Now that the BAU gang is back together on 'Criminal Minds' and suddenly everything old is new again, the show is "re-energized," series star Thomas Gibson said in an interview with AOL TV.

Season 6 ended with Gibson's character Hotch helping "bury" Prentiss (Paget Brewster). However, she's still very alive -- something the team isn't aware of -- and Brewster and A.J. Cook will rejoin the cast full-time for Season 7 (Wed., Sept. 21, 9PM ET on CBS). All that deception comes back to bite Hotch, Gibson said.

"The sh-- sort of hits the fan because they're back in some ways," Gibson said about Brewster and Cook's return to the series. "Paget, as far as the rest of the team is concerned, we had lost her. There's some good stuff to play as a result of everybody getting back together, which is cool."

It wasn't just the fans who are excited to have Brewster and Cook back on the show -- Gibson said the cast is psyched too.

"It feels like a family reunion -- everybody is in the right place," Gibson said.

'Criminal Minds' Season 7 will reunite the old gang. Yes, even Paget Brewster's Prentiss is coming back.

In the new trailer, Emily Prentiss reunites with the team, much to Garcia's surprise. Prentiss was last seen meeting J.J. after her supposed to death. To the rest of BAU team, she's been in the ground.

After a series of controversial cuts, Both A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster were dropped from the series. However, thanks to outspoken fans, the two will be series regulars during Season 7.

Will it be the homecoming Prentiss had hoped for? Find out Wed., Sept. 21 at 9PM ET on CBS.

Watch the new promo -- complete with Garcia's shocked reactions -- and a 'Castle' Season 4 trailer below.

'Criminal Minds' has had more than its fair share of drama off-screen in the last year or so. Cast members have been demoted, or promoted then axed, or fired and then rehired. Now comes news that star Thomas Gibson is still between contracts.

According to Deadline.com negotiations have stalled between Gibson and CBS with only one month to go before production gets underway on the upcoming Season 7. While he is expected to sign a new deal to stay with the show the uncertainty is making life hard for the writers.

They have already started to map out next season and write scripts. Gibson's character, Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, has been key to the show's storylines, so it would be hard to plot the season without knowing if he will be back.

Paget Brewster is returning to 'Criminal Minds.'

Brewster and co-star A.J. Cook made headlines last summer after CBS axed Cook and reduced Brewster's episode count for season 6.

According to Deadline, with Brewster and Cook returning to the series, recent addition Rachel Nichols has been let go.

In December, Brewster was reportedly asked to rejoin the cast as a full series regular, but she turned down the deal to do the comedy pilot 'My Life as an Experiment.' However, NBC passed on the pilot.

Last year, news of Brewster's reduced deal and Cook's dismissal sparked fan protest. Viewers took to the web and started Twitter campaigns and petitions.

Could the higher-ups behind A.J. Cook's departure from 'Criminal Minds' be second-guessing their decision to axe the actress from the show?

According to Deadline, Cook is in talks to rejoin the show in the fall, possibly due to the massive fan outcry that occurred as a result of Cook's contract not being renewed and the number of episodes for costar Paget Brewster being reduced. Apparently, Cook was approached to return when writers came up with several storylines for her character, Special Agent Jennifer "J.J." Jareau.

Other changes are afoot, too. Showrunner Ed Bereno is leaving the series and transferring his showrunner powers to fellow executive producer Erica Messer, while Brewster could also return to 'Criminal Minds' for good depending on the fate of her NBC comedy pilot, 'My Life As an Experiment.'

While you may feel some Charlie Sheen fatigue, the former 'Two and a Half Men' star isn't running out of steam just yet.

According to TMZ, Sheen's live show -- he's going the route of Conan O'Brien -- sold out in 18 minutes. Yes, 18 minutes, a TicketMaster record.

Sheen announced on his official site that the $1 from every ticket sale will go to help those in Japan who have been affected by the earthquake and resulting tsunamis. The actor is also selling T-shirts adorned with the phrase "Duh, winning."

In other Sheen news, '30 Rock' star Alec Baldwin took to his Huffington Post blog to tell the troubled actor that he "can't win" in his fight with the studios. However, he did offer this advice: "But you know what you should do? Take a nap. Get a shower. Call Chuck. Go on Letterman and make an apology."

On March 20, TLC plans to air a special about the actor.

In other TV news ...

• Petra Nemcova almost quit 'Dancing With the Stars' to help victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Nemcova was a victim of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, her pelvis left shattered. [NY Post]

• Paget Brewster will star in NBC's 'My Life as an Experiment' pilot. The comedy is produced by Jack Black and based on the book 'Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life As An Experiment.' Brewster will play Stacie, the lawyer wife to the magazine journalist main character. If the pilot does not go to series, Brewster could return to 'Criminal Minds.' [TVLine]

• Fox's dinosaur/time-travel drama 'Terra Nova' has been pushed back, again. The Steven Spielberg-produced series was set to air a preview following 'American Idol' in May, however due to unfinished special effects the series will make its debut in the fall. [Entertainment Weekly]

Stockard Channing will headline '17th Precinct,' the new magic-based pilot from 'Battlestar Galactica' mastermind Ron Moore.

According to Deadline Hollywood, the 'West Wing' veteran will play Mira, a former homicide detective who now covers robberies. '17th Precinct' is set in the fictional city of Excelsior, a place where magic and the supernatural rule.

When NBC picked up the show to pilot, it was described as a 'Harry Potter'-type show for grown-ups.

In other TV news ...

• 'Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe' will premiere April 17 at 9PM on USA. The prequel is set in 2005 and directed by 'Burn Notice' star Jeffrey Donovan. [Entertainment Weekly]

• Gary Cole has joined the cast of Fox's comedy pilot 'Tagged.' Cole will play James Percy, a coroner who works with his son. [Deadline Hollywood]

• Will Paget Brewster leave 'Criminal Minds'? The actress is currently fielding comedy pilot offers from Fox. Her final 'Criminal Minds' episode of the season will end with a cliffhanger, A.J. Cook is returning to the series to possibly whisk her away. [Deadline Hollywood]

Back in June we told you how, despite axing AJ Cook and reducing the number of episodes Paget Brewster appears in, 'Criminal Minds' producers said they were looking to hire a new female series regular.

Now we hear that they've kept their word. According to deadline.com Rachel Nichols ('Alias,' 'Star Trek') is in talks to join the drama as a series regular. If she signs, it will make her the first new regular addition since Joe Mantegna in 2007.

Meanwhile, producers are also said to have approached Paget Brewster -- who is almost halfway through what could be her final season with the show -- with an offer to reinstate her previous status as a full series regular. And apparently she's turned them down.

As if profiling and catching serial killers weren't dramatic enough, the 'Criminal Minds' crew is dealing with some major shake-ups behind the scenes.

Actress A.J. Cook was cut from the show (her character Jennifer "JJ" Jareau was transferred to work at the Pentagon against her wishes), while actress Paget Brewster, who plays Emily Prentiss, will appear in fewer episodes this season, causing a great deal of fan backlash and even criticism from the cast. And last week it was announced that 'Criminal Minds' showrunner Ed Bernero will also take over as showrunner for the January spin-off 'Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour,' starring Forest Whitaker and Janeane Garofalo.

'Criminal Minds' continues to be the most watched show on Wednesdays, but ratings have been down by about one or two million per week compared to the same period last year. And of course questions about the show's future linger.

It's been reported that Paget Brewster has signed a deal to return for one more season on 'Criminal Minds,' and that despite fan pressure, A.J. Cook has been axed.

Following news that CBS had chosen not to renew Cook's contract, and had reduced the number of episodes Brewster was to appear in, disgruntled fans mounted an online petition to save the actresses' roles.

Writing on Twitter over the weekend, Brewster expressed her gratitude to the more than 40,000 people who had signed the petition. "Thank you for helping and supporting me and AJ," she said. "I am immensely grateful. I'm still angry about AJ. I'm sad this is my last year."

And Cook tweeted to fans: "Thanks for your undying support but it's a done deal."

When Andy Richter left Late Night With Conan O'Brien to establish his own career in acting, nobody knew that he'd come full circle and rejoin O'Brien years later. At the same time, nobody knew that creator Victor Fresco would do much the same thing.

Andy Richter Controls the Universe was one of those quirky shows that most people, who enjoy a dash of nonsense in their comedy, really dug. It was a very playful show about a guy working in a massive company. It featured a small ensemble with great chemistry on-screen, and had a unique look at big corporations.

A few years later, Fresco tapped that well again, and we got Better Off Ted, another comedy with absurdist tendencies set in a massive corporation with a small cast. Like Andy, it eked out a second season based more on critical acclaim than ratings. As someone who enjoys both shows, I find myself worrying that Ted will share Andy's ultimate fate, cancellation after the second season.

First off, isn't that a cool way to do titles for a two-part season finale? I'm waiting for the day when some show has a two-parter where the first episode is titled "The" and the other one is titled "End."

This season finale focused on a serial killer who killed prostitutes and the homeless and took them across the border into Canada.The previews with the pigs kinda creeped me out (I guess pigs are the villains in many ways this year). How was this finale? The show has been renewed for another season.

So last night at 9PM, everyone in the country was watching either the Lost season finale or another exciting elimination on American Idol. Or were they? Is there anyone out there who doesn't watch Lost or AI and actually tuned into Criminal Minds instead, even if it didn't guest star Alex O'Loughlin this week?

As we mentioned in the New TV on DVD column this week, Andy Richter Controls the Universe: The Complete Series has been released, so all of you folks who really miss this short-lived show can watch the episodes over and over and over and get mad at FOX all over again for cancelling it so quickly.

But there's another thing that fans can do too, go to the web site that has been set up for the set.

The screen is scattered with office equipment (phone, stapler, pencils, etc) and each one moves or makes a noise. Roll your mouse over the phone and you'll hear a different clip from the show, and you can also get the code for a widget that you can put on your own web page. But the main part of the site is the "How Are You Feeling Today?" box. You pick your mood (angry, having some fun, sexy, in pain, etc), and click the "Give me a Richter moment" button and you get to see a scene from the show that illustrates that mood.

After the jump, a scene involving really small feet.

(S03E19) Talk about ending a season in an explosive way!

In the past three years, this week's episode was probably the second episode of Criminal Minds that I watched in its entirety. It's not a bad show but I just can't watch everything that airs on TV. However, since I stop watching any American Idol season after Hollywood Week, so I wasn't going to watch the finale, and because my usual Wednesdays at 9 PM shows were done for the season, I tuned in to CBS and watched the BAU at work.