New Show: The Mentalist

The Mentalist is off to a pretty good start. The set-up is: after a psychic charlatan's wife and child are murdered by a serial killer the charlatan had taunted on TV, Patrick Jane gave up his claim to what may or may not have been true psychic abilities, to use his acute powers of observation to help the California Department of Investigation. Simon Baker plays Jane, and some criminally underused actors like Amanda Righetti, Tim Kang and Robin Tunney fill out a great cast of regulars.

"So," you're saying, "another quirky detective on the loose? Don't we already have House, Monk, Bones and Charlie Crews of Life quirking it up all over the dial?" And I say, "So what?" Great characters have always made great shows and The Mentalist is showing some signs of having those memorable characters we've always been willing to go back to again and again. And this quirky subgenre of the police procedural beats the snot out of reality TV that is also doing whatever it is it does all over the dial.

The Mentalist does have a time conflict with the new show Fringe, but the episodes are also all available at CBS.com and you should really give it a look. Check it out here: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/the_mentalist/