I’m having a lot of fun watching The Mentalist (Wikipedia). It’s sort of like House as a cop show, except that the Incredibly Competent But Annoying Protagonist is noteworthy for being incredibly charismatic, rather than the opposite (though both characters are insufferably narcissistic). Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) is a former TV “psychic”/con man who now works as a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation, using his powers of observation, knowledge of human nature, and suavite to, Holmes-like, catch criminals who aren’t quite as clever as he is.
It’s not the most profound show in the world — House, by contrast, is much smarter, gripping, and and just plain better. In part that’s because the other supporting cast — and, for that matter, the stories themselves — are terribly pedestrian, even hackneyed. No, this show is a one-trick pony: watching and learning about Patrick Jane, admiring him even as you dislike him even as you feel sorry for him. I don’t know how long that will be enough — though, to be fair, Columbo (which this resembles perhaps more than it does House) lasted for many years, even with equally trite plots.
Bottom line: Good DVR fodder for a casual, enjoyable, unchallenging watch.
I’m watching, too. I love the emphatic “There are no psychics.” And watching Simon Baker for an hour doesn’t suck. I like the other cops, but Robin Tunney is miscast (and/or possibly miswritten) as the boss. I hope the show sticks around long enough to make some upgrades to the plots, too. “The Mentalist” and “My Own Worst Enemy” are at least keeping me watching so far.
In some ways, the mediocre plots make watching the show casually a bit easier. I can have it on more in the background, enjoy the bits I like, but not feel like I have to focus on it exclusively in order to follow along or enjoy every second.