How many seasons of Criminal Minds are there in total, Evolution counted? The show CBS ended in 2020 refuses to stay dead
Counting the seasons of Criminal Minds is not the simple errand it sounds like, and that is entirely CBS's fault.
The network gave the BAU a proper funeral in February 2020 — series finale, tears, fifteen years of closure — and the show simply declined to participate. There are more seasons now than there were at the "end," the number is still climbing, and the next batch is already bought and paid for. Let's do the math properly, because the math is the fun part.
The show that wouldn't stay canceled
Two years after the funeral, Paramount+ dug the thing back up, slapped Evolution on the title, and started producing new seasons that pick up the original's numbering like nothing happened. The gang mostly came back, too: Joe Mantegna, Paget Brewster, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez — plus Zach Gilford as Elias Voit, the serial-killer houseguest who will not check out.
And the revival isn't coasting on nostalgia. It has a thesis.
A show with, literally, unfinished business
Showrunner Erica Messer has been running this thing for over a decade, and per her own preview of the latest season, the revival's whole engine is a debt the show owed itself.
"I always felt like we had this unfinished business from Season 1 with Voit," Messer said.
The new wrinkle is a superfan copycat — and before you roll your eyes, Messer would like you to know the homework checks out:
"This idea that there's a Fan out there who maybe wants to emulate him — the copycat thing is very real in the serial killer world."
Great. Wonderful. Sleeping fine tonight.
So what's the total, Evolution counted?
Nineteen seasons aired — and a twentieth already ordered. The receipts:
- Seasons 1–15: the original CBS run, 2005–2020
- Seasons 16–19: Criminal Minds: Evolution on Paramount+ (November 2022, June 2024, May 2025, and this year's ten-episode run, May 28 through July 23)
- Season 20: renewed in March 2026 — before season 19 had even premiered, which is the streaming equivalent of proposing on the second date — and due in 2027
Season 19 ended on what Messer calls a "to be continued" rather than a classic cliffhanger, so the count won't sit at nineteen for long.
Some shows get canceled. This one apparently just gets reassigned.
Previously we wrote: Renewed before season 3 even aired: Shrinking season 4 targets a 2027 release date
