‘Criminal Minds’ Star to Lead New Murder Mystery Show

The chances of Jason Gideon surprisingly appearing in the Paramount+ Criminal Minds revival just took a hit. That’s because Mandy Patinkin has signed on to star in a new murder mystery show for Hulu. The series, Career Opportunities in Murder and Mayhem, earned a 10-episode series order on Tuesday, reports TV Line.

The series will star Patinkin as Rufus Cotesworth, a former detective who tries to discover the truth of a murderer with his protege, played by Violett Beane (God Friended Me). Career Opportunities hopes to show how murder can be solved in a “post-fact world,” where murder can happen on an ocean liner in the Mediterranean filled with wealthy and powerful people. Someone is a murderer, and they might still be on the boat.

The cast also features Lauren Patten (Blue Bloods), Rahul Kohli (iZombie), Angela Zhou (Hell on Wheels), Hugo Diego Garcia, and Pardis Saremi. Mike Weiss and Heidi Cole McAdams, who worked on ABC’s short-lived Stumptown, are the showrunners, writers, and executive producers. Marc Webb (Why Women Kill, The Amazing Spider-Man) was hired to direct the pilot.

Patinkin, 69, is an actor who deserves the title “living legend,” having won a Tony for Evita (1980) and an Emmy for Chicago Hope (1995). He’s also earned Emmy nominations for his performances in The Larry Sanders Show and Showtime’s Homeland. His most well-known role is easily Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride (1987).

Patinkin also starred in the first two seasons of Criminal Minds as Jason Gideon. His character left just two episodes into Season 3 and was later played by Ben Savage in flashbacks. In Season 10, the character was killed offscreen. Criminal Minds ended after 15 seasons, but Paramount+ is now developing a 16th season. Most of the main cast from Season 15 is expected to return.

Career Opportunities is one of the newest projects for Disney-owned Hulu. Patinkin’s Homeland co-star Claire Danes is working on Fleishman Is In Trouble, while Sterling K. Brown will lead the adventure series, Washington Black. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend‘s Rachel Bloom will star in Badass (And Her Sister) as twin sisters.

Hulu has also carved a niche as a home of true crime-inspired originals. The streamer is even the home of Only Murders in the Building, a satire centered on true-crime podcast fans played by Martin Short, Steve Martin, and Selina Gomez. Hulu’s latest true-crime original is The Dropout, a limited series about Elizabeth Holmes.