CBS has cancelled Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders after airing two seasons, according to a report in Variety. The show is a spin-off of the hit CBS show Criminal Minds that ran for 12 seasons.
The series narrate the story of an elite team of ambitious FBI agents from the International Response Team (IRT) who are assigned with the task of solving cases involving American citizens in other countries.
CBS first aired the pilot episode of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders on April 8, 2015, to introduce the characters and the regular airing began from March 16, 2016. The show is produced by The Mark Gordon Company in association with CBS Television Studios and ABC Studios. The show stars Gary Sinise, Alana De La Garza, Daniel Henney, Tyler James Williams, and Annie Funke in key roles.
The main reason for the cancellation seems to be the low ratings that the show has been receiving ever since the premiere. "Season 2 is currently averaging a 0.8 rating in adults 18-49 and 5 million viewers per episode, down significantly in both measures from Season 1. For comparison, Season 12 of "Criminal Minds" averaged a 1.4 rating and 7.5 million viewers," Variety reported.
Interestingly, one of the latest episode of CBS' Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders landed itself in a controversy for portraying Singapore in a negative light. The episode has several misinterpretations of the island nation. For example, a particular scene referred Geylang as the "dark side of paradise" and an "overcrowded slum with a thriving underworld". In addition, it also showed the incorrect footage of Gluttons by the Bay as Geylong.
Following the controversy, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) replied back at the makers of the series with an array of photographs on its Facebook page. A report on Marketing Singapore wrote, "Each photograph was accompanied by captions which took a jab and debunked most of the geographical and factual inaccuracies of Singapore portrayed in the Criminal Minds episode, which is called Cinderella and the Dragon."
One of STB's post read, "Hey Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, is this what the "dark side of paradise" looks like? #VisitSingapore." Netizens immediately applauded STB for its witty and creative reply.
