Has "Criminal Minds" Found Its New Leader?

“TV Guide” is reporting that “Criminal Minds” is close to hiring a replacement for Mandy Patinkin and it’s…wait for it…Geena Davis.

“Minds” star Shemar Moore told Michael Ausiello that she was the frontrunner. He also said that Michael Keaton was a possibility, but he apparently has passed (That may have made me actually watch the show!).

On Patinkin’s exit, Moore told Ausiello, “We just want the courtesy and respect we deserve. And we felt like if he had given us that initially this would be much easier to deal with. He essentially just slapped us in the face…Mandy’s a volatile personality. He had his good days and he had his bad days.”

Moore pointed out that his exit shouldn’t be that big of a surprise since he did the same thing in 1995 when he left “Chicago Hope.” Moore told "USA Today" that he knew Patinkin wouldn't last six seasons. He left Patinkin a message because "he's a friend," but he hasn't talked to him and doesn't know where he is. Moore also said Patinkin left messages with the show's cast "a couple of days ago" saying "Hi, how are you? We'll talk soon."

As I suspected, CBS President Nina Tassler was forced to answer a lot of questions about Patinkin at Press Tour. Tassler told critics that Patinkin asked to be released from the show for a “personal issue…I can only hope that in the very near future, Mandy will be able to answer these questions.”

When someone pointed out to Tassler that the official statement from CBS said “creative differences” and she said “personal issues,” Tassler said, “Creative differences is a euphemism for personal issues.” That got a big laugh from the critics.

The premiere is being rewritten to explain his absence. Patinkin will apparently do one episode of the show to wrap up Gideon’s story.

That’s not going to be pretty…

“Criminal Minds” premieres Wednesday, September 26th at 9 p.m. on CBS…