CriminalxMinds @ LJ

Question: Thanks for the scoop on the Criminal Minds spin-off. I, for one, would love to see Mandy Patinkin patch things up with producers and headline the new show. What are the chances of that happening? — Whitney
Ausiello: I’d put the odds at somewhere between “not a chance in hell” and “never in a million years.” Looking back on the whole experience, exec producer Ed Bernero admits Patinkin’s hasty exit was ultimately good for the show. “I'm actually glad it happened,” he says. “The whole cast gels much better now. There were times when having someone like Mandy on the show was not unlike having an alcoholic parent; you never really knew when things are going to go bad. I realized that after he left. I would leave [work] every night fully expecting to have to come back for some reason. That something would go wrong. And you sort of realize after a couple of months that, ‘Wow, everything is a lot calmer than it was.'” So you tell me, Whitney: Do you think this relationship can be saved? ‘Zactly.

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2008/07/ask-ausiello-sp.html