Among the new drama series set to premiere on CBS this fall is The Mentalist. For those of you who love those procedurals, I think this one’s for you. The Mentalist stars The Devil Wears Prada’s Simon Baker and centers on a detective who finds the bad-guy by analyzing their behavior through clues left behind at the crime scene.
You can view a preview clip from the series on CBS’s website. Below is the description for The Mentalist that CBS released.
“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. ”
Based on the description, this series sounds like a cross between the movie Se7en and the USA TV series, Psych. The main character has the keen ability to see what others overlook except, unlike Psych, which undercuts their crime-mystery stories with a bit of comedy in each episode, I’m guessing by the preview that The Mentalist is going to more serious, dark and twisty route. Looks like it could be good.
As it stands right now, The Mentalist will air on CBS on Tuesday nights at 9:00 p.m. starting this fall.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL CBS FALL 2008 SCHEDULE (Just keep in mind that the schedule could change between now and the fall).
