I've been hearing about this for a couple of days, but today USA just posted Psych's new promo on the show's official Twitter feed. In it, they make the not-so-subtle point that The Mentalist kind of ripped them off. To be fair, when I first heard of The Mentalist, the exact way it was described to me was, "It's like Psych, but a drama." So I can see where The Mentalist's ridiculously high ratings and Emmy noms may rub some people associated with Psych the wrong way.
However, Psych's assertion is kind of like Scrubs saying that Grey's Anatomy ripped them off because they're both shows that follow hospital interns who transition into residents. Granted, the "fake psychic" genre is slightly more specific, but other than that, Psych and The Mentalist don't have a whole lot in common. Regardless, the promo is pretty funny, and I've helpfully embedded it below.
PSYCH on USA Network - The Mentalist Spoof - Click here for funny video clips
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
Let's talk about spoilers ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-27-2009 @ 9:26PM
Bubbameister33 said...
Sean mentioned last season that him and his dad watch The Mentalist together.
Reply
7-27-2009 @ 10:21PM
Bubbameister33 said...
*Shawn
7-27-2009 @ 9:41PM
jen said...
That's hilarious!
Reply
7-27-2009 @ 9:52PM
Jophiel said...
when I mentioned this last year I got my head bit off....
Reply
7-27-2009 @ 10:26PM
Dorv said...
This is the funniest show on TV right now :)
Reply
7-28-2009 @ 2:08PM
StillBash said...
Yup. Love "The Mentalist". So funny.
*snicker*
7-27-2009 @ 10:51PM
bc said...
The shows are just not that similar, so this comes off as attention-seeking. The producers of 'Lie to Me' also criticized 'The Mentalist' because their show is allegedly based on "science." Unfortunately for 'Psych' and 'Lie', 'Mentalist' is better written and acted than either--and I actually like 'Psych', but when they delve into serious issues it usually doesn't work for me, whereas 'Mentalist' seems to do a pretty good job with both light and dark episodes. Also, Shawn is sometimes annoying and Gus ought to be bitch-slapped several times an episode, while Patrick Jane is almost always puckishly charming.
Reply
9-19-2009 @ 3:54AM
cerulean said...
Psych is full of pop-culture references, so this is neither a cheap shot nor direct comparison of the two shows—what Shawn and the writers are doing is comparing the two characters. But the audience knows that the mentalist (that is, the Patrick Jane character and not the show itself) claimed to be a fake psychic—the same ruse Shawn and Gus are pulling. When he says "a virtual carbon copy" he is speaking of the method which forces him to back-pedal and call the mentalist character a fake and assert his legitimacy (though the audience knows that he is not psychic). And it's funny. But to think that the writers believe that the show is a carbon copy is a complete joke, which is, of course, also funny.
Now if The Mentalist (the show) were to take a shot at Psych, that wouldn't work so well. The Mentalist employs far less intertextuality and self-awareness. What intertextuality does (the pop-culture references) is draw the audience in by relating to them beyond the scope of the show. Milo and Otis. King Kong. Friday the 13th. Shaft. Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Add The Mentalist to that list.
Dissing The Mentalist? I disagree. Nothing is sacred. And the writer's of both shows probably don't take themselves that seriously.
7-27-2009 @ 11:01PM
Anita said...
Even if the Mentalist went off in its own direction, it is a copy in its origins. Just like Castle. That doesn't mean I love it or this promo any less :) So, good on USA for calling them out :)
Reply
7-27-2009 @ 11:32PM
YouFaceTheTick said...
The only thing The Mentalist rips off is Christopher Atkin's hair from The Blue Lagoon. Can't see how that show gets any viewers.
Reply
7-28-2009 @ 6:12AM
Brian said...
Good point about Scrubs and Grey's Anatomy. I think sometimes people get too proprietary about what is in reality very broad contexts. The Mentalist owes more to Encyclopedia Brown than Psych.
Reply
7-28-2009 @ 8:00AM
Pingles said...
You've got to be kidding me. There have been 1.3 billion medical shows since the invention of TV. How many shows have had a fake psychic who solves cases by keen observation?
Your analogy would make more if they were saying a detective show ripped them off.
The Mentalist is a VERY specific concept. One that, to my knowledge, had never been seen before Psych.
Reply
7-28-2009 @ 8:49AM
murrayp said...
The two shows are quite different.
On Psych we have an active fake psychic who mostly solves crimes by observing physical clues. It makes heavy use of comedy to the point where it could be argues it's more of a comedy than a drama.
On The Mentalist we have a self-confessed former fake psychic who mostly solves crimes by observing and manipulating the psychology of the suspects (and sometimes of his fellow investigators). It makes some use of comedy but is undoubtedly a drama first and foremost.
I've watched and enjoyed both shows loyally, but I finally gave up on Psych last season because for my taste Shawn was too often crossing the line from funny to very annoying.
7-28-2009 @ 2:12PM
StillBash said...
Ha! What murray said! So true, same here :-)
7-30-2009 @ 9:16PM
Gordy said...
Ha! What Pingles said. The Mentalist is just a basic rip of Psych. Between that Baker's cheeky grins and the lead's chick's grimaces, the show is unwatchable.
Shawn also gets into the head of his suspects, so, no point there. At their cores, they are the same show, one a great comedy, and one irritatingly not.
7-28-2009 @ 8:05AM
Pingles said...
(forgive me if I double-post -- my previous post seems to have disappeared)
There have been thousands of medical shows since TV began.
How many "fake-psychic using keen observation skills to solve crimes" have there been?
Psych was a VERY clever, original concept. No matter how good the Mentalist is it is still disturbingly similar to Psych.
Reply
7-28-2009 @ 9:27AM
LC said...
Is that promo really considered a diss? I just took it as some good natured ribbing.
Don't both shows do this, with Shawn and his dad saying they watch the Mentalist on one episode and an episode of the Mentalist having a pineapple reference.
I think both shows mutually respect each other and are just having fun with it without any malicious intent.
Reply
7-28-2009 @ 9:30AM
Adam said...
But "The Mentalist" is different b/c Jane wears a VEST instead of a polo. See guys, that Bruno Heller is an original son of a gun. I can't believe this is even still being debated.....at the very least "The Mentalist" borrowed its concept from Psych, and occasionally improves on it. At worst, it completely rips "Psych" off and turned an original concept into CSI-lite. I've argued this before, and the dates back it up. If you combine Shawn Spencer and Charlie Crews you get Patrick Jane. "Life" premiered a year before "The Mentalist", and "Psych" two years before it. But, the nature of showbiz is taking a concept and attempting to improve on it, so I certainly don't begrudge "The Mentalist" for combining two shows I love. However, I'd like to hear their excuse for having a 2:1 bad-to-good show ratio. I imagine it doesn't matter to most people since they put Amanda Righetti in the tightest shirts imaginable.
Reply
7-28-2009 @ 10:14AM
Jake said...
Did the Mentalist "rip-off" the characters and format of Psych? No. Did they take the same concept and take it in a new direction? Absolutely. Anyone who thinks the concepts are not similar has not watched both. I don't think that makes them "exactly the same" or "carbon copy" (certainly not legally), but it is enough that some good natured ribbing from the Psych camp should be expected.
I actually think Scrubs has more of an argument with Greys. In that case, the "knock-off" elements are a little too derivative. "Hospital interns who transition into residents" isn't quite accurate. Closer is: "Hospital interns who transition into residents, first-person voice-over narration that attempts to draw larger moral or philosophical conclusions from the interns lives, heavy use of hip, emotive music during dramatic set pieces, and lots workplace-inappropriate sexual relationships." Make it surgeons instead of general internists, a female lead for a male, mostly drama and not comedy, and an hour instead of 30 minutes, and you've got Grey's Anatomy. Heck, even the stories sometimes overlap. There were a couple of episodes that I watched of Greys (I stopped watching 2 seasons ago) where I looked at my wife and said "Scrubs already did this."
Reply
7-28-2009 @ 10:14AM
Happy Steve said...
Funny ad. I love Psych, but really, wasn't it a love child of Monk and The Dead Zone to begin with? heh.
Reply