CBS Not Airing 'Criminal Minds' Wednesday Night

Nearly a week after announcing a final season renewal, CBS will not be airing a new episode of Criminal Minds in its usual timeslot.

The long-running crime procedural will be giving up its timeslot Wednesday night to a rerun of new drama series FBI, as the network goes for a full night of reruns before a premiere-packed next week.

Criminal Minds' return on Jan. 23 will be accompanied by a new episode of the season season of Celebrity Big Brother — set to premiere Monday — as well as a new episode of SEAL Team. After this week off, the series will have uninterrupted new episodes until its Season 14 finale, set to air Wednesday, Feb. 6.

The show will return with a new episode, titled "Chameleon," with the official description teasing trouble. The synopsis reads: "Rossi questions his actions in the aftermath of a near-death struggle with a serial killer who appears to have outsmarted the BAU."

The short break comes days after CBS announced the official Season 15 renewal for the series, with the 10-episode installment acting as the show's final season.

"It is the quintessential CBS hit. We are so proud to have aired it," Amy Reisenbach, CBS' EVP current programs said at the time. "It speaks to everything we do best, which is air quality television. It's been successful not only on air but online, in syndication, internationally for ABC (Studios)."

"We wanted to make sure Erica had the time and ability to write a season (14) finale that honors the characters and the fans," she added. "We discussed wanting to keep the show in continuous production so 10 felt like the right number for us to roll straight into and give Erica enough episodes to end the series the way she wanted to."

The final season will be filmed immediately after Season 14 production wraps on the series, with plans for the episodes to air sometime during the 2019-2020 television season.

Executive producer Erica Messer commented on the news, promising fans a proper ending that won't include any big tragedies.

"These people are family and friends to us at this point," she told the publication. "I know it's a drama, but I'm less likely to injure or write someone off in a way that says they're not breathing anymore. I know a lot of shows, when they find out it's going to be over, then characters are killed off or something like that. That's not my instinct, mainly because I've been here for so long with all of these voices, I just don't want that to be how it ends for them. So the jet won't crash, I can tell you that."

Criminal Minds airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.