Criminal Minds has a history of trouble with it’s cast.

CBS last week axed Gibson after he allegedly kicked writer-producer Virgil Williams on the set. He’s now threatening to sue CBS over his dismissal — even more drama for the series, entering its 12th season.

Back in 2007, when Criminal Minds was beginning its third season, star Mandy Patinkin, who played the central FBI investigator Jason Gideon, simply did not report to work to start filming new episodes. He informed no one on staff — neither his boss, executive producer Ed Bernero, nor Gibson nor any other cast member. Everyone was there, waiting for him.

He never came back.

Criminal Minds was thrown into disarray. Scripts written for the first seven episodes had to be rewritten. A new leading man was needed. And Bernero, for one, was furious. He posted a lengthy explanation of what happened on a show fan site, writing, “[Mandy] gave us no advance notice that anything was wrong, no opportunity to find a way to make the loss of this character work, no indication that we should be looking for someone else.

“He left us completely in the proverbial lurch.”

Patinkin told New York magazine later in 2012: “I never thought they were going to kill and rape all these women every night, every day, week after week, year after year. It was very destructive to my soul and my personality.”

It would be four years before he landed another starring TV role (as Saul Berenson on Homeland).

New York stage veteran Joe Mantegna was recruited to replace Patinkin, joining Criminal Minds as Senior Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi.

Mandy Patinkin suddenly up and left from the show, with no warning.Source:Supplied

Shemar Moore quit for unspecified reasons in 2013.Source:Supplied

“Joe Mantegna brought the sun,” Gibson, who played fellow agent Aaron Hotchner, told The Post in 2008. “I don’t want to look back, but we’re just very, very, very, very happy that Joe’s here.”

Since then, the series has remained a top-rated show — averaging from 12 million to 14 million viewers in the US per week. But, behind the scenes, incidents involving Gibson began piling up.

In December 2010, he allegedly shoved assistant director Ian Woolf during a location shoot in downtown LA and was forced to attend anger management classes.

In January 2013, Gibson pleaded guilty to one count of alcohol-related reckless driving and was sentenced to 36 months’ probation, $300 in court fees and a year of alcohol education classes.

Last season, Criminal Minds co-star Shemar Moore quit the show for unspecified reasons. Then, without naming Gibson, Moore lashed out last weekend in an Instagram video shortly after news broke of Gibson’s firing (the video was quickly taken down). “Lot of birdies chirping out there; the gossip is real,” Moore said. “I believe in karma … Treat people how you expect them to treat you … But just know that you’re not better than anybody.”

Gibson’s replacement has not been named. Criminal Minds returns to US screens on September 28.

This story was originally published on NY Post and is republished here with permission.