Fall TV Preview

SYNOPSIS

THE MENTALIST stars Golden Globe Award nominee Simon Baker ("The Devil Wears Prada") as Patrick Jane, a detective and independent consultant with the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who has a remarkable track record for solving serious crimes by using his razor sharp skills of observation. Within the Bureau, Jane is notorious for his blatant lack of protocol and his semi-celebrity past as a psychic medium, whose paranormal abilities he now admits he feigned. Jane's role in cracking a series of tough high-profile cases is greatly valued by his fellow agents. However, no-nonsense Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney, "Prison Break") openly resists having Jane in her unit and alternates between reluctantly acknowledging Jane's usefulness and blasting him for his theatrics, narcissism and dangerous lack of boundaries. Lisbon's team includes agents Kimball Cho (Tim Kang, "Rambo"), Wayne Rigsby (Owain Yeoman, "The Nine"), and rookie member Grace Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti, "The O.C."), who all think Jane's a loose cannon but admire his charm and knack for clearing cases. Bruno Heller (creator of "Rome") is creator/executive producer, and Emmy Award winner David Nutter ("Band of Brothers") is the executive producer for Warner Bros. Television.

REVIEWS

Please note that these reviews may contain spoilers.

Gordon McDougall's Take
Is he psychic or can he just read body language? Simon Baker plays a special advisor to the police, Patrick Jane. In the first episode, he has his "feelings" that a double-murder is not the work of a serial killer known as Red John. His police colleagues are skeptical about him and not without good reason. He has used his talents to pass himself off as a "John Edward" type of psychic, so he doesn't have a great deal of credibility with the more serious-minded investigators around him, particularly Teresa Lisbon, a special agent and his obligatory object of (hopefully) seasons-long sexual tension. There were immediate comparisons to Psych when the concept for this show was first unveiled, but it's really nothing like that series. The tone is more serious. Simon Baker, who was terrific on The Guardian , is giving his character a slight David Caruso edge (intentional camp or not? You be the judge)! The team Jane works with seems to be fun, especially when Patrick uses his ability to predict the attraction between Grace and Wayne, both of whom are way too early in their relationship to acknowledge Patrick's predictions. TV Gord's Verdict: Baker has an obvious charisma that makes him a natural to lead a series such as this. I am still surprised his last series, The Guardian, was cancelled so abruptly. This show has all the ingredients to be a hit, but like The Guardian, it will be left in the hands of the fickle whims of the TV audience. It's biggest competition is the Dancing With The Stars Results How (and—to an extent--The Biggest Loser). Hopefully, fans of those shows will do a little grazing around 9pm on Tuesdays. I have a feeling they might find themselves hooked on this show. I'm not a psychic or anything. It's just a "feeling". About TV Gord: TVGord is a radio host at 580 CFRA in Ottawa. He does a weekly segment about TV every friday which you can hear in MP3 in the '580 CFRA Interviews' section of their website, www.cfra.com TVGord is also an active contributor of our discussion forums.
About Gordon McDougall TVGord is a radio host at 580 CFRA in Ottawa. He does a weekly segment about TV every friday which you can hear in MP3 in the '580 CFRA Interviews' section of their website, www.cfra.com