According to spoiler-guy extraordinaire, EW's Michael Ausiello, CBS has ordered 6 additional scripts for Simon Baker's THE MENTALIST.  Though it isn't an official Back-9 Order, it definitely shows confidence in the show, am I right?

Click here for the full story: Ausiello Files: The Mentalist

So what do I think of the new season? I'm a bit mixed. Of the new shows I've seen thus far, here are my thoughts:

Fringe—I was so excited about this show. Most of the time I think J. J. Abrams has the Midas touch, but this one just didn't do it for me. The premise is good and most of the cast is good, but that is all I can say. I think it gets a bit too intense. The guy with translucent skin in the pilot was cool, but at the same time it was a bit gory. I think the biggest problem to me is the lead character Agent Dunham, sorry but she is now Sydney Bristow. I just don't to get her, and I don't feel for her.
Rating: Watch if nothing else is on

Mentalist—Love it! It feels a bit like a detective show version of House. I love the play between the characters. I'm setting the Tivo to record all of these until they jump the shark.
Rating: Tivo Season Pass

Now I'm just waiting for Life on Mars and The Ex List. Does that make sense?

Excited to have my meeting today with Suzanne Lyons, who I am doing some transcription work for in exchange for a place in her "Flash Forward" seminar - it's explained a bit more in my Day 43 entry.

Suzanne offices in Burbank, not far from where the two-hour seminar I attended last week was held.  As I become more familiar with different areas, I'm more and more likely to just ride the bike there if I can.  Lord knows, all the bike riding around LA is helping me keep my hourglass figure... well, it's not so much an hourglass at the moment, as it is a stick-figure with a darling little Buddha belly.  Recently I asked my sister to send me her Power 90X DVDs so I can whip my sorry ass into shape (especially since a gym membership isn't exactly in the budget at the moment).  I received them about a week ago in the mail, but I suppose I actually have to insert them in the DVD player, press play, watch them and exert effort before I can morph into looking like one of the models on the cover of the information booklet.  But I digress...

My meeting with Suzanne wasn't until after lunch, but I got into Burbank early.  As much as I enjoy the bike commuting, in the California sun, I often arrive at my destination a drippy, overheated mess.  I imagine there are heat waves radiating from my body just like they do on a Nebraska asphalt road on a July afternoon.  You could lightly roast a marshmellow if you held it close enough to my skin during these times.  I've started carrying extra shirts in my backpack, though I've not had to resort to that just yet.

At Suzanne's office, she answers the door and she's still on the phone.  "That's so LA," I'm thinking.  Not like she was rude or anything, that absolutely wasn't the case.  She just told me she needed to finish up a quick phone call first.  She'd had a great day so far, it seems!  She had optioned the movie rights to a video game and it seems things were moving forward swimmingly with that... a top action-franchise director is now attached and they had met with Paramount that morning about it.  Needless to say, Suzanne was a jolt of positive energy when we finally sat down to talk.

I didn't get to go into it much when we'd chatted last Thursday, so I told her a little bit about what I'm doing here and how I came across her seminar... how, cosmically speaking, I felt I had asked the Universe for direction on the next step I should take, and then the info about her seminar crossed my computer screen only hours later.  How could I NOT go to the seminar?  It'd be like slapping fate, Universe, God (or whatever) in the face.  At that point she asked if I was familiar with the Abraham-Hicks teachings.... ESTHER HICKS, folks!  Well... I about jumped out of my own flesh because I realized this was something pretty major that Suzanne and I both had in common and believed in!  In fact, Suzanne says she has so many recent stories about manifesting things in her life using the Law of Attraction (also known as 'The Secret' to many people), it'd make my head spin.  It was really fun talking to her and hearing her enthusiasm about how it works in her life, in her career... this woman has got a TON of energy.  We probably chatted about the Law of Attraction and Esther Hicks for half an hour or longer!  So cool. 

Suzanne reminds me of a friend and colleague I have in Minneapolis named Lee.  Lee is one of those people I feel privilieged to have worked for and with.  Her perspective on production (Emmy Award-winning, by the way), her professionalism, her dedication, her intelligence, her wit and many more aspects about her influenced me in a positive way.  Not only do I feel she made me a better storyteller, but she fundamentally changed how I work, think and live.  Whenever we chat, we inevitably talk for an hour or more about life, work, philosophy, living authentically and, yes, the Law of Attraction.  I'm keeping fingers crossed that Suzanne can be my "Lee of the West" - someone with great energy, enthusiasm, and from whom I can learn and become better at all I'm working to accomplish here. 

Suzanne and I eventually got around to the business at hand, which was reviewing the DVDs she needs transcribed.  One of the seminars she delivers is about low-budget filmmaking (in this case, films under $200,000), and she wants to publish an e-book with the information.  A friend of hers had suggested to her instead of trying to sit down and write it, just have her seminar transcribed - since it is all the same information - and then edit the transcription into her book.  Sounds logical to me.  So that's my charge.  I think it'll take a while (there are a LOT of DVDs), but I know the value I'll get out of Suzanne's Flash Forward seminar will far outweigh the value of my time transcribing the DVDs.

Before leaving, I asked Suzanne for DVDs of a few of her movies so I could watch them.  One of the DVDs she gave me - called Seance - was one she had to purchase used online.  Apparently, Sony only offered her 10 copies of the finished product.  So here is this film producer having to buy used copies of her own movie off the Internet.  Is it just me, or does that sound totally backwards?  Suzanne thought so, too.

All-in-all, Suzanne and I chatted for about an hour-and-a-half... pretty cool considering I thought it would be a 20-minute meeting.  We could've kept chatting and chatting, because we both had an enthusiastic perspective about movies, the Law of Attraction, the industry... all of it... again, it reminded me of my conversations with Lee where we easily transition from topic to topic.  So funny.

The rest of the day was low-key.  I watched a little bit of The Mentalist pilot on CBS.  Jack Plotnick, who I met not long after moving here (and here's that blog entry), was on the episode, but I was MORE excited about the star, Simon Baker, who I find stunning.  Hard to explain it, but we like what we like, right?  He looks SO good on-camera, in fact, there were times I was compelled to violate the television set.  However, my cousin Yvonne was in the room watching as well... and that just would have been awkward for everyone involved, don't you think?

So that was my Tuesday.  I'm sure my friend Lee will be thrilled I have blogged about her so fondly in the same entry where I mention potentially humping a piece of electronic equipment, but... well... I'm wacky that way, I guess.  Lee, I hope you still like me.  :D

Ya noviembre se acerca, por lo que en el canal Warner, ya empezaron a publicitar las nuevas temporadas de sus series, como también las nuevas series que se vendrán. Por lo cual estrenan un nuevo espacio WARNER FLASH, en donde veremos los adelantos de los estrenos más esperados de la segunda mitad del 2008. El miércoles 08 de Octubre, después del 3er episodio de THE SOPRANOS, no te pierdas el adelanto de la 2da Temporada de GOSSIP GIRL, que promete venir más jugoza que nunca. Y el Jueves 09 de Octubre el adelanto de uno de los nuevos estrenos para Noviembre en el canal, THE MENTALIST, la historia de un detective-psiquíco que ayuda a la policía a resolver los casos más complejos.

Así que no te pierdas tanto los adelantos como el estreno de THE SOPRANOS en WB.

felipeml

We go from fashion and design, frills and fabric to submissions and knock outs, blood and sweat! HAHA. I love it! 

This got me thinking, what are your TV watching habits like? I twittered about Fringe yesterday and it got some interest so I thought I'd share my Tivo Season Pass with you: 

Monday: The Hills, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles (please keep on the air!) 

Tuesday: Fringe. The Mentalist made the cut this week. I think I'm adding it to the list.

Wednesday: Project Runway & The Ultimate Fighter. Sons of Anarchy have tonight to convince me to keep them or delete them.

Thursday: The Office! It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (yes Ali you've got me on it) and maybe The Office again :)

Friday: Psych 

And every day there's a new episode of either Little Einstein's, Curious George, Charlie & Lola, Word Girl, or Super Why for Chloe :)

I just realized how frightening this is because sure enough one of you are going to come around and analyze me based on my television watching! Haha.

FRINGE
[s1e04]: Jag gillar hur det här avsnittet avgick från de tidigare med att inte bara gå tillbaka till ett experiminet som Walter gjort för 30 år sedan, visserligen visste han något om veckans oförklarliga fall, men dom löste det inte direkt och det kopplades samman till då Peter var ung. Dessutom introducerades en ny mystisk karaktär som kallas The Observer, och jag älskar sånt här, att man inte kommer få veta så mycket om honom men att han förmodligen kommer finnas med hela tiden, eftersom han har varit på alla platser som är med i The Pattern. Han är riktigt cool och ännu coolare var att han en gång när Peter var liten räddade honom och Walter ur en sjö. Han åldras inte, så vad gör han och vem är han? Det här avsnittet gav mycket till seriens mytologi och det var mycket oförklarligt som hände som egentligen inte fick ett klart svar, bland annat vad som hände med det där ovalformade ägget som såg ut att komma från rymden, det åkte bara genom marken. Sjukt spännande, varje sekund. Och sen slutet - Scott livs levande (?) hemma hos Olivia! Kan det blir bättre? Betyg: 5/5 

90210
[s1e06]: Så dom endra intressanta karaktärerna är dom från gamla serien; Brenda och Kelly. Att se dom tillammans prata om Dylan och fortfarande bråka om honom och med varandra är riktigt kul faktiskt, så fatta hur tråkigt det kommer bli nu när Kelly lämnar, kommer hon komma tillbaka? Serien är i desperat behov av att introducera oss till några nya karaktärer, några man faktiskt kan tycka om. Jag hatar att dom gjort Naomi till någon svag hundvalp som är så upprörd över att sina föräldrar skiljer sig att hon gör allt för att fixa ihop dom igen, jag menar, var är den bitchiga, självsäkra tjejen vi såg i piloten? Visst att det var en fasad, men det var en mycket mer intressant sida av henne än den vi måste se nu. Och Annie, hon liksom ändrar sig från vecka till vecka, kan aldrig bestämma sig och jag är innerligt trött på henne. Dixon och Silver är okej tillsammans, men seriöst tråkiga. Tur att Navid var tillbaka, men han behöver en mer spännande storyline än att vara tredje hjulet i Dixon och Silvers förhållande. Han är värd mer än så. Jag gillar den lite mörkare storyn som Audriana har, hon är den enda som känns lite äkta, men samtidigt är det som att hon inte hör ihop med dom andra så jag förstår inte varför dom försöker få det till det? Varför ska Annie behöva släpa med henne på någon modevisning för? När jag ser 90210 tänker jag på Gossip Girl och förundras över hur två serier som till handlingen är ganska lika kan vara så fruktansvärt olika , då GG har välskrivna avsnitt och fantastiska repliker, underbara skådespelare och egna karaktärer så är 90210 raka motsatsen. Men såklart, jag tittar fortfarande, så nånting är det som håller mig kvar, men jag vet inte vad det är än. Betyg: 2.5/5

TERMINATOR: TSCC
[s2e04]: Innan jag såg det här avsnittet hade jag i princip bestämt mig för att sluta se serien, mest på grund av att det är alldeles för många serier för mig att se och att jag var tvungen att ta bort några, men också för att den här säsongen inte alls varit så bra och storyn har inte riktigt greppat mig som tittare. Så ser jag det här avsittet och verkligen älskade det. Det var så kul att se ett mer Cameron centric avsnitt och få veta lite mer om henne, dessutom fick vi se exakt hur bra skådis Summer Glau är. Men samtidigt tror jag att det bara är ett enstaka bra avsnitt, så jag kanske kommer ge upp den i alla fall. Speciellt eftersom det verkar som att serien kommer läggas ner. Visst är det tråkigt, för jag tycker den borde ha fått gått åtminstonde en hel säsong till, trots att jag inte fastnat för den så har många andra det. Och det suger att serier läggs ner så lätt nu förtiden, direkt som tittarsiffrorna börjar sjunka något så pratas det om nedläggning, och det är ju inte så roligt att hela tiden höra sånt om man är ett fan av en serie. I slutändan gör det så att folk inte orkar bry sig om att kolla på en ny serie, med rädsla av att den ska läggas ner så forrt man börjat tycka om den. Betyg: 3.5/5

GREEK
[s2e06]: Jag känner som att jag har missat ett avsnitt, för när dök Cappies nya "sidekick" upp? Han med mörkt hår som alltid är med the pledges nu för tiden, jag kan inte komma ihåg att jag sett honom förr. Hursomhelst, den här veckan fick Kappa Tau hyra ut sitt hus till Max och hans studenter, och då dom trodde att det skulle bli en lugn och tråkig fest blev det raka motsatsen. Dale blev skit full och tappade sina byxor, The Beaver hånglade med någon asiatiskt tjej hela kvällen och Cappie fick reda på att Max dejtar Casey. Casey, å sin sida, var på en ZBZ samling, vilket betydde att vi fick återse Taken och Leslie. Leslie som alltid har irriterat mig blev mer mänsklig nu då vi fick se en annan sida av henne. Dessutom blev det klart att Frannie vill bli ZBZs president igen, ta över Caseys plats. Jobbigt, jag som hoppades att vi skulle vara över den perioden och inte återbesöka den. Jag älskar att Calvin och Heath hamnde i säng tillsammans, för han är mycket bättre än tråk-Michael. Och mycket sötare, sen så verkar han vara mer lik Calvin och det skulle bli en intressant story att se dom två vara ett officiellt par eftersom dom också tillhör olika föreningar. Hur skulle det funka? Betyg: 3/5

THE MENTALIST
[s1e02]: Jag gillar inte att ge upp en serie efter bara två avsnitt, men jag vet inte om jag kan fortsätta se på CBS nya serie, för den är verkligen inte bra. Men inte så att den är dålig eller dåligt skriven heller, det är bara det att det känns som det gjorts förut, och att Patrick jane är så där lite speciell då han vet allting, det blir gammalt fort. Om ni har sett Life så är det ungefär samma sak där. Om jag vill se en brotts serie som CBS har i massor, med avslutande avsnitt, så ser jag hellere något som CSI, inte The Mentalist som egentligen inte passar in någon stans. Kanske kan den bli bättre när den kommit in i en sorts rutin, när serien har landat där den vill vara och först då kan jag avgöra om jag vill se den eller inte. Just nu finns det dock för många bra serier att se för att man ska kolla på dom som är lite sämre. Betyg 2/5

En The Mentalist, Simon Baker interpreta a un hombre que se hacia pasar por mentalista pero luego de un evento devastador decidió dejar de engañar a las personas y utilizar sus poderes de observación para ayudar a la policía.

Aunque es contratado asiduamente, dentro del departamento de policía Jane es conocido por su poco interés por las reglas y su pasado como una celebridad como un medium psíquico, utilizando habilidades que ha aceptado como falsas.

Aunque es aceptado sin muchos problemas en la fuerza, su compañera tiene problemas con la participación de Jane en su unidad, en la que también encontramos a los agentes Kimball Cho, Wayne Rigsby y Grace Van Pelt.

Dejando de lado las comparaciones básicas con Psych, The Mentalist intenta ofrecer algo diferente a los fanáticos de las series policiales, que comienzan a aburrirse con la franquicia de CSI u otras series del tipo.
Junto a Baker, la serie cuenta con la participación de Tim Kang, Amanda Righetti, Shaun Toub, Robin Tunney y Owain Yeoman.

P.D: Se las recomiendo, la crítica dice que es el mejor producto en esta temporada, elogian alactor y elogian el argumento, WARNER la trae en exclusiva para la primera semana de noviembre, los interesados consultar la fecha en el calendario

The Mentalist

Episode 2 – Red Hair and Silver Tape

I wasn’t too imprested with last week’s series premiere.  I should mention that with any series premiere there is so much set-up work that it is hard to delve into a story, possibly making the show seem less that stellar at first.  We gave it another try tonight.

The similarities to Psych are slap-you-in-the-face obvious.  In The Mentalist, Patrick Jane, an observant guy who picks up on everything, was posing as a psychic and is now working as a rule-breaking independent consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation, all while annoying the CBI Senior Agent.  This is so unlike Psych, where observant Shawn Spencer is posing as a psychic and is now working as a rule-breaking independent consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department, all while annoying the head detective.  Wait, wait, wait… they ARE different.  Psych is a comedy and The Mentalist is a drama.  My bad.

I do enjoy the suave demeanor of Patrick Jane, a calm and charming fellow with an eye for the details.  The little ‘psychic’ nuances are amusing and well-played.  Last week we saw his troubled past (similar to the same storyline we saw on Profiler between Samantha and Jack of All Trades) where a serial killer takes away Patrick’s family after our faux psychic offers his thoughts on him, but this week there was only a short flashback to the moment of his fateful discovery.  As far as the rest of the cast goes, it’s average.  But I can not stand Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon.  If she were any less emotional she could pass for a rock, which may already have more of a personality going on.  It’s the typical skeptic role you would assume is present whenever there is a crime show and the non-cop solves the cases.  Very cliché and overly expected.  And not well-acted.

The writing was better this time around and the who-done-it came together at the end in climactic fashion.  I think the show has a chance.  Will I get too attached?  If only you could read my mind...

It is great observation, and intuitive abilities that add to the character of INFJ's.

The Mentalist

Fox seems to have three modes: Sunday night animation, cheap (in all meanings of the word) reality programming, and action-packed dramas that are swamped under by increasingly convoluted mythologies. Joining its Monday night siblings (Prison Break and The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Fringe has unfathomable consipiracies and dark corners. If that sounds like your gig, Fox is home for you.

CBS cranks out traditional middlebrow comedies and interchangable procedurals. The Mentalist slots right into that lineup, using a team of mildly quirky but definitely pretty people to hunt down increasingly baroque murderers. While the fake psychic schtick has been done with more zest elsewhere (if you find star Simon Baker even remotely appealing, your mileage may vary on that point), The Mentalist is the kind of disposable, unchallenging detective show that makes up the bulk of CBS's considerable bread and butter. If you want to come home, put on some slippers, be mildly distracted from the real world for a couple of hours, and then shuffle off to bed with nothing on your mind, the CBS lineup is for you.

The CW, on the other hand, targets a demographic more interested in stilettos than slippers, focusing on the very young, very attractive, and very rich. They have not one but two reality shows set in the fashion world, and not one but three shows about super-wealthy teenagers. The best of these is Privileged, which we have subtitled Rory Gilmore Faces Her Future. Imagine a world where Rory can't make it in journalism and is shoehorned into a job tutoring twin granddaughters of a society matron. Now imagine that one of the twins in Paris and one is Lane (both with fancier clothes). Privileged is what it is--it's on the CW for a reason--but it's sharply executed and manages to carve endearing characters out of a slab of cliche, which is more than you can say for the competition. If you're looking for escapist fantasy where everyone wears amazing clothes and always has a witty retort, the CW has just the show for you. Of the three, this is the one we'll tune to.

Of course, you could always turn to ABC and NBC's chestnuts, Dancing with the Stars and The Biggest Loser. Just don't tell us if you do.

Očekivao sam barem solidnu seriju, najviše zbog imena autora: Bruno Heller, koautor nenadjebivog i prerano ubijenog Romea.

Mentalist mi je ostavio smiješak na licu na kraju epizode.

Ne planiram pogledati više ni minute te mediokritetne gluposti, što mi oslobađa još 45 minuta života tjedno. Woohoo!

Zašto?

Kao prvo, serija je na CBS-u. Nije da diskriminiram, ali najmanje upravo njihovih serija gledam, makar planiram catchupati The Unit, Numb3rse i Cold Case. OK, ovu zadnju ne baš zbog toga što je odlična serija sama po sebi, nego patim na filtere i efektno korištenje muzike iz prigodnih vremenskih perioda. I na Kathryn Morris.

Nadalje, serije koje im nisu manje više klasični, poneki i nevjerojatno precijenjeni sitcomovi (Two and a Half Men), su CSI-evi i njihovi proceduralni derivati. A ove godine, osim Mentalista, spremaju nam još jedan procedural (ha! ali ovaj put sa es ef elementom!) i dramediju koja se činila zanimljivom dok je Diane Ruggiero (iz Veronice Mars) bila za kormilom, ali je odustala nakon mnogih nesporazuma s CBS-om i vratila se pod okrilje autora Veronice Mars na njegovu novu seriju.

I da, oni su otkazali Joan of Arcadia.

Drugo, u stalnoj postavi je Robin Tunney, najpoznatija kao imam-jedan-izraz-lica odvjetnica iz prve sezone Prison Breaka, koju mi je naporno samo gledati. Najtužnije je što sliči Sprague Grayden, ali glumački nema nikakve veze s njom.

I ono najbitnije, serija ne nudi ništa, ama baš ništa novo i zanimljivo. To je CSI sa dodatkom bivšeg medija. Dapače, kladim se da bi i William Petersen iliti Grissom iz CSI-a mogao jednako dobro glumiti medija, a ima i veću karizmu od Mentalistovog Simona Bakera.

Waldorf kaže da će joj dati šanse još koju epizodu, možda će on imati nešto drugo za reći, ali meni je ovo bilo dovoljno.

Homem que finge ser vidente e que elucida investigações policiais? Lembra Psych, mas é muito melhor.

O tom em The Mentalist é o drama, fugindo da comédia da outra série, embora tenha uma boa dose de humor em vários momentos, aproveitando as características dos personagens secundários e criando graça nelas.

Saber aproveitar os tempos e as possibilidades é o grande achado do roteiro desse início de série. O texto é esperto e não cai numa vala comum das atrações que tem como tema as investigações criminais, no tradicional jogo de pergunta e resposta.

Patrick Jane é um personagem bem desenvolvido, cheio de sutilezas. Mesmo quando parece que nada é capaz de passar pela sua percepção fica evidente que há possibilidades dramáticas que podem fazê-lo errar. A relação com o expectador provavelmente será essa.

O vínculo de Patrick com Red John é algo a ser explorado tanto esporadicamente, no que podemos chamar de episódio da mitologia da série, quanto a cada episódio regular, no chamado monstro da semana.

É certo que os outros personagens darão uma bom contribuição a trama do protagonista, não ficando apenas como apoio dramático nas cenas. A chefe, claro, tende ao par romântico como sempre mas seria ótimo se ele se envolvesse justamente com Grace Van Pelt, a novata que já o alfinetou nesse episódio.

A direção criou um competente clima de suspense muito maior que o do mistério em si, o que fica de ganho numa série de drama ou invés de uma série cômica.

Esse honesto vidente (que é desonesto quando precisa ser) tem um toque de Columbo, ele “cisma” com o culpado e o azucrina até arrancar uma confissão do sujeito.

Nota desse episódio: *****
Expectativa para o próximo episódio: *****

Ficha:

Roteiro: Bruno Heller
Direção: David Nutter

Exibido em 23.09.2008 na CBS
o

Congress takes time to support discriminatory organization - Yeah, apparently in the mists of one of the greatest financial crises in U.S. history, Congress deciding to pass a bill to spend money on the mostly Mormon-controlled, anti-atheist and anti-gay Boy Scouts of America, approving The Boy Scouts of America Centennial Commemorative Coin Act:

"The bill mandates that the U.S. Mint create and sell as many as 350,000 one dollar coins commemorating the Scouts’ centennial in the year 2010. A ten dollar surcharge on each coin goes directly to the Boy Scouts of America, who will net as much as $3.5 million in the deal."

Who had the courage to vote against the bill?

Lynn Woolsey [D - CA]
Barbara Lee [D - CA]
Pete Stark [D - CA]
Luis Gutierrez [D - IL]
Barney Frank [D - MA]
Dennis Kucinich [D - OH]
James McDermott [D - WA]
Tammy Baldwin [D - WI]

I wonder when the The Ku Klux Klan of America Centennial Commemorative Coin Act will pass.

When anti-vaccinationists resemble creationists in their level of delusion - Here, Age of Autism flat-out denies and ridicules a legitimate scientific study concerning autism without knowing anything about it beyond a single news article simply because while it doesn't directly state that autism is genetic, it indirectly springs from that premise (because autism beyond any reasonable doubt is caused by genetic factors). Politically, AoA can't embrace this study because of its foundational premise and so what else can they do but just mock it and once again callously accuse those in involved of being evil paid-off conspirators without the slightest bit of evidence to back up the accusation or the slightest hesitation or remorse for their despicable, repulsive behavior? Apparently they did not learn their lesson from the incident where they had to eat their words after falsely accusing CBS of being in the evil conspiracy against them.

The Harm In Astrology

I just read this credulous article in Parade Magazine that endorsed Acupuncture. I'm planning on writing to Parade to demand a correction be made.

The Mentalist (Update) - I have finally watched the pilot episode of The Mentalist. My thoughts are as follows: I love, love, LOVE the skeptical stuff in the show and it was even more prominent than I expected, even going as far as to show the audience how a popular "telekinetic" trick is done and the writers clearly establishing the main character as an atheist too right away. I believe it took it took a number of episodes before that happened on House and seasons before the writers outed Dr. Cox on Scrubs as an atheist. So big points for that. BUT, that being said, much of the rest of show has the misfortune of being a procedural cop show, which I happen to be in the minority in thinking is the most boring genre on television next to the medical dramas, legal dramas, and unscripted programs. The skepticism will keep me tuned in for awhile but if that ever takes a significant back seat to other aspects my interest in the show would fade fast.

Sarah Palin humor:
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1831461

AND NOW FOR A MOMENT OF SCIENCE:

Rock Fracture 'Plumbing' Found On Mars - "NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed hundreds of small fractures exposed on the Martian surface that billions of years ago directed flows of water through underground Martian sandstone."

I just discovered a huge spike in visitor traffic to my 9.14.08 blog simply because the word "porn" was used in it, so let's try that again and see what happens: PORN !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fan of the show Lost? Check out Ack Attack's list of her Top 50 Lost WTF moments (not dialup friendly). She also does a Daily Dose of Lost (screencap with captions) to help pass the time between now and 2009.

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Tuesday night tv: The Mentalist (or sorry Fringe, I'm dropping you.)
Hello, Simon Baker. :) This was better than I expected and I'll continue to watch. I didn't know anything about the rest of the cast going in, but Robin Tunney I'll probably always associate with The Craft, and Owain Yeoman who popped as a Terminator recently, I last watched on Kitchen Confidential, which starred Bradley Cooper (Will from Alias). Simon Baker plays Patrick Jane, a man who used to pretend to be psychic and now uses his keen observations skills for the California Bureau of Investigation.

If, like me, you're enough of a pedant to sigh whenever someone uses "beg the question" when they really mean "prompt the question", then you may get a slight measure of satisfaction when a word is used properly. So the first thing I noticed about The Mentalist that it's not about someone with a learning disability. OK, of course if that were really the subject of this show they'd never call it that, but they could have called it "Cop-Psychic"[1] or simply "Jane", so  I take it as a small indication of the producers sensibility that they got this part right.

The Mentalist is about a John Edward style TV psychic who after a personal tragedy gives it up to become a police officer. As a medium he was a fake, using cold reading techniques to gather enough information to give a convincing performance. He now uses the same techniques to solve crimes. A simple and yet interesting concept.

Being the Smartest Guy in the House

The show reminded me a lot of House, and let's face it medical shows are just cop shows where the criminal is a disease, the cop is the doctor and the symptoms are the evidence. (In fact I'm pretty sure House used that metaphor explicitly in dialogue early on.) They both feature arrogant central figures who are impossibly brilliant at what they do and know it. At one point Patrick Jane, our psychic-turned-cop, says that he doesn't like seeing doctors because "they always want to feel like they're the smartest guy in the room, when obviously that's me." They even both share a disdain for belief. When one of his colleagues states she has a cousin who is a real psychic, Jane says "he's either deluded or dishonest or both."

I think that where they differ is that Gregory House is a startlingly misanthropic figure where Patrick Jane is merely annoying. Also, it's really unfair on the evidence of one show but I think Hugh Laurie beats Simon Baker in both acting ability and screen presence generally.

Suspect Device

Anyway, what separates this show from a thousand other cop/medic/lawyer shows is its gimmick, its device, so how well does it use it? Quite well I think. One potential problem is that whilst it's enough for a TV psychic to get a few details in the right ballpark to let the person feel like they're having a real contact with the "other side", the police ultimately have to prove what they think they know. However they tackle this head-on and within the first five minutes one character has shot another on the basis of Jane's, let's face it, educated guesses. Later in the episode he uses his techniques to get the murderer to incriminate himself, a pattern I suspect we'll see again.

It's also interesting that after the initial scene where we're shown what little pieces of information he uses to construct his guesses, that after that we only hear his (always correct) insights. And of course they use his talents for comic relief, allowing him to embarrass his colleagues.

I do foresee a trap here, that the writers might just get lazy and have him know things he couldn't possibly know, simply by establishing a pattern of credibility with the audience. However I hope they don't do that, or not straight away. The fresh thing this show has to offer is its device and so they should keep it to the fore. Like Derrin Brown, show us the trick and then, at least some of the time, show us how it's done. The formula works because it includes us the audience in on the "clever" side of the transaction, and so we're flattered and will love you for it.

A good example is near the end when the criminal says,

"I knew it might be a trick but I had to be sure."

"Yes. That's how the trick works."

And The Trick Worked

I definitely enjoyed The Mentalist and if you enjoy police procedurals then this looks like it will be a good one. I haven't spoken much about the fact that this is a pilot and therefore needs to set up the concept, establish the characters and introduce an on-going story element. I haven't done that because it does all that well enough for it not to be distracting.

I have too much TV where I need to keep up week to week so that I'm not sure if I'll become a regular Mentalist viewer, but it's enough of a new twist on the genre, with enough intelligence in the writing to be highly enjoyable when I do catch the odd episode.  8/10

[1]Yeah ok, that's a terrible title but you get my point.

I just got finished watching the premier episode of CBS's new fall drama, "The Mentalist." What's my general opinion of it? I like it!  The idea of the show has been done before, maybe some of you may recognize similarities between this show and USA's comedy show, "Psych."

If you are a fan of Psych, than imagine Psych ten years in the future, and Shawn has stopped being an immature wise-crack, and became serious.  Stopped pretending to be a psychic, you would get "The Mentalist."  Patrick Jane, the star character in this series has the same ability Shawn Spencer has, he even made a living off of pretending to be a psychic, and working as a psychic consultant to the police...everything matches.  I actually think they made that part because of Psych.

Other than the similarities between the two show, The Mentalist itself is actually very good.  Basically, he observes little things that most people wouldn't notice, and makes sense of everything.  It's quite intelligent actually.  The first episode was about a serial killer case that he personally has been working on for several years. 

The serial killer they are after happens to be the same serial killer that murdered his family years before.  At the end, they catch the guy, but personally, I think they shouldn't have.  It would have built up a perfect season with Patrick struggling to catch his families killer.  Either or, I enjoyed it.  I'll tune in when the next episode airs. Peace out!

I haven’t checked the ratings yet – actually, I don’t even think they’d be up only two days after its premiere – but I don’t see The Mentalist lasting very long. I don’t pretend to be a guru when it comes to how long a show will last (unless it’s either brilliant or very quirky, in which case there’s a 95% chance it will fail), but I know that I’m not very interested in seeing the rest of the season, and I feel others may agree with me either now or further down along the line.

I do appreciate the concept of the show, as the main character’s particular skill set – being so observant as a bureau consultant that he made a career as a psychic for years – is one that has a lot of potential. Sure, it’s similar to the cable sitcom Psych, but I think every concept deserves both a comedic and dramatic approach. Unfortunately, so far there is far too much wrong with The Mentalist.

Tone

Somebody forgot to give all the actors a memo, the one that said perhaps maybe you should inject some life into your characters. All of the actors, save for Amanda Righetti, simply sleepwalked through the pilot, as if their direction was “be dour.” There is no joy in this show, not even when main character Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) starts doing his whole “I’m a genius and I shall solve the crime simply with guess work, my wits and my ability to trick people into revealing their motives” thing.

Shows don’t have to be bright and peppy to be enjoyable, but even ones like Criminal Minds, Numb3rs and the CSI threefer have a great and pounding energy to them and aren’t afraid to be goofy every once in a while. Life’s too short to be humorless, and that’s what the Mentalist pilot was – humorless.

The Case

It’s difficult, in one hour, to introduce all the main characters and still have time to tell an effective story-of-the-week, but it’s not impossible. Not by any means. However, the central case of the pilot was completely irrelevant, far too easy and, basically, very boring.

Remember the pilot of Criminal Minds where Gideon had to track down a Seattle killer all while telling the story – which bled into the even better second episode – about how he profiled vicious killer Lukas Haas and defeated him using mere words? That didn’t ignore the episode’s plot, and tied the past and present together far better than The Mentalist did. (And hey, whenever Criminal Minds gets too grim, we always have Garcia to cheer us up with her awesomeness.)

Remember the pilot of Numb3rs when Charlie joined his brother’s team and calculated the whereabouts of a rapist? That first case told us everything we needed to know about the Eppes Brothers, had the guts to have the case nearly destroy the both of them, and it had its share of laughs.

Not here. Nope. I appreciate that the case tied directly into Jane’s past in re: his background with the infamous Red John killer, but it was so forced and, yes, dour, that all it did was inspire yawns.

Showkillers

Here’s where I get all observant about certain actors on this show. This show carries with it two separate showkillers, plus one semi-showkiller and another with very little TV under her belt.

A showkiller is someone like Adam Baldwin (Firefly, Day Break, The Inside) or Eric Balfour (Conviction, Sex Love & Secrets, Veritas), whose existence on a show will almost always spell doom for the series, usually during its first season. Both of the aforementioned have their exceptions to the rule (Baldwin on Chuck, Balfour not destroying Six Feet Under and 24 by leaving at the end of each show’s first season), but their track record ends up in the negative.

Here on The Mentalist, the two big showkillers are Amanda Righetti and Owain Yeoman.

Amanda Righetti

• Lead ensemble on Fox’s Reunion. Canceled before it could even air all 13 filmed episodes, leaving the show’s central murder mystery unsolved.
• Lead ensemble on Fox’s North Shore, a Hawaii-based show that didn’t last beyond its first season.
• Recurring guest on Fox’s The O.C. Only around for 12 episodes and then never seen nor heard from again. Show plummets in quality after season 2.

Owain Yeoman

• Lead ensemble on Fox’s Kitchen Confidential. Show aired three episodes, was pulled from the schedule, then had three episodes burned off months later, and then canceled outright without having all its episodes air.
• Lead ensemble on ABC’s The Nine. Terrible show. Glad it’s gone. Never even got to finish its season.

Simon Baker himself has been the victim of cancellation (save for three seasons on The Guardian, which I never watched) with CBS’s Smith (3 episodes) and something called Heartbreak High, which lasted one season.

As far as Robin Tunney goes, she has been a regular on only one other TV show, Fox’s Prison Break, and she was murdered during the first episode of the second season.

Final Judgment

Altogether, it doesn’t look good. Hey, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Simon Baker can draw them in. I like him in films quite a bit, especially the romantic drama Something New, but there are just too many procedurals on TV right now, and I would rather that viewers watch something great like the struggling NBC show Life in its second season than watch good actors look sad every week.

The Wife:

I was bored. I was really, really bored with this pilot. After about 19 minutes of this show -- at which point I realized Owain Yeoman was not going to do anything more than grunt, show up in reaction shots and look nice in a suit -- I realized that the pilot wasn't going to get any better and that I would not be watching again after this 60 minutes was up.

I agree with my husband that the idea behind this show is essentially a good one, but watching a dude with really great powers of observation solve crimes is absolutely not why I watch procedurals. I like a procedural that has a lot of blood and guts and gore and horribly twisted crimes. That's why I watch House, Bones and Criminal Minds. And I also like Numbers.

I like all of those shows because they're built around interesting characters or, when the characters are a little less important as on Criminal Minds, the shows are built around some truly awesome crimes. I watch House and Numbers for the characters and their interactions. I love watching House destroy himself and be such a bastard to everyone around him. I love Hugh Laurie's performance and I love watching how skillfully Broadway actor (and crush from my youth) Robert Sean Leonard can find ways to keep himself out of the episode as much as possible. Equally, I love watching the Eppes brothers on Numbers work together to solve crimes and put behind their differences in doing so to be brothers. I am a big fan of Krumholtz and will always watch him. (Also, Judd Hirsch as their father is awesome.)

Bones not only has interesting characters, but also truly grotesque model work and neat-o forensic science. While I think that Criminal Minds is lacking compared to these other three shows in terms of character development, it definitely has two characters I love: Matthew Gray Gubler's Dr. Spencer Reed and Kristen Vangsness' Penelope Garcia. It also has the absolute darkest stories each week, and I really appreciate that. In fact, I like Jeff Davis' show so much that I even sing along to the theme song, which, by the way, has no words. That's right, I sing the names of the actors.

The Mentalist, on the other hand, seems to have none of these things that I enjoy about my other procedurals. The characters are devoid of character, and what Simon Baker chooses to do to create something out of nothingness comes off as really creepy, to me, at least. And the Red John killer? That's about as run-of-the-mill as you can get. Come on, CBS. I watch Criminal Minds. You're not going to impress me with a dude who draws smiley faces in blood. I have seen people hunted for sport on your other, much better procedural.

]]> http://skepacabra.wordpress.com/?p=623 Thu, 25 Sep 2008 06:57:57 +0000 mjr256 http://skepacabra.pt-br.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/news-from-around-the-blogosphere-92408/ The creationists over at Uncommon Descent aren't too fond of Barack Obama right now . . . but I'm darned proud of him. The kid grows up so fast:

Do you believe that evolution by means of natural selection is a sufficient explanation for the variety and complexity of life on Earth? Should intelligent design, or some derivative thereof, be taught in science class in public schools?

Obama: I believe in evolution, and I support the strong consensus of the scientific community that evolution is scientifically validated. I do not believe it is helpful to our students to cloud discussions of science with non-scientific theories like intelligent design that are not subject to experimental scrutiny.

A McCain candidacy may mean not a penny for science research & education

I feel embarrassed for anti-vaccinationist David Kirby - A few days ago, I posted about a review in Salon Magazine of Dr. Paul Offit's book about the anti-vaccinationists. Well over at Age of Autism David Kirby wrote a childish and insulting rebuttal to the review. This only led to an even greater bitch-slapping at the hands of the original reviewer.

I haven't seen the pilot episode of the new show, The Mentalist, but it's got the Dr. Phil Plait seal of approval, so it's worth checking out. Though Phil's not the best entertainment critic in the world. The guy didn't like Revenge of the Sith or the recent War of the Worlds. But it sounds like this show is super pro-skepticism. So I can't wait to watch it on the internet.

OTHER CREATIONIST NEWS:

Answers in Genesis endorses ironically named "Kids4Truth" and apparently Lego for putting humans and dinosaurs together. Though to give them a little credit, at least AiG aren't delusional enough to think Lego intends any deliberate endorsement of the ridiculous notion that humans and dinosaurs actually lived together:

"I’m sure the Lego people are not intentionally promoting a biblical worldview—but I had to smile when I saw this Lego set with people and dinosaurs together. The evolutionists must grind their teeth when they see this."

And I had to smile that a company from famously secular Denmark meets with Ken Ham's approval. And while I still am not entirely sure what an "evolutionist" is, if it means people who accept the reality of evolution then I have no objective to Lego's years of service contributing to children's imaginary play and encouraging creativity at an early age. You see, some of us who played with Legos as children learned how to distinguish reality from fantasy. I think The Bible says something about that:

"When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up my childish ways." (1 Corinthians 13:11)

EPIC FAIL!

In case you need more proof that PETA is insane - The executive vice president of PETA wrote an open letter to the ice cream giant Ben & Jerry's suggesting they consider replacing the cow's milk used in their ice cream with . . .

Can you guess? Yeah, human breast milk . . . seriously! Somehow I think if the people at PETA had gotten their breast milk as children in the first place maybe they wouldn't be such total freaks. If implemented Orac thinks it'll require human farms to produce that much milk. If so, I'll volunteer some of my time to do the milking.

And here's an EPIC FAIL on the part of the media:

That whole recent acupuncture study suggesting acupuncture helped women with hot flashes - Yeah, that was bullshit. Big surprise. And Steve Novella takes on this study here. I've also included a link to both responses on my original blog about this study here.

AND NOW FOR A MOMENT OF SCIENCE:

Formula Discovered For Longer Plant Life - "Molecular biologists from Tuebingen, Germany, have discovered how the growth of leaves and the aging process of plants are coordinated."

Dark Chocolate Helps Check Heart Attack Risk - "Though the news is still good for them: 6.7 grams of chocolate per day represent the ideal amount for a protective effect against inflammation and subsequent cardiovascular disease.

]]> http://kingoftelevision.wordpress.com/?p=47 Thu, 25 Sep 2008 01:33:19 +0000 kingoftelevision http://kingoftelevision.pt-br.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/the-mentalist/ Know-it-all smartass is probably the simplest way to describe Patrick Jane, the central character in this new CBS drama.  I definitely like the idea of an investigator who outwits his suspects, rather than simply using unbelievable technology or relying on murderers who are stupid enough to get caught.

The biggest issue facing this show may be its time slot.  It is going up against the Dancing with the Stars juggernaut as well as the new scifi show Fringe.  I like to think that with DVRs penetrating more homes that time slot isn't a big deal anymore, but I know that the reality is most tv watchers don't spend the kind of time I do seeking out new shows and planning recordings to avoid DVR conflicts.

Time slot aside, the first episode was stronger than many pilots so far this year, and I would definitely say it's worth a look.  I'm sure you could hop on at episode two with no problem, but if you're a completist, you can catch the first episode on CBS.com or you could always find a commercial free high quality download via the Googles.