This Wednesday will mark the last episode of Criminal Minds to feature Paget Brewster as Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss. But don't despair, Brewster fans; she's already been cast in the lead female role on My Life As An Experiment, a sitcom pilot for NBC.

Brewster leaves Criminal Minds on a sour note. She's the latest of a long string of central cast members to leave the show, including Mandy Patinkin, Lola Glaudini and A.J. Cook. With the exception of Patinkin and Glaudini (who left for their own reasons) the actors had their characters written out of subsequent episodes.

Cook will return Wednesday to help give Brewster's character a proper sendoff, but that only emphasizes how the show is increasing becoming a "boy's club" - even with the Ashley Seaver (Rachel Nichols).

The new NBC project is an adaptation of A.J. Jacobs' essay collection Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life As An Experiment. The book chronicles the journalist's experiences at Esquire and Entertainment Weekly, and their affect on his home life. Actor/comedian Jack Black is producing the pilot, with stand-up comedian Jon Dore playing the fictionalized version of Jacobs. Brewster will play his "feisty" lawyer wife.

My Life As An Experiment will be familiar territory for Brewster, who cut her teeth on comedic roles in the 1990s and 2000s. After breaking out in a brief arc on Friends, she made the rounds on various guest spots and pilots before landing her most public role on Criminal Minds. Wednesday's episode, "Lauren", will be her 101st on the long-running crime drama.

In an interesting twist, Brewster's voice-over work may have prepared her for her new role on My Life As An Experiment - she played superheroine/public defender Birdgirl on Adult Swim's Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law and had a memorable one-off role as an incompetent angelic lawyer on American Dad.

The new NBC show is in the pilot stage, but with Black and now fan favorite Brewster attached to the project, an initial season order is likely. Brewster has a contingency available to her: rumors around the TV industry indicate that CBS has offered her a reoccurring role on Criminal Minds next season if My Life As An Experiment doesn't  pan out.

Source: TV Line