Comments on: The Mentalist: a skeptical drama on TV!

By: Steven

Steven — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:08:10 +0000

Hmm. It amazes me that with all the skeptical and scientific brain power everyone who has posted seems to think they possess, so many of you can’t even bother to read the thread or even the last post written. How many more times will someone refer to Psych? I’m not sure yet, is the Mentalist similar to Psych? I think about ten more people should inform us of this brilliant observation, I don’t think we’re aware yet.
Everyone on this blog must have such keen observational skills that would make the Mentalist himself proud. Too bad in their arrogance they can’t bother to read.
Maybe they need a psychic to clue them in and spell it out. Ha Ha.

By: Anita Lozano

Anita Lozano — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:48:59 +0000

Well, they took all of my fav shows off–Moonlight!–wow, easy on the eyes and fun
Women’s Murder Club–What is wrong with you producers? Don’t you get pretty sick of us saying HOW COULD YOU TAKE THAT SHOW OFF?
Saving Grace–at least you had enough sense to bring it back. But, Seriously (my sec fav),
Holly Hunter is a great actress but kind of unbelievable about being a cop. They do have
height and weight restrictions for cops in the real world. She tries, but again,
seriously, think she could lift or drag120lb body out of a house? Almost as believable as
Michelle PFIEFFER being a Marine–yeah, sure, we’re stupid. It was on cable in 2 months
Cashmere Mafia–women over 40 making it big. We can, you know. I don’t care if
Lipstick Jungle came first. Too many shows for 20+somethings.
October Road–a rip off of Beautiful Girls but done nicely. Even used “THE RIDGE”
Do the networks care what we watch? Apparently not.
Now, come on, 3 CSI’s, NCIS, LAW AND ORDER, CRIMINAL MINDS, THE CLOSER, THE
MEDIUM–RAISING THE BAR, BOSTON LEGAL–I VOTE FOR VEGAS CSI & BOSTON
LEGAL
DIRTY, SEXY, MONEY–We really need a program guide for this one. How many rip-offs
of Dallas, Dynasty, Knots Landing can there be. I’m lost. Who’s on first? Too many
people to keep track of.
Brothers and Sisters–again, Sally Field we love. But, again, too many characters. Should
come with a program also.
WHY DON’T THE NETWORKS SEND US A ‘FAMILY TREE’ AND HANG EVERYONE……
AND LET US TRY TO FORGET 90210. Is there a 12 step program for this?

By: Jackie

Jackie — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:59:37 +0000

The Mentalist, is something fresh and smart. I know you all will say it’s a lot like Psych. Maybe so, but so much better. I think it will last.

By: The Mentalist: review « Skepfeeds-The Best Skeptic blogs of the day

The Mentalist: review « Skepfeeds-The Best Skeptic blogs of the day — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:55:18 +0000

[...] Mentalist” is a different kind of crime drama. Baker is very engaging (especially, evidently, for my wife), and he does have a quality about him that makes him fun to watch. His character invokes sympathy [...]

By: Buzz Parsec

Buzz Parsec — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:16:46 +0000

Has anyone mentioned Psych yet? Or Jonathan Creek? (JC was written by David Renwick, who also wrote One Foot in the Grave.) I remember their was a Psych episode with a competing FBI psychic, but I forget if the FBI psychic was also a fraud (IIRC, her technique was to distract people with her babeliciousness while solving the crime with conventional observational techniques. Lots of characters in Psych seem to accept that Shawn is psychic, but it usually isn’t clear if they are dupes or if they are just playing along. AFAIK, no one has ever said “Oh come on, real police departments don’t employ psychics” when he introduces himself as the official Santa Barbara PD psychic.

Many but not all the Jonathan Creek episodes involve (false) psychic explanations for things (such as a fake gypsy fortune teller convincing a patsy to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in order to frame her for a murder), or people incorrectly accepting a woo explanation for an event instead of the true explanation, but Jonathan always insists that there is no such thing as ESP or ghosts or alien visitations, and has little patience for the gullible. And of course, there always is a true reality-based explanation for everything. Sometimes the wooishness, when present, is purely accidental, for example a witness who only sees part of what happened and attributes events to ghosts or ESP, but other times its a deliberate deception by the bad guys. And some episodes are pure “locked room” mysteries. Worth checking out.

Speaking of plagiarism, what about that Shakespeare guy? I think he stole everything he ever wrote! And it’s *all* cliches! No originality at all

By: shane

shane — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:37:23 +0000

Michael L. Gosh thanks. *blush*. It really is a good movie. Shows what you can do with almost no budget or special effects. Honest to god sci-fi brilliance.

Here’s another one for you, “Primer”. A time travel movie.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390384
Really low budget. Something like $7000 but it is very very good. Won some awards too I think.

By: Michael L

Michael L — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 06:33:54 +0000

@Shane:
OMG!!!!!!!
That was an amazing movie!
Thanks for the link to a movie I would have never heard of! I recommen
dt The Man From Earth to EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!