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Airdate: The Mentalist

Simon Baker's new drama will air Sunday October 5th on Nine.

Nine will premiere one of its key US acquisitions at 8:30pm Sunday October 5th.

Aussie Simon Baker stars as an independent consultant with the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who has a remarkable track record for solving serious crimes by using his razor sharp skills of observation, a concept not so dissimilar to Psych. He is joined by Robin Tunney from Prison Break. It is created by Bruno Heller who co-created Rome.

The CBS drama has just aired in the US in the last 24 hours.

Nine will air the NRL Grand Final on the same date, which kicks off at 5pm from ANZ Stadium, bound to give the show a good lead-in and promotion.

Press Release:
Australia’s Simon Baker (The Guardian, The Devil Wears Prada) stars in America’s number one new show, THE MENTALIST. After debuting with a massive audience of more than 15 million in the United States THE MENTALIST will premiere on Nine on Sunday, October 5 at 8.30pm.

THE MENTALIST is a crime drama from David Nutter (Supernatural, Without a Trace) which centres on Patrick Jane (Baker), a well-known former television psychic who is now an independent consultant with the California Bureau of Investigation. The CBI uses his very real abilities as a “mentalist” to solve crimes.

As a mentalist, Jane applies highly developed skills of observation, deduction and manipulation to aid the CBI’s Serious Crimes Unit.

THE MENTALIST also stars Robin Tunney (Empire Records, The Craft, Prison Break) as no-nonsence Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon.

Lisbon’s team includes Tim Kang (The Forgotten, Two Weeks Notice) as agent Kimball Cho, Owain Yeoman (Troy, The Nine) as Wayne Rigsby and Amanda Righetti (The O.C., Return to House on Haunted Hill) as rookie Grace Van Pelt, who all think Jane is a loose cannon but admire his charm and incredible ability for clearing up cases.

Within the CBI, Jane is notorious for his blatant lack of protocol and semi-celebrity past as a psychic medium, whose paranormal abilities he now admits he has feigned. Jane’s role in cracking a series of tough, high-profile cases is greatly valued by his fellow agents. However, Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon resists having Jane in her unit and alternates between reluctantly acknowledging his usefulness and blasting him for his theatrics, narcissism and dangerous absence of boundaries.

In the premiere episode Jane, Lisbon and her team investigate the double murder of a pro golfer’s wife and her doctor in Palm Springs which has the hallmarks of a serial killer with a personal connection to Jane.

THE MENTALIST: Premiering Sunday, October 5 at 8.30pm on Channel Nine

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14 Responses

  1. Showing it after sports is always good for ratings but I wonder how it’ll do against Idol? I’d prefer it to be aired during the week.

    The ratings in the US are really surprising. I hope it keeps up because I think it’s going to be a great show. I don’t see it being super popular here though.

  2. Shows get moved because they don’t rate, advertisers pull money when this happens. Unfortunately the fickle nature of Oz FTA TV means shows are not given an opportunity to find an audience.

  3. Yep Benno that’s true, but T:SCC also had the Football as a lead in for its series premiere- The Mentalist just had the season premiere of NCIS, so it’s done well to hold onto NCIS’ massive audience (and boy, won’t Ten be hoping for some of that love next week)….i reaken it will settle at around 12.5mil

    The promo’s look good and Baker’s appearance on Ellen yesterday showed how likeable he can in fact be
    Richo TB is exactly right…Teminator is just there to A) Promote Terminator Salvation and B) please the fans…it’s another crappy Fall season for FOX

  4. All the networks are the same Nick,Seven is just as bad if not worse. If you don’t like Nine fair enough but going by your reasoning you wouldn’t be watching 7 or 10 either!

    And yes of course shows don’t always stay the same as the premiere but some do or at most drop a little. Not all shows suffer the same fate as the SCC or The Bionic Woman. TM will likely stay around the 14m mark especially with NCIS as a lead in.

  5. It is funny how I choose to not watch much on Ch9 because everything I start to watch gets moved or axed. The Strip never rated on my radar because of 9’s bad treatment of TV Shows, and now I read that even CSI Miami will be off air to make room for The Mentalist which had bad reviews in the US anyway. Whats the point of supporting Ch 9 when they just chop and change TV shows irrespective of who is watching!

  6. I doubt Terminator will get a back nine for the 2nd season. Its only purpose for season 2 was to generate some cash along with the 4th movie coming out in June 2009. Now it looks like it may not live to last that long

  7. Do remember that the series premiere is sometimes not a true measurement, so if it retains that figure for another 2-3 weeks, then that is a more accurate picture. Sarah connor chonicles opened with 18 million, and is now down to under 5 million, just as an example.

  8. DWTS may indeed suffer even more massivly than it previously has….The Mentalist just scored 15.5 Million viewers in it’s premiere behind NCIS, so it’s potential for Nine has just gone up 100%
    Looks intresting enough, and I’m sure there are enough Simon Baker fans out there wanting a glimpse at his latest show

    Even smarter is the move to show it after the GF, as long as there arn’t massive time over-runs….Nine finally has some hope (though it wont save their season)

  9. This show kicks ass. Way better than any police procedural airing right now…except for Life. I’m glad they’re giving it a real shot over crap like CSI Miami. BTW, Miami will likely screen @ 9:30pm. This show will be the final nail in the coffin for DWTS.

  10. Very smart move debuting it after the NRL GF – should get a good lead in which should at least give it good debut figures but time will tell if the figures hold up!

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