"Criminal Minds" Renewed for Season 14 at CBS - Will It be the Last?
by Nellie Andreeva
May 12, 2018


As usual, the renewal of veteran crime drama "Criminal Minds" came down to the wire with CBS and lead studio ABC Studios going back and forth on terms. Making things less complicated this time was the fact that all "Criminal Minds" veteran cast members already had deals for next season.

Also as usual, CBS is not confirming the size of the order or any other details. There had been speculation that the network may renew "Criminal Minds" for a final 13-episode season but for now, that is just speculation. We will get a better sense when CBS releases its schedule on Wednesday morning.




After a long run at 9 PM, "Criminal Minds" moved to 10 PM this season. It has improved the time period and is doing well in delayed viewing.

The crime drama ended its 13th season on a cliffhanger, I hear with the blessing of CBS. A cancellation would’ve robbed its loyal fans of a proper ending and would’ve deprived the series of hitting the 300th episode milestone, ending its run with 299.

Now "Criminal Minds‘" Season 14 premiere will also mark the show’s 300th episode, giving it an extra promotional juice.

http://deadline.com/2018/05/criminal-minds-renewed-season-14-cbs-final-season-1202380786/

CBS Boss on Possibility of more "Criminal Minds" Episodes & Is Season 14 the Final Chapter – TCA
by Nellie Andreeva
August 5, 2018


When CBS’ crime drama "Criminal Minds" clinched another last minute renewal over in May, the number of episodes was not revealed amid speculation that the veteran series may be getting an abbreviated final season.

The network eventually settled on a 15-episode order but, being on the fall schedule, returning to the Wednesday 10 PM slot, "Criminal Minds" could conceivably do more, as many as 22 episodes, which has been the norm for the veteran crime procedural.



“As scheduling evolves and we try to get more original episodes on air, we have to cut and paste and sometime trimming episodes on some of those shows to get more originals on the air,” CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl told Deadline at TCA on Sunday.

“They possibly can get a couple of more episodes. It depends where they are in production, they will let us know when (we need to make that call).”



Will Season 14 be "Criminal Minds‘" last?

“I’m not saying this is the last season,” Kahl said. “We will have an honest discussion with them at the right time.”

https://deadline.com/2018/08/criminal-minds-season-14-more-episodes-final-season-season-15-1202440419/

Why Criminal Minds has a shorter Season 14 (https://tvline.com/2018/08/05/criminal-minds-season-14-episode-count-shorter/)
CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl said of Criminal Minds' 15-episode order, which is down from the usual 23: "First of all, that’s what we need. Scheduling gets more difficult as we try to pack more shows into the schedule each season, with fewer repeats...The number of episodes you need tends to ‘accordion’ a little bit.” Still, Kahl won't rule out adding more episodes.