Last season there was uproar amongst fans of the hit CBS crime show Criminal Minds when it was announced that both A.J. Cook (Jennifer 'J.J.' Jareau) and Paget Brewster (Emily Prentis) would be leaving the show, not by their choice but as a direct move from executive producers who were shaking the cast up.

Now to the big Criminal Minds news of the weekend which totally back tracks on the big cast shake up, as it has been officially announced that Paget Brewster will be returning next season as Emily Prentiss alongside her co-star A.J. Cook, whose return was announced a few weeks ago. This unfortunately (or fortunately as some fans will see it) leaves no room for Rachel Nichols in the show, who many fans didn't warm to as Agent Ashley Seaver who seemed to be a J.J. clone rather than a completely new character. There had been rumblings for some time that Brewster would be returning, particularly after her last episode which was left very open ended. It will be interesting to see how they bring her back in to the fold and how the team will react to the necessary deception that took place. This offers up a wealth of stories for next season and I'm sure fans are just happy to hear that both of their favourites will be returning next year.

This casting shake up story has been discussed by us here at TV Overmind as an example of when the decisions by those at the top of a TV show food chain backfire completely and cause major disharmony with the viewers of a show. The reason why this one seemed so odd was that Criminal Minds is a show that is still doing well in the ratings and that a cast shake up like this normally happens when the ratings are getting stale or if the actor/actress in question wants to leave. Neither of these factors was present so it seemed like a move to either shake it up before it went stale or to try and entice new viewers with new blood. This second option would only really work if the new actor/actress employed by the show was a big household name and whilst Rachel Nichols is certainly not a new face she is also not a big draw name.

Now the only contract negotiations that need to finish to make the team complete are with Thomas Gibson (Aaron 'Hotch' Hotchner), who is still in on going talks with CBS and hasn't officially signed on for next season. He has taken to Twitter to try and reassure fans that "to everyone asking about my coming back to CM...hoping to be there, still working on it, and I sincerely appreciate all your support!!". This is not iron clad but you would hope that after all the cast issues of season 6 that Criminal Minds executives would not want to rock the boat any more with another fan favourite.

So Criminal Minds fans are you glad that both A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster are both officially signed on for season 7? Any one sad to see Rachel Nichols depart? Let us know in the comments below.