#different network. technically. they got away with what they'd always wanted to.

[ssaalexblake]

gonna use the wave of writer appreciation on this hellsite to remind the new wave of cm fans that back in the ~day of old cm, there were a few gay writers on staff of cm and even more seemingly straight ones who also wanted to write gay lead characters into cm and had support from the cast, going as far as to write it into episodes, only for cbs to make them take this stuff out because they wouldn’t allow it in the show. 

They also told them all that they were Not Allowed To Mention This otherwise you will face Consequences to anybody who may talk about this. I know this because, years ago when after/ellen Wasn’t a bigoted te/rf hell, Kirsten did an interview where she let that slip (both the gay thing And that they’d been ordered to not mention it) anyway. 

They were also gagged on talking about casting changes past the debacle where the NETWORK fired paget and AJ for creative reasons. It was not financial in motive. They are lying when they say so. They were fired for ‘creative reasons’ that led to the showrunner resigning from the show in protest. Mass fan protest and an actual massive fan movement are why they returned. And also, if they wanted to save money by axing a cast member, at the time from salary numbers reported they’d have saved more money axing one man than two women, which is a whole Other issue (that almost got the show cancelled once bc Cook and Vangsness refused to renew contracts again unless they BOTH got raises. The pay disparity between the women and the men was nauseating btw. This was the same year De Pablo left ncis bc she couldn’t achive the same thing without any support from other cast members and wouldn’t be treated like shit). 

But yes, they were gagged from talking about cast changes bc if i recall correctly it was Harry Bring that let slip on twitter when people asked him about Tripplehorn leaving suddenly, that they were all under an NDI about it. All cbs learnt from the previous sexist crap was that if viewers found out about it they’d be loud and angry, so they just made sure viewers didn’t know about it. 

Basically, while there is a Lot of utter awful stuff the cm writers pulled, blaming them for it being the straightest show on TV (till the reboot) is Exactly what the shitbags at cbs want. But you’re blaming actual gay people who wanted to write that into the show but were barred from doing so a bunch of times when you @ the writers for this. Blaming the writers for cast turnover is Also inaccurate. The showrunner literally quit in protest of misogynistic network meddling. I think the only women on the show who left of their own accord were Glaudini (life work balance bad apparently) and Hewitt (who was very visibly pregnant and left for this reason) and there were a hell of a lot more ladies than just them. Not to mention them firing Damon Gupton (walker) between seasons on a cliff-hanger ending so the writers had no choice but to kill his character. 

There are many choices on cm that leave me scowling at the writers (and i know to scowl at them bc they admitted they were the masterminds behind these ideas) but a Massive amount of bs on criminal minds was Entirely cbs meddling with what the writers wanted to do.