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CBS delves into more ‘Criminal Minds’ with new spinoff By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it If you thought CBS already had one of broadcast televi- sion’s darkest hours, get ready for an extra dose. In its sixth season, “Criminal Minds” is spawning a spinoff, with another Behavioral Analy- sis Unit of the FBI using special talents to track and capture bizarre felons. “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior” follows the parent show starting Wednes- day, Feb. 16, with Oscar winner Forest Whitaker (“The Last King of Scotland”) heading the cast as the new team’s leader. Someone from the original series also turns up: Kirsten Vangsness, doing dual duty on both shows as quirky techno- whiz Penelope Garcia. Actress- comedian Janeane Garofalo is a cast regular as well, and other co-stars — including Michael Kelly, Matt Ryan and Beau Gar- rett (“TRON: Legacy”) — were introduced last April in a back- door-pilot episode of “Criminal Minds.” Richard Schiff (“The West Wing”) will recur as the FBI’s director. “I like what this show is about,” the soft-spoken Whita- ker says, “exploring the mind and trying to understand what people are capable of, the dual- ity that exists in everyone. I’d asked if we would be exploring what the core of someone is, because once you do that, you can sometimes find a way of healing that. Kirsten Vangsness stars in “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior,” premiering Wednesday on CBS. “This man I play is deeply spiritual, and he believes every- one has a light inside them, a flame that’s been covered up by different experiences. That’s what he’s looking for.” Vangsness describes the “Suspect Behavior” agents as “scrappy ragamuffins,” as op- posed to the sharp-dressed, generally refined sleuths on the original “Criminal Minds.” Whita- ker doesn’t disagree, reasoning that aspect “gives the show a different flavor, just as much as Mandy Patinkin did when he was on the original show, or Joe Mantegna after him. It’s not nec- essarily better, just different. “I wanted the feeling that we could exist on the street, and that’s what the writers have Stutzman MOTOR SALES , INC. 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US 33 West, Goshen • 533-1166 Monday-Friday 5 am-3 pm Sat. & Sun. 6 am-3 pm Serving Breakfast All Day Lunch • Daily Specials 5230 BECK DRIVE (at CR 17) ELKHART • 574-333-3910 8 The Goshen News • Viewer’s Choice • Saturday, February 12, 2011 - Friday, February 18, 2011 Now Open done, even in the space they’ve put us in. The team’s office is in a dojo, so as soon as you walk in, people are fighting. In that re- spect, it’s immediately different from the other show. You’ll see episodes where we’re sparring physically, but we’re also using our minds acutely.” For Vangsness, whose work was mainly stage-based prior to “Criminal Minds,” the chance to expand her presence in the franchise is appealing. She recalls, “When we did the ‘Crimi- nal Minds’ episode that sort of started ‘Suspect Behavior,’ I wasn’t in it very much. They had a different computer person, and that was cool.” That changed, though, when “Minds” co-star Paget Brewster pushed for close friend Vang- sness to have a bigger role in the spinoff. “She’s like my manager, ba- sically,” Vangsness says with a laugh about Brewster. “I was at a thing where they announced the new and returning shows, and Forest was there, too. He came over to me and said, ‘I’m looking forward to working with you.’ And that’s how I found out. I was like, ‘Well, I guess it’s happening. Forest Whitaker just told me!”’ Playing the same character in two shows is a juggling act, the lively Vangsness reports. “There are a lot of rewrites,” she says, “and every time, the script is a different color. There are also different schedules of different colors, and everything starts with the words ‘Criminal Minds.’ My life has become a swath of paper, and it’s helped me. I’ve been writing a play, and I’ve been printing it on the back of all this paper so that I don’t have ‘paper guilt.’ ” Having played Garcia since 2005, Vangsness is pleased she has creative input into the character’s “Suspect Behavior” behavior. “They give me a lot of free- dom in rewriting lines and mas- saging the words into how Gar- cia speaks,” she says. “There’s a certain cadence, and I have to find that. I do have a sense of what she does and doesn’t do, and that ends up taking most of the time, more than the actual shooting. I want to make it fun for myself and for the audience.” Whitaker’s “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior” alter ego Sam Cooper could be a relative of others the actor has played in big-screen projects ranging from “The Crying Game” and “Blown Away” to “Jason’s Lyric” and “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.” “Those explorations of myth and theology and philosophy, my character lives in that space,” he says. “When he goes into a crime scene, he’s feeling it. Mike Kelly’s character was a prison inmate, so he’s the crimi- nal mind who comes at it from the inside out. “Matt is our tactical guy, and Gina — Beau’s character — is the victimology person who used to play ‘Who is that guy?’ games with Sam when she was a kid. They all have different skill sets that are brought together.” No stranger to television, Whitaker hosted a “Twilight Zone” revival and did extended guest stints on “ER” and “The Shield.” Working on the latter drama went a long way toward convincing him that “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior” would be a good career fit as he also continues as a movie director (“Waiting to Exhale,” “Hope GLASSES • CONTACTS • EYE EXAMS • SUNGLASSES EYEWEAR GALLERY 56028 Parkway Ave., Suite E - Elkhart • 574-970-7444 EXPIRES FEBRUARY 28, 2011 50% OFF * EYE David R. Britzke , O.D. *Offer not valid with insurance or other offers. Does not include contact lens fitting fee. www.drbritzke.com Allergies? Asthma? We Can Help! 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I decided that I wanted to be by their side more.” 13024 US 20, Middlebury • 574-825-2965 COLLISION • BRAKES • EXHAUST BILL’S COLLISION ALIGNMENTS • OIL CHANGE SERVICE Weblinks CBS tries to launch another franchise Wednesday with “Crimi- nal Minds: Suspect Behavior.” Learn more at www.cbs.com/ primetime/criminal_minds_suspect_behavior/ If you’re enjoying Animal Planet’s feline-centric “Must Love Cats” on Saturdays, you can sign up for the show’s Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/mustlovecatsfanpage Investigation Discovery’s “James Ellroy’s L.A.: City of Demons” follows the crime author through the seedy side of the City Deborah Ponce, RN, MSN, NP-C Nurse Practitioner Our friendly staff is ready to help you! S PECTRU M EXAM Now Accepting Medicare

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