CBS police drama
The Mentalist, which stars Golden Globe Award nominee
Simon Baker as titular character Patrick Jane, has recently been picked up for an additional six episodes after its initial order of 13. Debuting on September 23,
The Mentalist, which follows
NCIS, has averaged 15.4 million viewers, an impressive feat for a freshman series. It's somewhat strange that CBS only ordered six more episodes rather than nine, which would give it a full season, but it's hard to imagine CBS won't order more as long as the show continues to pull in those numbers.
Created by Bruno Heller,
The Mentalist is an hour-long procedural drama follows Patrick Jane, an independent consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation, who has very keen skills of observation. Jane is known for his past as a fake psychic, but his skill for cracking mysterious cases is well appreciated by his team. Despite being a loose cannon at times, Jane impresses the rest of the Bureau with his excellent work.
“The deliciously attractive part about this role was the humor and the irreverence of the character, and having to swing between being reactive and active constantly is kind of a challenge,” Simon Baker, who previously appeared in television’s
The Guardian and films
Something New and
The Devil Wears Prada, told the Boston Herald.
Moreover, he reveals of his character, “The tragedy is something that’s personal to him that we can share with the audience, but I think it starts to defeat itself if he brings too much of that into his everyday life. He’s a heroic character because he refuses to let his tragedy control him.”
While
The Mentalist is often compared to other procedurals such as
Dexter,
Psych and
Bones, Baker says that “A lot of crime shows that are on television these days, the truth is found under a microscope with some scientific fact - ‘Oh, it’s in the DNA.’ On this show, we’re trying to focus on finding the truth in the fabric of human nature.”
What separates The Mentalist from all those other shows? It’s pretty simple. Baker says, “The potential for entertainment is sort of greater in the sense that if you know who already committed the crime, then you get to watch how the guy puts it together. That’s the upside-down detective genre.”
The Mentalist will be preempted tonight for coverage of the presidential debate, but it returns with a new episode next Tuesday at 9pm on CBS..
-Valerie Anne del Castillo, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source:
EW,
Boston Herald
(Photo courtesy of HBO)