UPDATE

Let's stop and re-evaluate a bit, shall we? Some things have changed, and when that happens, it's nice to take stock of things. Here's a little Q & A to get you caught up.

Q: So, what's changed?

A: Well, for starters, I've just agreed to turn that weekly post at Niners Nation I wrote about earlier into a bi-weekly post. Starting this week, I'll have one post on Friday mornings previewing the weekend's games in the NFL, and another on Monday morning reviewing the weekend action. I'm excited about this opportunity to reach a larger audience, but it will of course mean I have to post a little less over here.

Q: What does that mean for this site?

A: Hopefully, not much. Of course, since both my Monday and Friday football columns will be running elsewhere, they won't be here -- that means no more "For Who? For What?" or "Theoretical Gambling" -- but I will still write short posts that day to at least link to those posts. I'm also going to still try to post once a weekday over here, it's just unlikely that those posts will include my thoughts on sports -- at least not until after football season. I may have the occasional post about a baseball acquisition (today, the Giants signed former Reds reliever Jeremy Affeldt, and I might write something about that shortly, for instance), or random rant about something which doesn't fit into my football pieces, but most of what you'll find here will be related to my personal life, the entertainment world, or both.

Q: Do you have a preview of what exactly is to come for this site?

A: I'm glad you asked that, made-up person. As soon as I'm done answering this question, I'm going to do a quick update on the TV shows I've reviewed up to this point, and in the coming weeks I plan to see several Oscar bait movies to review. I'll also be turning my attention to established TV shows. Up until this point, I've only been reviewing old shows, but I want to review the latest seasons of some of my favorite shows to take a look at how they rate against their previous work.

TV UPDATE

Before I get to updating my reviews, I want to update my Top 10 Shows On TV list, even though I just wrote it last week. After catching up on the last couple episodes of 'Dexter', I need to ammend those rankings to raise it up at least one slot, and maybe more. Right no, they are peaking, with the current storyline one of its most compelling. I'm shocked to be saying this, but Jimmy Smits is the best thing that's ever happened to that show.

In TV, things can also change quickly. When you review a movie, you don't have to worry that the movie might change after your review, turning you into a liar. TV shows, on the other hand, can start off shakily, then turn it around and become very good with a few key changes. Other shows can have a terrific pilot and back it up with a couple good shows before completely crapping the bed. Therefore, I thought it would be a good idea to go back and revisit the TV reviews I've done so far, which can all be found here.

LIFE ON MARS: This was very recent, and I haven't seen another episode, so my CONSIDER grade still stands.

ELEVENTH HOUR: I've seen a couple more episodes of this, but not much has changed. Still CONSIDER.

MY OWN WORST ENEMY: After giving it a PASS, I've seen one more episode (against my will), and there's been no change. I wouldn't hold my breath on it either -- it's been cancelled by NBC.

THE LIFE & TIMES OF TIM: I gave this a HIGHLY RECOMMEND, but while the show is still pretty good, it's become a bit spottier. Because of this recent inconsistency, I'm lowering my grade slightly to RECOMMEND.

FRINGE: Things are looking up a bit for 'Fringe' recently, as the last few episodes have shown it to be finding its own voice a little better. As with a lot of shows, the increased airtime has allowed the characters to become more three-dimensional, and thus the interplay between them is more compelling. They've also had some really cool bits on fringe science of late. Because of this improvement, I'm going to bump by original CONSIDER grade up to RECOMMEND territory.

TRUE BLOOD: Since I gave 'True Blood' a RECOMMEND grade, the show has stalled out a bit. I still like it, but I can see how somehow might say the characters are stagnating a bit as they run over familiar territory. I was prepared to drop their current grade until I saw the last episode, which I thought was better than the last few. I'm going to keep the original grade for now.

THE MENTALIST: The steadiest show on this list. You could argue that's because it's a predictable CBS procedural, and that might have some truth to it, but I like it, so I'll praise its consistency. Still RECOMMEND.

TV Review: ‘The Mentalist’

There might not be another new show premiering this fall which I was more biased against before ever seeing than ‘The Mentalist’. Okay, that’s not technically true -- I was sure, absolutely certain, I would hate the ‘Knight Rider’ re-boot before ever watching a minute (and that’s all I ever watched). But that doesn’t really count, as I was unlucky enough to see last season’s made-for-TV movie updating the 80’s series that prompted the launch of the weekly series, and quickly realized that either NBC head honcho Ben Silverman was smoking crack when he green-lit the project, or his body just naturally produces crack all on its own. So I actually had reasons to dislike ’Knight Rider’ -- I had no such excuse for my bias against ‘The Mentalist’. It was just good, old-fashioned prejudice.

Sure, I may have experienced some trepidation caused by the fact CBS seems much more committed to advancing Simon Baker’s TV career than their viewers are. Previously, the Australian-born Baker was the lead in CBS crime drama ’The Guardian’ from 2001-2004, then starred alongside Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen in the short-lived CBS crime drama ‘Smith’ in 2006-07. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t harbor any ill will toward Baker. In fact, I have very little feeling about him at all. Maybe that’s why I had a hard time understanding why the casting folks at CBS were so enamored.

I may have also had something against the generic quality ’The Mentalist’ seemingly had, judging from the commercials. Its title follows the revolution of blandness that threatens to engulf all of primetime network TV, especially the world of procedurals, double-especially at CBS, where formulaic procedurals go to reproduce. And the idea (or “hook” in Industry-speak*) -- that the show’s lead would somehow divine the truth behind mysteries simply by observing his subjects closely -- seemed to borrow liberally from other popular shows (’House’ and ’Psych’ to name a couple of personal favorites).

The title and premise of the show aren’t the only things which lead an experienced viewer to the opinion the show may be a bit derivative. Upon watching the first episode, yet another trademark device is revealed -- there’s the female partner to provide a little sexual tension, the quirky “team” of experts (requisite wise-cracking dude, big lovable lug, hot chick who’s also really smart, etc. -– at least they don’t have a hacker…yet).

Lastly, ’The Mentalist’ has the character twist which was once the domain of feature films, but is quickly becoming de rigeur among primetime dramas –- the horrible, scarring incident in the protagonist’s past which drives his/her motivations (and as bonus, provides the carrot-on-the-stick device the show’s writers can use to lead viewers through a season-long, possibly series-long arc –- for instance, ’The X-Files’ milked much of its nine seasons and one of its two movies out of the mystery behind the kidnap of Mulder’s sister). In this case, we learn in flashback that his wife and child were murdered by a serial killer as revenge for Baker’s character’s disrespect. This has caused him to make a major life change –- catching criminals, not profiting off them -– in hopes of someday capturing his family’s killer. Sounds like a recipe for a season finale, no?

Gathering all these facts into a neat little pile, it seemed the ceiling of ’The Mentalist’ was no higher than "guilty pleasure". But here’s the thing: with all these marks against it, all these obstacles to overcome, ’The Mentalist’ succeeds. It succeeds right from the opening scene, which pretends to be a typical teaser -- introducing a new case shrouded in mystery, before slamming the door on the viewers expectations by solving the case in its infancy and punctuating it a shocking conclusion. It succeeds on the strength of Baker’s character –- not just his performance (though that is very good), but also on the way the part is (wait for it) written. It succeeds on the lead character’s slightly off-putting demeanor and raw honesty (again, not un-like Hugh Laurie’s House) but also its patient, somewhat meandering pace, and philosophical tone.

The latter reminds one of NBC’s ’Life’**, which seems to serve as either an inspiration to ‘The Mentalist’ or at least a distant relative. Both shows have a strong, idiosyncratic lead with a dark past played by a foreign-born actor (as does, yet again, ’House’ -- the trend is your friend), both have the sexy female partner (the underrated and over-freckled Robin Tunney in this case), the quirky team, and just a touch of –- dare I say it? -– soul.

While ‘The Mentalist’ is not quite on the level of ’Life’, it has just enough personality/philosophy/humanity to raise it above the average procedural, and to keep those of us who prefer to think of ourselves as intelligent from losing self-respect for watching it. That’s enough to take the “guilty” right out of “guilty pleasure”.

Using the age-old Hollywood scale of judgment –- HIGHLY RECOMMEND/RECOMMEND/CONSIDER/PASS (circle one) -– I rate ‘The Mentalist’:

RECOMMEND


*”Industrese?”
**This is one of the best shows on network TV, but Silverman moved it to the Friday night slot where good shows go to die, like he does with every decent show he gets his smug little hands on (see: 'Friday Night Lights') -- so better watch it now before it's cancelled due to poor ratings.