OK, everybody steals from everybody else in Hollywood, and there are very few original concepts (Leverage has been done before, but I still love it). But in all the blogs, posts, critics' columns and certainly the interview with Bruno Heller, I have never seen anyone mention that the concept of The Mentalist is a complete rip-off of Pysch.

Or, did I miss it?

So we have Simon Baker as Robert Redford and Damien Lewis as Steve McQueen. Who we going to get for Paul Newman :)

why do people confuse titles like "# 1 show" or "most watched show" with concepts like best quality? Popularity is simply popularity; sometimes it coincides with quality, but not very often. And popularity almost never coincides with quirky.

Life is quirky. The cases are odd, and Charlie is definitely quirky. you have to watch long-term to really get into Life, and most people have no faith in NBC to keep anything on long enough to give it a try. I honestly think that's the reason for the unexpected early comittment to a whole season for Life (and Chuck). NBC wanted to send a signal that it was okay to try the shows -- they weren't going to disappear next week.

So the Mentalist isn't Life. It isn't a lot of other shows, either. The Mentalist is the right show on the right network for it. We watch it in my house, and actually find ourselves picking it rather quickly when it shows up on the DVR queue. Shows like Life or Life on Mars or Pushing Daisies, on the other hand, get watched when we have time to relax and really absorb them. The Mentalist is popcorn, not a substantial meal, but as popcorn, it's very, very nicely done.

And honestly, I think the reason they've avoided Red Jack, other than to make brief mentions is to keep it more of a self-contained show and not more of a serial. Life also made this change this season, with the conspiracy against Charlie in the background in addition to the case of the week, not as the central focus. Now that The Mentalist is a hit and pretty much guaranteed to return, I would imagine the second half of the season will have at least one Red Jack focused episode. The show creators will have earned the right to focus on and develop the mythology after creating a show that supports itself in the ratings first.

I very much agree that Life is the far superior show. Better acting, much better cast chemistry (who even likes the female lead especially compared to Sarah Shahi), quirkier plots. I watch The Mentalist and I have always liked Simon Baker but really - top show?

I've been watching the show & while I do enjoy it, I on't think it's anywhere near the best thing on tv right now. Take last night's show, for example: What the hell was that sandcastle building scene all about? Maybe I'm just slow, but it seemed completely out of place & not relevant to anything else in the hour. But, I'd much rather see The Mentalist get the big ratings than some crap like Dancing with the Stars or The Biggest Loser. Talk about a waste of primetime hours!

People are fundamentally stupid. I know this is not popular to say, but its true. They don't want to think when they watch entertainment. That is why CBS does so well. Not that all their shows are horrible, but most of them are unbelievably formulaic. NBC's are anything but formulaic, and take chances. People don't like something that doesn't fit the mold, that is quirky, and smart.

It's not hard to figure out why CBS does so well.

I loved Smith and really think Simon Baker was great there - a larger than life joyfull assasin. In Mentalist he had a promising start (effectively instructing the woman to kill her husbang) but then the PC started and the show turned to shit.

Chris: it was number one for the week.

This is just lazy writing. It was the number one show on TUESDAY. Not the number one show for the week as the headline implies.

Love Life's quirky detectives and murders, but I have to admit: I am behind on watching. Love Mentalist's quirkiness too (though I don't see the similarity as much except quirky) and I've been on top of that. I really want to support Simon Baker as well (went back to watch some Guardian episodes). FAbulous stuff.