TV shows can only stay on the air for so long, and it is very rare that a series will make it to the 10-year mark, but there are those that do. For the series that are on the air over a decade, fans often think that they may never end and that they’ll just keep on going, but that simply isn’t possible. Fans become attached to the characters and see them as weekly members of their family, and that is why it’s so hard to learn that Criminal Minds is about to come to an end.
CBS just recently renewed Criminal Minds for a 15th season, but some additional news came along with that announcement. Season 15 is going to have just 10 episodes and it will actually bring the series to an end after a decade-and-a-half, as reported by Variety .
Right now, Criminal Minds is in the middle of Season 14, which is still filming episodes as it just came back from winter break on January 2, 2019. The 10 episodes of Season 15 are going to be filmed back-to-back with those remaining in the current season.
After the final 10 episodes of Criminal Minds air, the series will have produced a whopping 324 in total over 15 seasons. That puts it right up there with some of the longest-running television series in history.
‘Criminal Minds’ to End With Season 15 https://t.co/JT5SK0Btg1
— Variety (@Variety) January 11, 2019
The final season of Criminal Minds is going to air during the 2019-2020 season, and the final 10 episodes are not much less than a normal season. The 14th installment of the hit CBS series has 15 with the season finale scheduled to air on February 6, 2019.
Criminal Minds showrunner Erica Messer told TV Line that getting the news of the series ending is something that was a bit shocking. She was happy that CBS gave them advance notice that things were coming to an end, though.
“It’s really bittersweet, but I’m so, so grateful to CBS for giving us this heads-up. I think one of my biggest fears was always, ‘Oh man, what if we don’t know’ and then they just don’t bring back the show? But they respect this series and the cast and the crew and the fans enough to end this properly.”
Season 14 of Criminal Minds is bringing in an average of 4.7 million total viewers for each episode and that’s with a 0.8 demo rating for its slot on Wednesday nights. Once the DVR playbacks come into the mix, it brings the number of viewers up to 8.1 million with a 1.7 demo rating. Those are incredible numbers for CBS or any network, and it isn’t shocking that the series has been on the air as long as it has.
All good things must come to an end, though, and the 15th season will indeed be its last.