‘The Mentalist’ and Simon Baker find a hit
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Simon Baker is having a rough time. He’s battling a stubborn cold, and the pressures of a long shooting day on the Warner Bros. lot are taking their toll. But Baker, the star of CBS’ ’ The Mentalist,’ still has a smile and twinkle in his eyes. That’s how it is when you’re the face of the season’s only breakout hit at a time when few believed it possible for a major network to deliver a sizable weekly audience for a new scripted program.
‘Everything is good right now, really good,’ said Baker, apologizing for his cough and the rasp in his voice. ‘Every TV show is a crapshoot, really. But every once in a while, a show gets anointed as ‘the show.’ And at the moment, we are it.’
Even up against Fox’s formidable ‘ American Idol,’ which has earned the nickname ‘Death Star’ for obliterating the competition, ‘The Mentalist’ has emerged as the most popular -- and most unlikely -- hit of the network TV season.
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-- Greg Braxton
(Photo: There is no plan for the characters played by Simon Baker and Robin Tunney to develop a romance, a seemingly mandatory story line for most shows. Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
