He'd make a great regular. The show has near-humor, and he'd remove the modifier.

Pointy | September 22, 19:05 CET

Yay! I love Nick Brendon.
But this means I will have to give another crime show a watch, along with Without a Trace.
I hate crime shows.
I really try.
I watched the whole first Season of Bones, then I just couldn't do it anymore.
But if the show has some humor, that will help.

Xane | September 22, 20:00 CET

Well hot damn! It's great to see Nick land a decent role. I'm very excited for him. I know I'll be watching.

skeezycheeses | September 22, 20:09 CET

Good for him!

Good for them. Good for us. ;-)

newcj | September 22, 20:57 CET

All round, very good. :)

feigenbaum7 | September 22, 21:24 CET

Fantastic news! Congratulations Nick!

debw | September 22, 21:29 CET

Good for Nick! I've never watched this show but I've heard that it's not too bad.

Ameer | September 22, 21:39 CET

I started watching this show when it began as 'Dead Like Me' was cancelled. It seemed mildly reminiscent of Minear's one-season-wonder 'The Inside'. I was following Mandy Patinkin (who "stole" all his scenes in 'The Princess Bride'.) Another actor in CM, Thomas Gibson, also had demonstrated strong comedy chops in the sitcom 'Dharma & Greg'.

Criminal Minds is not comedy; it has few, if any, light moments. But it is very compelling drama and I think Nick will fit in well. Perhaps the comedic backgrounds lend themselves to portray the type of quick-thinking-insight required of these characters.

napua | September 22, 22:05 CET

Great news, I've been wishing Nick would return to prime time. I've seen a handful of CM episodes and really enjoyed them, but it'll become an appointment show for me if they keep Nick on as a regular.

callie | September 22, 22:20 CET

I love Nick and I'm so happy about this news.

Reddygirl | September 22, 22:43 CET

Lovely. My mom actually grew up across the street from Mandy Patinkin, who was also in her sister's classes.

feliceg | September 22, 23:04 CET

I have friends who know Mandy Patinkin from their synagogue. They can't stand him, (He is still one of my favorite actors, though.) I wish they had brought NB in as his replacement. Imagine Nicholas Brendon being sought after for being the same caliber actor as Mandy Patinkin!

Nebula1400 | September 22, 23:40 CET

Although I think Brendon is an awesome comic actor, I also think he has mad drama skills as well.

I bought (whispering...Pinata Island) and he made an excellent action hero.

Very serious, believable. And with that movie, it couldn't have been easy.

Xane | September 22, 23:52 CET

I'm glad I am not the only one who bought Pinata: Survival Island or whatever it's called. I even did it ... at full price *shame*. And, well, Psycho Beach Party, which I actually liked.

Ocular | September 22, 23:57 CET

I like the idea of Nick being the computer expert guy, this is often a place where a show wants to add a little humor to the exposition and I'm sure Nick Brendon will bring a lot to it.

embers | September 23, 00:06 CET

I am happy for Nick. I will be good to see him again on my tv screen.

As for Mandy Patinkin - he has left the show and his co-stars high and dry. His replacement will be Joe Mantegna.

SPOILER : as per TV Guide's Ausiello :

"My moles at Criminal Minds have just confirmed for me exclusively that disgraced cranky-pants Mandy Patinkin will be returning to the show this fall after all — but only for one episode (airing Oct. 3), so as to provide some closure for his Gideon character. Strange as that may sound, though, that isn't the really odd part: He'll only be in one scene, and he'll essentially be the only one in it.

Why? Well, duh! My spies tell me that no one in the cast wanted to work opposite him again after he brought production to a standstill by pulling a no-show without even calling in (cough, cough) sick. What's more, Minds' producers were forced to use a special crew to shoot the pariah's scene because the show's regular staff refused to be on set with him."

It's too bad Mr. Patinkin has such strange behaviour... he is a good actor...at least he does brooding and tortured very well.

coolpeace | September 23, 02:19 CET

In case anyone was wondering, this episode shouldn't interfere with any of Nick's scheduled convention appearances. And I can confirm that he is planning on going to the Paris convention that was discussed on Whedonesque earlier this month.

[ edited by J.Monique on 2007-09-22 23:35 ]

J.Monique | September 23, 02:33 CET

Moles get everywhere these days - and it seems they never have anything but bad stuff to say. I am inclined to think what happens behind the scenes should stay there.

alien lanes | September 23, 03:16 CET

I really loved Mandy Patinkin in Dead Like Me, but I have to say that I like Joe Mantegna even more, so it doesn't seem like a bad trade to me. I hope the show continues to do well just because that would be good for Nick Brendon!

embers | September 23, 03:30 CET

I do not like this show, but I'll watch it for Nick!

UnpluggedCrazy | September 23, 03:33 CET

About time. I've missed Nick on TV, and it's more great news of the Scoobies and Team Angel..and Serenity, too.. making their mark on the new TV season

impalergeneral | September 23, 03:54 CET

I have loved Criminal Minds for a long time and was quite upset when I found out that Mandy Patinkin was leaving after the first episode I was pretty sure I was going to stop watching.

This is a completely unexpected treat to have Nick join the cast! I will definitely keep watching and hoping he becomes a regular rather than a guest spot.

10%ofnothin | September 23, 05:24 CET

Great for Nick, though, I can't stand Criminal Minds.

Numfar PTB | September 23, 05:29 CET

Aw, this news has me in my happy place.

Tonya J | September 23, 20:34 CET

"Criminal Minds" has a regular character, Garcia, played by Kristin Vangsness, who is the team's usual computer expert person. I'm wondering if a) either the actress is out for an episode or two or b) if they're bringing in Nicholas Brendon as a possible romantic interest for her. Rooting for b) :)

As for those Michael Ausellio rumors, which "Criminal Minds" producer Ed Bernero made an Internet post that stated bluntly Mandy Pantinkin failed to show up for work with no prior warning, and while I think the other actors may have been put out by his actions -- whether you work in film/TV production, at a warehouse or a 7-11, you have a right to expect your coworkers to notify you if they're not showing up for shift -- I think it's a stretch to believe union actors and crew "refused" to show up for part of their job. Short of personal emergency or a union strike, that's just not done (though clearly there are exceptions -- like Mr. Patinkin, evidently). More likely is that the scene was filmed with a small second unit so that the rest of the cast and first unit crew could go about their scheduled jobs while Bernero (as he stated in a print interview -- if it was Variety, it will be at variety.com, but I can't remember if it was that or the Los Angeles Times) simultaneously directed the scene with Patinkin to save time and money. Anyway, great that NB is going to be on the show. It's done well and, if he is paired with Kristin Vangsness, he'll be in the portion of the show generally used to inject some humor into what are overally fairly dark proceedings.

Shapenew | September 24, 02:14 CET

Wow. Read this announcement on Television Without Pity tonight, and (to paraphrase Beetlejuice) it just keeps getting better every time I see it!

I love Criminal Minds, and folks, Patinkin clearly lost interest in this series during Season 2--you could see it. Much as I love Mandy ("My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."), Mantegna is a better actor and he doesn't bolt on a series without warning.

Now Nick Brendon, my main man on BUFFY, possibly canoodling with my favorite tech kitten, Penelope Garcia?! This is the proverbial cherry on top of the chocolate sundae.

cjl | September 24, 07:18 CET

What is it about my favourite actors and actresses doing shows that I have absolutely no interest in? David goes to Bones, James does Smallville, Nathan is doing Desperate Housewives and now Nick is doing Criminal Minds? I get that work is work and that any job is a good job when you are getting paid but I miss these guys on my television screen and I'd love a chance to watch them but I'm not willing to spend an hour of my day watching a show I know I hate out of nothing but loyalty to an actor. Not that I'd expect any of them to be hanging on and waiting for that perfect genre script to arrive but a few less dull procedural shows or series about bed-hopping, neurotic women with murderous partners wouldn't be such a bad thing.

How about James Marsters on Lost or Gina Torres on Supernatural? Maybe Amber Benson on Battlestar Galactica or Michelle Trachtenberg showing up on Dexter? Any show of real imagination or quality would suit me. Or better yet, an ACTUAL Whedon show.

Kaine | September 24, 12:26 CET

I couldn't be more thrilled for Nick. Criminal Minds is not your standard issue procedural, it's possibly the best show on broadcast network right now.
I'm not thrilled about the loss of Mandy Pantinkin, temperament aside, he's a fine actor and his character was extremely compelling. But if any show is strong enough to survive the replacement of it's star, this is it.
The marvelous ensemble cast, top notch writing and over-all excellent production values should be able to weather this storm. And if Nick's guest shot turns into a regular role, that's just icing on the cake.

Shey | September 24, 14:15 CET

Only watched one of these but I found the guy from "Dharma and Greg" overacted really badly (among other, smaller issues). In fairness, I didn't watch enough to find out if that was deliberate in order to represent a character that was basically totally up himself for reasons that would soon become apparent or if it was just opening episode unevenness or whatever because the premise didn't stand out enough to really grab me, didn't feel different enough. Might give it another chance if the time I ordered from Amazon ever actually arrives ;).

(felt like I was already watching an entertaining enough version of "Older agent mentors younger agents while they catch bad-guys" in NCIS, despite that show having a much lighter feel to it - or in fact, maybe because of the lighter feel)

Each to their own of course.

Saje | September 24, 15:43 CET

I don't know, Shey. I've seen a good few episodes of Criminal Minds and I saw very little to separate it from any other crime procedural, at least from my perspective. Decent acting, granted. Other than that it was pretty much paint-by-numbers crime television.

That said, these type of shows rarely hold my interest and Criminal Minds did get me to watch more than one or two episodes before I decided it wasn't for me. That is a lot more than any of the Law and Order or C.S.I. series have managed.

Best "crime" show ever? Season one of Millennium. ;)

Kaine | September 24, 16:05 CET

Yippeee! We missed you on primetime, Nick.
:)

kerfuffle | September 24, 18:21 CET

I'm interested to see in which direction the show will go now, but at the outset it was Patinkin who was the draw - and then it turned out, at least it seemed to me, that he wasn't around that much in the episodes. But Matthew Gray Gubler as Spencer Reid has become the clear standout of the show, and I kind of hope Nick will challenge that standing.

Tonya J | September 24, 19:34 CET

I say let Nick run the unit. Shirtless.

kerfuffle | September 24, 20:04 CET

Right there with you, Tonya J, . In a uniformly excellent cast, Matthew Gray Gubler is the real stand-out. If anyone in Hollywood is paying attention at all, he should be a real rising star.
I love this show so much, I'm even forgoing The Bionic Woman until re-runs. And I long ago got over my initial fascination with procedurals. What I think makes Criminal Minds stand out from the rest is what good use they make of the psychological profiling theme, which is very different from the CSI "follow the forensic evidence" model.
That and the intensity of the cases they pursue, some episodes are right up there with an hour long (original film) Silence of the Lambs, both quality-wise & with a creepyness factor that none of the other crime shows even approach.
I can't wait to see how Nick fits into this mix, because I think he's possibly the most underrated actor in the jossverse.

Shey | September 25, 14:56 CET