The Mentalist

This is where we enter the gray area of binge-worthiness. Maybe the area of guilty pleasures. It's up to you to decide.

There are some fundamental things wrong with The Mentalist. For example, it's a very typical police procedural. The plot is formulaic and predictable. You don't have to be a mentalist to do most of what they do. You don't even need to be a trained police person.

By the way, why is it that police procedurals are all about police not following procedure?

You and me both, Simon.

Whatever. Here's the thing: I binged it anyway. 

The Mentalist is one of several new refreshing cop dramas with a consistent humorous twist. It's well funny. It's got an engaging villain, as well, which makes a show like this much more interesting. The arc of the story from beginning to when they catch kill discover lose reveal the bad guy follows consistent character traits as they are developed throughout. 

Another thing to note about The Mentalist is that it's one of several neo-Sherlock Holmes** stories. Among these are Psych, House, M.D., Elementary, and Castle. 

**Sherlock Holmes is one of the most copied characters in literature, for very good reasons. Not only has he impacted stories, but the original detective mysteries changed the way actual crime scenes were treated, leading to the meticulous way evidence is collected from crime scenes now.

 My final fun fact about the show is that more than one actor's native accent is not American. Can you guess whose?

No, he's not in it.