very very well. But every time it's mentioned, it twinges something in me.

As to the issue of free speech -- this has gotten a lot of play lately. The Constitution says that the *government* should not censure free speech. In this case, certainly no government agency stepped in and told CM not to air this episode. This was a choice based on conscience, and, honestly, on market. To air this ep now is to risk alienating and angering viewers and sponsors. When the military had an issue with how and how often torture was being portrayed on "24", there was no law passed; they went to the producers and *asked* them to tone it down. Will they do it? Probably not, until viewers and sponsors decide to turn away from it. (Or until the star's conscience gets the best of him.) It's sometimes a fine line sometimes, but in this case with CM, I think the choice was obvious.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting the information for us. We can wait till the subject is not so fresh and new.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for telling us Jill.

My deepest thoughts go to the victims and their families.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update Jill. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by this horrible tragedy.

Anonymous said...

I can wait as long as appropriate to see the episode. I add my prayers to everyones. Compassionate call on the part of CBS. Good for them.

Anonymous said...

It works for me. I can see the logic and the compassion involved in the decision.

Anonymous said...

Apparently "Bones" also had to pull an episode.

Anonymous said...

I was thinking about this later, after my earlier post, and got to think about something. When they do air the show, they should dedicate it to the memory of those at VT.

Anonymous said...

I cannot begin to imagine how they must be feeling just now. It's good to know that sentiment has taken priority and CBS has acted with thought of those involved.

My thoughts are with you.

Anonymous said...

im sorry

Anonymous said...

I think the other networks are also looking at the shows they have scheduled for the next few weeks and making similar adjustments. The right thing to do and as my boyfriend said...it isn't like these people were murdered to screw up our tv schedules. I loved CM and always look forward to each episode. Given what has happened I will watch whatever episodes they decide to show us and I will wait for the other new ones. If we have to wait for the other episode or if it lands in a garbage can I will respect the decision. I am on overload with the news that is being shown. I will never understand this type of violence and mayhem.

Anonymous said...

In the real world and not in the make believe world of CM BAU I would imagine that the real BAU will be studying this case in the future to try to protect us from having this happen again. I wish them well. I am keeping all the victims and their families in my prayers as well as all my Criminal Minds friends.

Anonymous said...

Definately the compassionate decision. Thanks for the updated schedule.

Anonymous said...

After reading the comments posted here, I apprecite and love our group even more! So many various aspects are covered with sensitivity, care, and honesty.

We all must deal with our feelings in whatever way helps get through such a critical time.

Personally, what moves me forward now after these past few days is:

I TAKE THIS WHOLE DAY OFF AWAY FROM THE NEWS PROGRAMS, AND TURN TO MUSIC (MY GREATEST "STRESS RELIEVER"), ENJOYING THIS GROUP, LAUGHTER WHERE AVAILABLE, READING, LOVE ON MY CATS & FAMILY...OUR "C.M." TONIGHT, AND RELAXING AS BEST POSSIBLE.

It is what I call my "mental health day".

lisaw918 said...

Lin said...
...showing respect by not airing a show that -- let's be honest -- fictionalizes a very similar event for entertainment purposes.


Lin, thanks for taking this up with me.

I thought Criminal Minds usually does take real cases it gets from the FBI and fictionalizes them. I'm not sure how much fact is left in them, but children getting kidnapped in the park, to name one example, does happen. But I'm inclined to agree with you that this one is a little near the bone.

I'm sure "Doubt" was a very gripping and intriguing episode when it was just fiction. Now that it's very close to fact, it would not be entertaining; it would just make us squirm.

I'm not so sure about that. It's true that I'm not personally connected to this tragedy, except that it's only a couple hundred miles, one state, away from me, and when I heard about it, it seemed like next-door. But I still think there have been other episodes to disturb me more. I know if I ever showed my mother "What Fresh Hell" or "P911," she'd leave the room. She's never experienced anything like that, but she can't stand anything happening to kids, even in fiction. She won't watch "Moonlight Mile" in spite of my insisting it's a good movie because it's about parents grieving for their dead daughter. People just have their sore spots, and I think the ones really affected by what happened at V Tech will avoid anything entitled "Criminal Minds" for a good long while, no matter the content.

Do I think we're ready for 9/11 to be used as fiction? Nope.

Well, it has; there was that movie "United 93," and I assume some people went to see it. Also, I haven't seen "Fahrenheit 911," but I assume it dealt with it at some point (although as straight drama...I don't think so, somehow). Are we not ready because we're still dealing with terrorism in Iraq, or because five and a half years isn't enough time to mourn in peace? Or because we feel (and this is my guess) that fictionalizing it is playing with it, using it as entertainment? I don't think "United 93" was a film focused on entertaining the masses. The filmmakers knew they wouldn't get that kind of reaction. It's a matter of tribute to the heroes that prevented that plane from killing anyone on the ground, even though they themselves were certain to die. And it's a matter of keeping the dialogue going, because if we don't... well, to use an exaggerated example (and admittedly tenuous comparison), and sorry for the fact that I'm going on and on:

After the end of WWII, the Holocaust just wasn't taught in German schools for a good long while. No one particularly wanted to explore it, and no one knew how to teach it. How do you make a child understand something that horrible when you're still reeling from it yourself? Not to mention the shame factor, which is still floating there under the surface in Germany today. Although other countries have Neo-Nazi political parties, it's outlawed in Germany, and acts of vandalism or violence connected to Neo-Nazism are severely condemned and, if possible, punished. It's still no joke over 60 years later, to put it mildly. But it's one of the first things they teach, and explore the reasons for, in history classes.

A country can let something like that, or even like 9/11, turn taboo and haunt it so that it practically becomes a horror story, or it can talk about it, educate people, so that in future, people around the warning signs might recognize them and take action.

I'm being really dramatic for effect here, and I'm not saying there's anything really wrong with what CBS did. But I do disagree with it in principle because of the way we as Americans try to push away awful things and not talk about them, sometimes even to a puritanical extent. When evil can't get to the surface, it finds a way to exist underneath it, which is a lot worse, because eventually it rockets up and ends with people dead. I'd rather deal with things in any way, as history, as current affairs, as fiction, than have it just sit there, silently torturing people.

As to the issue of free speech -- this has gotten a lot of play lately. The Constitution says that the *government* should not censure free speech. In this case, certainly no government agency stepped in and told CM not to air this episode.

Yeah, I wasn't really bringing it up as a Constitutional or legal issue. I meant to say that people who do -- when all someone else has done is condemn something they've said -- are just touting the law and twisting it for their own purposes, trying to justify saying anything they want to anybody. And it's such a misused, and overused, concept. And in that climate, to step around the truth for fear of a possible reaction (which happens a lot, as I've said) seems a little odd to me.

If they’re just trying to be on the safe side, yeah, ok -- we’ll agree to disagree, and I’ll stick with my previous remarks about preemptive self-censorship. But I feel it would be a little presumptuous of a TV network to assume responsibility for the feelings of victims’ families and friends. As I said, I think those who want to avoid it, will, whenever it airs. And I, for example, would watch it if it aired tomorrow. And I don't think that's being insensitive.

And this is kind of a weird place to have this discussion, sorry; but since we're here and talking, why not?

Anonymous said...

Lisa:

Friends can always agree to disagree. I think they made a morally and financially sound decision and once again Jill, thank you for passing on the information. The nice thing about CM fans is we can talk without hard feelings or harsh words.

Anonymous said...

I commend the decision by CBS and all the other networks for putting the nation's grief before that of the making of the all mighty buck. Good for them. Quality network with a quality show with quality fans.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Lisa that CBS have done the only thing that they could do. It is expected that they would not show an episode that had a connection with a real life tragedy.

However, whether they show "Doubt" in 2 weeks time or 2 months time, it is not going to ease or worsen the pain of those who have been involved in this awful event. It's a TV show, a piece of drama. Saying the "right" thing has become very important, with those who say the "wrong" thing at times like these being attacked on all sides.

170 people have been killed today by car bombs in Iraq. But I doubt if any TV network would pull an episode that featured bombings. I guess what happened in Virginia is just too close to home.

Elizabeth said...

I just think it is so sad that there have been so many people killed and that this is not the first time something like this has happened.

nebula

Criminal Minds Fan said...

I appreciate all the different opinions that have been posted on this thread. I know that many people, myself included, have a lingering sense of shock at the events of a few days ago. I would like to suggest though that this thread was meant to simply inform fellow viewers of a scheduling change and was not meant to become a political or ethical debate thread. I know that people need a place to vent, grief and/or just discuss the tragedy and that is taking place in the Criminal Minds Yahoo Group.

I would like to think that ALL the networks take the temperature of the nation after a horrific tragedy before airing many of their shows. Whether that is right or wrong.... I agree with it. So now that I have voiced my opinion along with those of everyone else I would ask that the conversation on this thread please return to the schedule itself. Thanks. :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for keeping us posted.

Anonymous said...

San Ysidro McDonald's Gunman was shot dead by a British-American Guardian Angel on July 18, 1984 at 5:17 PM (1717 hours) Ironically, the 1717 took place at between 32nd and 33rd degrees latitute at this spot, and the 1717 means that the year the Freemason began in modern times and the mother of the gunman has the exact name as the middle name of Freemason, Burl Ives!

Anonymous said...

Joshua P. Coleman, the injured victim in the McDonald's, is now an ironworker in California.

Anonymous said...

One victim, Maria Elena Colmenero her name is prophetic. Her middle name without an E is like Lena (in Lenin) while her last name means beehive in English and Ulyanov in Russian! Change her Mexican name to Russian, and you got Lenin's mother! Colmenero was shot dead on the very month (July) as Nicholas Romanov!

Anonymous said...

Years after the McDonald's Massacre, Astalfo Felix and Larry Robert Gene Dicks went Home to be with the Lord.

Anonymous said...

One victim, Jackie Lynn Wright Dominguez was the daughter of Donald Elmer Wright and Olga Dominguez de Wright. Jackie had a son Carlos Reyes, Jr. Carlos is 75% Mexican.