The Mentalist
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| The Mentalist | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Police drama |
| Created by | Bruno Heller |
| Directed by | Chris Long David Nutter |
| Starring | Simon Baker Robin Tunney Owain Yeoman Tim Kang Amanda Righetti |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 3 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Bruno Heller David Nutter |
| Producer | Charles Goldstein |
| Running time | 1 hour (including commercials) |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | September 23 2008 – present |
The Mentalist is a CBS police drama television series which debuted on September 23, 2008 on CBS.[1]
Starring Golden Globe Award nominee Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, an 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 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, Wayne Rigsby and rookie member Grace Van Pelt, who all think Jane's a loose cannon but admire his charm and knack for clearing cases.
The pilot episode had an audience of 15.6 million viewers in its first airing, and 7.8 million in a re-airing three days later. It also introduced some of Jane's backstory, indicating that his wife and daughter had been murdered five years before the series began by a serial killer known as "Red John."
On October 15, 2008, CBS ordered a full season of The Mentalist
Cast
| Name | Actor |
|---|---|
| Patrick Jane | Simon Baker |
| Teresa Lisbon | Robin Tunney |
| Wayne Rigsby | Owain Yeoman |
| Kimball Cho | Tim Kang |
| Grace Van Pelt | Amanda Righetti |
Episode list
U.S. Nielsen ratings
Weekly ratings
| # | Episode | Air Date | Timeslot (EST) | Season | Rating | Share | 18-49 (Rating/Share) | Viewers (m) | Weekly Rank (#) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | September 23, 2008 | Tuesday 9:00 P.M. |
2008-2009 | 9.5 | 15 | 3.5/9 | 15.6 | #10 |
| 2 | "Red Hair and Silver Tape" | September 30, 2008 | 9.7 | 15 | 3.6/9 | 15.5 | #6 | ||
| 3 | "Red Tide" | October 14, 2008 | 9.4 | 14 | 3.4/8 | 14.86 | TBA | ||
| 4 | "Ladies in Red" | October 21, 2008 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | ||
| 5 | "Red Brick and Ivy" | October 28, 2008 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
International broadcasts
The series airs on A in Canada concurrently with its American broadcast. The series debuted on the Nine Network in Australia on the 5th of October, 2008.
Similarity to other shows
The series' premise has several parallels to the USA Network series Psych. The main characters each have highly developed skills of observation and deduction. Also, both characters work as freelancers or consultants with local California law enforcement, largely to the consternation of their superiors. A final link is their pretending to be psychics, though in Psych the main character is pretending to be one as the plot of the series whereas in the The Mentalist pretending to be a psychic was Patrick Jane's former line of work prior to being a consultant to the police. The character of Patrick Jane also has some traits similar to that of the main characters of Dexter, and Life. The series also similar in its elements to the USA Network series Monk.
References
- ^ Michael Schneider, "CBS sets premieres after debates" Variety June 26, 2008
- Pilot Broadcast Ratings
- Ratings for Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008
- Ratings for Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008
- Nielsen Trend Index
External links
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