SimonBaker-related stories
Posted Nov 6th 2009 10:05AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Industry, Programming, OpEd, Reality-Free, The Mentalist
Did the USA Network decide not to buy the
Simon Baker series The Mentalist for syndication because it would conflict with their own psychic detective show
Psych?
You have to wonder, because
The Mentalist has been snatched up by TNT in a lush syndication deal. How lush? About $2 million per episode, a broadcast series record. (The overall record is HBO's
The Sopranos going to A&E for $2.5 per episode.)
Continue reading TNT snags The Mentalist ... in syndication
Posted Oct 30th 2009 12:57PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, The Mentalist
(S02E05) "Spooky!" - Patrick Jane
As soon as the introduction sequence played out, I was excited at the thought of seeing how Patrick Jane and more down-to-earth Lisbon would deal with a spooky case.
I knew Lisbon would not believe in ghosts but what about Jane? Would he believe in them for real or would he fake believing in them for the case or would he not believe in them at all?
This spooky episode, perfect for Halloween time, also finally (!) gave us some relationship advancement between Rigsby and Van Pelt.
Continue reading Review: The Mentalist - Red Scare
Posted Oct 12th 2009 1:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free, The Mentalist
After last season's success of
The Mentalist, I made a point of watching the show this season. I wanted to see if
vox populi was right and this was must-see TV. Well, now that I've tuned in for a few episodes, my opinion of the show remains the same as when I previewed the pilot in 2008. It's a star vehicle for
Simon Baker. He's wonderful in the role and commands the screen.
However, since watching this season, there's one major thing about
The Mentalist that's ticking me off. Aretha Franklin sang about it: R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
Continue reading What's ticking me off about The Mentalist
Posted Jul 2nd 2009 2:00PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, Programming, OpEd, Upfronts
Generally speaking, CBS had a strong 2008, developing one bona fide hit drama --
The Mentalist -- even though shows like
The Ex-List never found an audience or a critical plaudit. Ironically, I liked
The Ex-List based on the screener I reviewed last summer, so go figure. Sometimes a preview can inform you about a show's potential and sometimes it's just the best it'll ever be.
CBS has shared previews for
the new season and we've had a chance to take a look. There are star vehicles for Jenna Elfman, Alex O'Loughlin and Julianna Margulies, which would seem logical based on the success of Simon Baker as
The Mentalist. CBS is counting on familiar, popular TV stars to win over audiences. Will the strategy work? It's probably too soon to tell.
Continue reading TV Squad previews CBS's new shows
Posted May 1st 2009 5:40AM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, How I Met Your Mother, Cancellations, Pickups and Renewals, NCIS, Chuck, Reaper, Reality-Free, The Mentalist, TV Squad Ten, Dollhouse
Last week,
TVSquad readers made our "
Which shows are renewed, canceled, or on the bubble?" post the most viewed and most commented of the week. Most of the commenters voiced their opinions as to which show should be renewed, and since I also watch loads of TV, it's with no surprise that I wanted to chime in, as well. (Look for my "Series that I think should be canceled" post later this week.)
Here I present you, the 10 shows I think should be renewed. Note that I did not include in this list shows that have been confirmed as renewed by the network (such as
Gossip Girl), nor those that have been officially canceled (bye bye
Pushing Daisies).
If you just want the list, click here.Continue reading TV Squad Ten: Series that should be renewed
Posted Apr 1st 2009 12:38AM by Debra McDuffee
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, The Mentalist
(S01E18) This was a fun episode of
The Mentalist, reminiscent of parts of the psychic episode, "
Seeing Red," in that we got to see Jane in a comfort zone of his, something that he knows well. The difference is that Jane believes in hypnosis.
And we got to see Jane do his thing tonight ... his hypnosis thing anyway. He was clever enough to put the tracer in Rigsby's pocket, but my favorite episodes of
The Mentalist are when Jane knows whodunnit ahead of time and sets them up. When Jane is a step -- or two -- ahead of everyone else, he shines.
Continue reading The Mentalist: Russet Potatoes
Posted Mar 26th 2009 12:42AM by Debra McDuffee
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, The Mentalist
(S01E17) "This is a goat turd about six months old." -- Cho, about Jane's "fossilized worm" Ah, a few things I love about
The Mentalist showed up in tonight's episode: a quote from Cho, a setup from Jane, and Lisbon and Jane banter. Top that off with a couple of my favorite guest stars and you've got yourself a fun episode of
The Mentalist.
Oh, and we can't forget Jane doing his Jane things: trying to get Rigsby and Van Pelt together in a car for three hours, monologuing about the beauty of the desert, teasing Lisbon and Faulk (the "Boom!" line) and smiling throughout everything.
Continue reading The Mentalist: Carnelian Inc.
Posted Mar 18th 2009 2:09AM by Debra McDuffee
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, The Mentalist
(S01E16) "My other senses are heightened. They're super-heightened. I'm like Daredevil." -- Jane on his blindnessNow, this was an interesting episode of
The Mentalist. We veered from the formula a bit, and I liked it. We got to find out a lot more about Jane's past, albeit Red John-free. Sadly, this episode was fairly Cho-free, as well, but we did get a lot of Rigsby / Van Pelt payoff.
Mostly what this episode was about, though, was Jane's questionable past: the lies he told to people, the money he unabashedly took, and the lives he ruined with his greed and his false representation of his psychic abilities. Jane is clearly carrying around a lot more guilt than just his family being killed, although that was obviously the defining moment for Jane.
Continue reading The Mentalist: Bloodshot
Posted Feb 18th 2009 1:50AM by Debra McDuffee
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, The Mentalist
(S01E15) The Mentalist never fails to entertain, even when the case is obvious. There was something about the writing or directing of this show early in the season; I could peg every killer nearly the moment he or she was onscreen, because of the weird shifty thing they did.
Well, that didn't happen in this episode; instead, they dropped the biggest, most obvious clue in the history of procedurals. I kept hoping that it was a red herring, but no. I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy this episode; I loved the twists and turns the case took, but I hated knowing, absolutely knowing, who the killer was, in that different way than just the shifty stuff.
Continue reading The Mentalist: Scarlett Fever
Posted Feb 11th 2009 1:06AM by Debra McDuffee
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, The Mentalist
(S01E14) "There's no business like Cho business." -- Patrick JaneI'm not quite sure how
The Mentalist does it. At the beginning of every episode, I want to think that it's just a typical procedural and that nothing really sets it apart. Usually, it is Simon Baker who wins me over and makes me think differently. However, tonight it was all Cho.
We started off with Cho questioning Walcott about his wife Claire's murder. When the weasel threatens Cho's job if he doesn't give the name of Claire's lover, saying that he can have Cho's job with one phone call, Cho deadpans, "That's impressive. The best I can get with one phone call is a pizza."
Continue reading The Mentalist: Crimson Casanova
Posted Feb 10th 2009 1:31PM by Debra McDuffee
Filed under: OpEd, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
The
new fall pilots don't excite me very much, what with all of the cops, doctors and lawyers. But I know networks, and original ideas aren't exactly the "in" thing.
So, why can't we design some spin-offs? You know, the networks might go for some ideas based on hit shows, and we can make them a little bit unique, right? Let's add in some elements that excite us to some familiar characters and see if we can't create some new spin-off pilots better than the actual ones.
Continue reading Six spinoffs you'll probably never see ... but sure would be fun
Posted Jan 19th 2009 2:35PM by Debra McDuffee
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, The Mentalist
(S01E13) The opening of this episode was the Jane that I love -- random, bizarre, smart and observant, with no regard for convention. Did you catch the way he hammered away at Frank, the guy who found the dead body (Harry Lashley) with the woman he was having sex with?
Jane continued to be fun and outrageous throughout "Paint it Red," which made it one of the more entertaining episodes in a while for me. The case was relatively interesting, but Jane was so upbeat, divergent and ahead of the team -- love that! -- and the interactions amongst the team were top notch.
Continue reading The Mentalist: Paint it Red
Posted Jan 14th 2009 1:03AM by Debra McDuffee
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, The Mentalist
(S01E12) The opening scenes grabbed me right away this week.
The Mentalist is best when Jane is doing his divergent thing, and that's just what he does when the rest of the team goes into the flower shop to interview the missing boy's parents. He puts together the pink bike, the glance to the woods and the crows and finds the boy's body before the theme. Nice.
There were other parts of this episode that were throwbacks to the early days, when Jane was not only way ahead of the team, but also more over the top than some of the more recent episodes. Thank you, Bruno Heller!
Continue reading The Mentalist: Red Rum
Posted Jan 7th 2009 1:42AM by Debra McDuffee
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, The Mentalist
Finally, an episode of
The Mentalist with a significant amount of story arc. We really got to see Jane's lust for revenge in this one, and the lengths he would go just to get a bit closer to finding out who Red John is.
The Mentalist jumped out of its formula slightly this week, and it worked for me. We learned some new things about Jane, Red John and the team, and even though it could have been an extremely dark episode, it was just dark enough to get the point across while still being entertaining.
Continue reading The Mentalist: Red John's Friends
Posted Jan 6th 2009 11:02AM by Debra McDuffee
Filed under: House, Scrubs, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, Reaper, Reality-Free, Burn Notice, The Mentalist, TV Squad Ten
Random House defines outrageous as
highly unusual or unconventional; extravagant; remarkable. It's as though they've been watching TV, and wrote their definition to fit some of the crazy characters on television shows today.
Oh, don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining. I love these larger-than-life characters, played to perfection by the talented actors who grace these roles. Some fit in perfectly with their surroundings, others stand out like a sore thumb amongst castmates. One thing they all have in common, though, is that watching them is pure entertainment.
Patrick Jane (played by Simon Baker on The Mentalist)Jane doesn't quite have the social graces to blend into society, and that's why I love him. The frumpy suits, the obnoxious antics, and the constant pushing of the envelope make for some good TV. From card counting in the casino to reading Lisbon's mind; hypnotizing suspects to making a sandwich in a victim's home, Jane's done it all. Unconventional, to say the least.
Continue reading TV Squad Ten: Most outrageous characters on TV
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