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'Criminal Minds' Season 7: Thomas Gibson to return
You can all breathe a sigh of relief now, "Criminal Minds" fans.Thomas Gibson has signed a new deal to return to the CBS show for its seventh season, which is set to begin production is just two weeks, TVLine reports.
Even better news, Hotchner fans? A source says Gibson signed on for two more years in a deal worth mid-to-high seven figures. His new salary is reportedly more than double his previous salary.
This new deal comes after lengthy and strained negotiations. Two weeks ago, talks between the actor and CBS stalled, creating an issue for the show's writers who were just beginning to break stories for Season 7.
Gibson plays Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner and has starred on the show for its entire run.
Happy Gibson is returning to "Criminal Minds," Zappers? What would you like to see happen in Season 7?
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Photo/Video credit: CBS
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I would like to see the return of Jason Gideon for 1 or 2 episodes.
"mid-to-high seven figures" most likely works out to $175,000 per episode.
I hope that they don't promptly announce the firing of all of the female cast members as a cost-cutting measure, as this is pretty much what happened after season 5.
Yay! I like Hotch. And they're not firing the female cast. As a matter of fact, I've read that AJ is returning as is Prentiss.
Oh thank goodness! I was hoping they would work out a deal. I couldn't watch the new season if another cast member left the show. I can breath again!
Thank goodness! I was so worried, Hotch is one of my favorites. I don't think CM would be the same if Thomas wasn't on.
Hotch is back but I'm sad to said I'm giving up on Criminal Minds until the new season begins. Guess CBS is a terrible network to wasted and how long will the crime drama going to last just like NCIS?
This is the singular bright spot of the fall season.
Angela said: "Yay! I like Hotch. And they're not firing the female cast. As a matter of fact, I've read that AJ is returning as is Prentiss."
I know they're returning, it was a joke. See, at the end of season 5, a number of regular cast members that had been with the show since season 1 had their contracts up for renewal. Even though CBS and the production company were making a very good (read: obscene) profit from the show, these cast members were warned that they were in a cost-cutting mode and so they should not take their promised raises or there would be dire consequences. They took their (well deserved) raises, and the powers-that-be subsequently fired A.J. Cook and Padget Brewster to bring the show back into budget (or, most likely, just out of spite). They have since caved to fan pressure and are bringing those two actresses back for season 7.
With Thomas Gibson negotiating a huge pay increase though, my statement that they might fire the women again was a joke. What's really a joke is how they've tried to get these actors to work for less money on a show that gets such good ratings.
"Two and a Half Men" gets very similar numbers and their salaries are crazy in comparison (all per episode):
Charlie Sheen: $1.25 million; Jon Cryer: $550,000; Angus Jones: $250,000; Conchata Ferrell: $150,000. So the four main recurring characters make $2,200,000 per episode. (This was from last season when they renegotiated, Ashton Kutcher will be making about $750,000 next season.) And this is for a 30-minute show; Criminal Minds is a 60-minute show, which means that CBS gets to sell twice as many commercials at premium prices. So why are they holding the cast member's salaries so low?
Before Gibson's raise, he was only making $100,000 per episode (now will be $200,000+), with Joe Mantegna making $125,000. Everybody else in the cast is making less than that. There aren't so many regular cast members (seven) that they need to keep salaries this low after six seasons. They almost let Gibson go, for gosh sakes. It's ridiculous.
So glad all the cast is returning! Especially AJ and Paget :)