The Mentalist - Pilot - September 23, 2008
 

Ugh. This show is such a fucking Psych ripoff...only with ego instead of humor. I don't see how a guy who "used to claim to be psychic, but really, he just notices everything very well and decides to work with the police department to battle evil" in California, no less, can be seen as anything BUT a theft of the stories of Shawn Spencer.

Starts tomorrow on CBS.

Here's a preview.

Uuuuugh! I think Shawn should definitely mention the show later this season. Also, I'll give it one episode to change my mind...if only for the End of Days chick.

"Hey she's got a huge bruise on her face, she's got an abusive boyfriend"

"Oh hey, he's got lipstick on his collar, he's cheating!"

That's what I got out of the ad. A lot of no shit sherlock stuff.

I was thinking it was a Psych rip off also, but after seeing the pilot I thought it was pretty good and will be giving it a chance.

Since I watch alot of CBS, I will definitely give this a shot. I thought Simon Baker was really cool on Smith a few years ago.

I disagree with the Psych comparison. From what I can tell Psych seems more of a comedy and this is more of a procedural drama with a touch of humor.

Decent review in today's NY Times - doesn't sound like a break-out hit, but could be enjoyable.

At least the show has some eye candy for the het guys in Amanda Righetti and Robin Tunney. It's an okay show, but laughable in its obviousness in what gets picked up by the lead character.

This was awful.

Okay, I watched it.

All right in its Red John connection to the protagonist, but other than that, completely worthless.

Pass.

Gimme more Psych.

Like, right now.

I thought it was ok.. Cast is likable and the show hit the ground running with a larger looming bad guy sort of story arc. I also, as others have mentioned, sort of felt the theme was ripped off from Psych.

but I'll watch a few more eps at least.. As I said, the cast is likable and CBS's HD is always very well done, so it's worth watching for now.

With NCIS as it's lead-in, I'm sure this show will do really well and have a decent audience. If this show was on at 10pm instead of Without a Trace, which will finally break CBS' curse on that timeslot, it would have been dead meat like Smith and Caine.

I really liked it. Plays the total opposite of how Psych does (which is more like a buddy comedy). I love the ego Simon Baker has with these people...you want to hate him but can't, that is a nice touch.

Count me in a viewer, Fringe was starting to get boring anyways.

Changing the tone does not make it any less of a hackey, cheap, artistically empty rip-off. That's like saying Carlos Mencia didn't steal from Bill Cosby because he changed the sport in the joke from football to baseball.

Artistic homage is one thing... emulation is another... outright stealing the plot and making it "edgier", however, is inexcusable. The only thing good to come from this abortion will be the inevitable savaging it receives from Psych when it returns in January.


-Doc

Good enough so that I'll watch again, no so good that I'd be upset if I missed an episode.

Hmmm... I DVR'd it and hadn't decided if I would watch it or not. Based on some of the complaints I think I'll have to give it a chance. I liked the premise of Psych but hated the execution. Maybe this will sit with me better. I'll give it a view and decide if I want it in my busy rotation.

I thought this started off slow, then built up into an episode that I was very much enjoying and then completely ruined itself with the ending.

I'm wondering if they'll continue to show flashbacks of his psychic days, or whether that was just to introduce us to who he was, and the Redjohn storyline.

I like the two guys who were the side detectives....the main woman was annoying, and the assistant who insisted that the Mentalist was a psychic seems like she will be a pain.

http://home.comcast.net/~ron.killgor...mes-watson.jpg
You guys need to get out more.

No, this show is not an original concept, but neither is Psych.

I wasn't paying close attention to the show and the lack of exposition (no "I knew he was gay because blah, blah, blah") makes me wonder if the clues are there but not prominently highlighted for the viewer to pick up. Or maybe I just missed something. But I'll continue watching it.

This was actually really good IMO.

Simon Baker is really likeable. I enjoyed learning the dark backstory of his character and the serial killer Red John. Baker and Robin Tunney have some decent onscreen chemistry. We'll see how things go.

Surprised to see Amanda Righetti again. She was looking really conservative this time around.

Did anyone notice that Gail O'Grady's appearance was uncredited?

I don't know if any of you noticed, but there is some solid talent behind the scenes on this show. the creator Bruno Heller was a writer/producer on Rome and Touching Evil (the old USA series) The Director and Executive Producer was David Nutter.

Actually, there was a very (very!) brief comment made right around the autopsy scene that the dr picked a bad night for a ben & jerry's movie fest, or something like that. Implying that the dr was just friends with the wife and had gone over to hang out.

I liked what I saw of the pilot, unfortunately my HTPC decided not to record most of this episode and none of WAT. So I only got the first 20 minutes of the episode, and haven't found it online yet.

I'll cross my fingers the recording works next week, and give the show a try.

It was OK but mostly because Simon Baker is hot and likable. My main problem was the police were made to seem useless and unnecessary. Why are they even trying to investigate when he can just solve it for them so much faster and better? I understand it's called The Mentalist and it's about him but come on. Robin Tunney's character was "in charge" but mostly just reacted to his and could have been a cardboard cutout. Not her fault and she's looking really good. Why not just have him be a PI instead of work for the police?

I'm sure that whole dynamic has to change to keep this show going but at least on Psych the guy doesn't get it right every time and the police do some solid work. Pretty weak for a pilot IMO but it was good enough to give it another shot.

The only thing that I didn't like was the creation of another make believe law enforcement agency. The CBI???

Ummmm...

http://www.ag.ca.gov/cbi/

My bad, I never heard of them.

They got me good with this www.insideyourhead.tv

I thought the episode last week was good and worth a seasons watch. It has a lot of potential especially with the Red John storyline. Simon Baker did an excellent job at his role and a lot of questions remain about his family. Looking forward to watch it tonight.

I think the writing is a little formulaic and perhaps even boring, but I love the idea of a show that faces reality head on. It was really nice to hear the main character say "there are no real psychics."

Rather than a ripoff of "Psych" this feels more like a reaction to the bullshit of "Medium" which purports itself as "based on real events." Hopefully they stay on this skeptical track and the planned character arc doesn't involve the realization that psychic powers are real. I'll keep watching and hope that the writing gets a little bit more adventurous.