Criminal Minds is an American crime drama that premiered September 22, 2005 on CBS. It is produced by The Mark Gordon Company in association with ABC Studios and CBS Paramount Network Television. The show follows the adventures of a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) at Quantico, Virginia. Criminal Minds differs from many criminal system procedural dramas by focusing on the criminal rather than the crime itself.

Criminal Minds initially starred Mandy Patinkin as Jason Gideon and Thomas Gibson as Aaron Hotchner. On July 17, 2007, it was announced that Patinkin had been granted a request to be released from his role on the show. Patinkin was replaced by Joe Mantegna, who joined the cast several episodes later after Patinkin left the show. The series' third season, which premiered on September 26, 2007, was interrupted in late 2007 by the industry-wide writer's strike. It aired its last pre-strike episode on January 23, 2008. Following the resolution of the strike, the show returned to air on April 2, 2008. On May 14, 2008, Criminal Minds was renewed for a 4th Season.