Life is a show about a hyper smart crime investigator who uses his brilliant powers of deduction to solve crimes in sometimes baffling manners. The Mentalist is a show about a hyper smart crime investergator who uses his briliant powers of deduction to solve crimes in sometimes baffling manners. They both have hot women partners as well. They have this in common with Monk, Sherlock Holmes, and countless other fictional investegaters over the years. I like both shows, but. . .
A few years ago there were a string of shows about Profilers, and one of them was a pretty good show except for the addition of a Super Villian-Jack of All Trades. If there is one thing a show about a Profiler doesn’t need, it is someone who fits a profile from a comic book. So I don’t like that there are Super Villians in both The Mentalist and Life.
Life’s Genuis spend time in jail for a crime he didn’t commit, it was discovered that he didn’t commit it and he was freed from jail and awarded a large cash settlement. He now practices Zen and is baffled by such things as public sinks with automatic water faucets and paper towel dispensers-thought the towel dispensers were not automatic as part of a joke. The Super Villian here is whoever framed him and got him put in jail. We know who this was form the end of the Strike Shortened First Season, but there are still bits of the puzzle to deal with. He is successful at his job because he does things that no one expects him to do.
The Mentalist is John Edwards as a Crime Scene Investigator. He used to have a TV Show which looks remarkably like John Edwards TV Show looked. He gets himself into trouble when he calls out the Super Villain, who then kills his wife and child in revenge. 
The Mentalist still sleeps in the room where his family was murdered. He is successful at his job becasue he does things that no one expects him to do.
These shows work because the Cops around our Heroes are just a bit dimmer than they are, and because the Criminals they catch are often just weird. They are fun shows to watch and I hope that I will get the chance to see more than a handful of episodes. The Networks tend to hate smart shows that are fun to watch, prefering totally stupid shows that a painful to watch, at least for me. Did anyone watch I Survived a Japanese Game Show, Wipeout, or Hole in The Wall? These were shows that put a strain on words like dumb and total waste of time.
Life and The Mentalist are good shows, because they require writers and they require an audience that is wiling do a bit of thinking. The Mentalist was picked up by CBS for a full season which is good news. I haven’t heard news about Life.
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