It's no secret that being on TV can be a very well-paying gig, but do you know just how much some of your favorite actors are making?

Forbes has released its annual list of the Top 10 highest paid actors on TV and the usual suspects -- Charlie Sheen, Hugh Laurie, Ray Romano -- are still present. However, some of these actors have already left their TV homes, and others might not have shows to pay them after this year.

Sheen's off 'Two and a Half Men' and production on his new sitcom has yet to begin, Romano's 'Men of a Certain Age' was canceled and it's looking like this could possibly be the last seasons for 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'House.'

Owain Yeoman felt right at home on the set of 'Access Hollywood Live' (weekdays, syndicated on NBC) Friday, mostly because of Billy Bush's style choices. Bush was wearing dark slacks, a button-down shirt and a vest, which reminded Yeoman of one of his co-stars on 'The Mentalist.'

"I believe I have to also comment on your Simon Baker-esque wardrobe," said Yoeman. "I had noticed that you were channeling a little Patrick Jane." When the photos were shown side-by-side, there did seem to be a resemblance, even past the costume choice. "My goodness me, separated at birth," said Yeoman, calling Bush "Billy Baker."

'The Mentalist' is about to wrap up its season, which means Robin Tunney should be able to take a break. But as she explained on 'The Talk' (weekdays, syndicated on CBS) today, that means being away from 'Mentalist' lead Simon Baker. That might be more disappointing to her dad than to Tunney.

"Everybody is in love with him," Tunney said. "It's not just women. I think that my dad has a crush on him. He'll call and he'll be like, 'I saw last night's episode. Simon took my breath away.'"

Tunney will be working on a film called 'See Girl Run' during the break, but she's a little worried about that, too, since she'll be starring opposite her dog. And her dog was cast first.

"He melts hearts," she said. "He's kind of a star." Tunney thinks the pup might upstage her in the movie. At least there might be a better chance that her father will notice her work.

Today is Australia Day, which means millions of Aussies around the world are celebrating the discovery of their homeland in 1788. At TV Squad, we're celebrating by watching clips of 'Summer Heights High' and thinking about our favorite Australian TV actors.

Believe it or not, many of our biggest small screen stars aren't actually Americans -- they just play ones on TV. Take, for example, Portia De Rossi, hilarious actress and successful memoir author (not to mention wife of Ellen DeGeneres). Betcha forgot she comes from the land Down Under. Same with Ryan Kwanten, shirtless 'True Blood' star and all-around charming guy. Emmy- and Golden Globe–winning 'United States of Tara' star Toni Collette? Yep, a true-blue Sydneysider.

'The Mentalist,' which returns tonight at 10PM ET on CBS, is the type of show that is constantly in danger of falling into the tedium of formula. Actually, it really is a formula show -- the set-ups are often similar, the way Jane interacts with the suspects/victims is often the same, the solution revealed at the same time in the same way -- but it happens to be a well-done formula show.

So the question as we head towards the second half of the third season is this: is it becoming too formulaic?

Talk about a nice Christmas present: 'The Mentalist' star Simon Baker has signed a new deal with Warner Bros. TV that will net him a producer credit and a nice $30 million payday.

According to Deadline Hollywood, Baker extended his six-year contract by one year, and will get a cut of the syndication profits. The CBS drama was sold to TNT for $2.2-2.3 million per episode for Warner Bros.

Baker's producer credit will begin in season 5.

In other TV news ...

• Conan O'Brien has apologized to Jimmy Kimmel for making a similar Sarah Palin joke. O'Brien issued his apology on air, saying he was unaware of Kimmel's joke from earlier this month. [WSJ]

• Chloe Sevigny said she would do another TV series once 'Big Love' ends. "I'm not opposed to another series but I don't think I'd do one in Los Angeles," she said. "I'd like to do a half-hour comedy on a cable network in New York where I play someone really glamorous and really goofy. That's my dream job!" [EW]

• 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star Lisa Vanderpump said she was verbally attacked at the Polo Lounge. "Last night at the Polo Lounge my friend, Robert Kovacik, was viciously attacked by an aggressive drunk...I am shocked and upset, merry Xmas," the star tweeted. [TV Guide]

Investigator Patrick Jane may have uncanny powers of observation, but they don't necessarily keep him out of harm's way. In fact, his intuition brought him into a life-threatening predicament on 'The Mentalist' (Thu., 10PM ET on CBS).

[Spoiler alert.]


In an abandoned and derelict hotel, Jane found himself in the middle of "sick little movie," about to be killed on camera.

Jane had nearly talked himself out of trouble, until gunshots fired. Red John appeared, saying, "If there's one thing I can't tolerate, it's cheap imitations of my work." Uh-oh.

(S02E20) "Do you have a gift shop? I'd love an eyeball mug or something." - Jane

We need another Red John episode. We've had several weeks now where 'The Mentalist' has given us a "murder case of the week" episode and that's fine, but it's time for the mythology arc to come back. This is episode 20 of the season so we're almost at the season finale (there are 23 episodes this season), which means a Red John episode is coming up. I can't wait for that, actually.

(S02E19) "I'll see you clowns in court!" - Sylvan to the CBI team

The prediction I made in my 'The Red Box' review came true: the "clowns" went to court and we saw the aftermath of Jane's investigation methods.

So MGM announced yesterday that the next James Bond movie -- number 23, if you're keeping track -- has been put on hold "indefinitely" because the studio is for sale and they have no idea what's going on with it.

This is scary stuff. It reminds me of those awful years when everything was put on hold so long that Timothy Dalton said "the heck with this, yo" and left and they were without a Bond for a while. Everything turned out OK, as Pierce Brosnan was Bond for several flicks and then Daniel Craig for the reboot. Let's hope that things get settled before everyone decides to move on.

But it got me thinking: isn't it about time we had a 007 TV series? Why not?

(S02E18) - "Oh, that's OK then. As long as you're sorry, we'll let you go ... kidding." - Jane, to the killer

OK, did I miss the part of the episode where they explained what "Aingavite Baa" means? I've been wondering all day what it could mean and even typed the words into one of those web anagram generators. I came up with "Avian Abate Age," "Gab Eat Via An I," "A Agate Via Bin," and many others (including several with the word "vagina" in them, but I doubt that has any meaning).

If I missed it somehow, let me know in the comments so I can look goofy.

(S02E16) "Like clothes. And killing people." - Jane, after the victim's husband said they had a marriage that didn't go by social standards

I like mystery stories where the murder victim not only knows they have just been murdered but they actually have time to call the police and help solve the crime. We saw it in the 1950 classic 'D.O.A.' and the lesser remake in 1988 with Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan.

Tonight's episode of 'The Mentalist' was like that, only the victim wasn't around long enough to see the killer come to justice.

(S02E15) "Tell Mr. Jane he is a mean, irresponsible sadist." - Abigail to Lisbon

Dina Meyer is everywhere on TV lately, isn't she? If you are like me, as soon as you see her appear in one of your favorite TV shows, you know there's an extremely good chance that she ends up being the culprit or that she'll at least have a meaty role.

Her 'The Mentalist' guest appearance was no different, and she ended up being either the culprit or with a meaty role. Was she the killer of the week or a red herring? The answer after the jump. One thing is certain, her role had character, as she had to say that Jane was mean, irresponsible and a sadist!

(S02E14) "You are one strange freak, man." - gang member to Jane.

Detective Cho is like the Sgt. Friday of 'The Mentalist.' He's serious, determined, no nonsense, by the book. Only I think Jack Webb used to smile a lot more than Cho does. It's great to see Cho (Tim Kang - a good actor), my favorite character on the show after Patrick Jane, get an A plot in an episode.

Wow, Cho is a bit of a hard-ass, eh? You can see how hard he has worked to get away from his past, joining the Army and all that, and he really doesn't have any patience or sympathy for the people he left behind. At least we think that at first.

As I've said before, I'd watch a spinoff with Cho as the lead.