[Fluffy]

I've had the privilege to watch Psych on a secondary tv channel before the mentalist was ever released, but somehow, in Spain nobody knows about Psych, it has been shown only half a season in a channel reacheable by 10% population at most.


When I got to see half an episode of Mentalist I had the same horrible feeling than when I hear a new version of an old music classic from The Police or U2, it is just a bad copy, and the original is much much better.

So my question is, why is the mentalist having so much audience then?. What happens in other countries?

[luke warm]

i don't know the relative viewerships, but i do know that psych does very well ... i expect it does better than the mentalist in the u.s., but am too lazy to look it up

[barmar]

The Mentalist is on a broadcast network, Psych is on a cable channel. In most cases, a big audience for a cable show is smaller than a small audience for a network show; many network shows are cancelled as failures when they have larger audiences than most "hit" cable shows.

I don't understand why people feel the need to compare these shows. One is dramatic, the other more comedic. On The Mentalist, he doesn't actually pretend to be psychic, he freely admits that this was just a gimmick in his former profession as a stage performer. They both have incredible powers of observation, but not really much more than the cops on L&O: Criminal Intent.

[Rain]

I've never heard of the mentalist, only psych (which I like and watch on hulu).

[Hanoi5]

I like the mentalist and I watch it when I can. Probably checked a little of psych once but not much.

[barmar]

The Mentalist is in its second season here in the US, maybe it hasn't been exported to where you are. It's about a former stage mentalist (think Kreskin, but younger and hotter) who works as a consultant for the California Board of Investigation (an elite detective squad). Like Shawn on Psych he has good power of observation, but his real skills are more psychological: he's very good at reading body language, gaining trust of people, and he can perform mild hypnosis.

[Mbodell]

Yeah, Mentalist is on CBS and as a result gets a huge audience compared to Psych which is a USA network show.

I like and watch both shows, but Psych is much better IMO. Psych has made references to the Mentalist on a couple of occasions.

Quote

(Shawn and Gus walk into a Canadian RCMP headquarters and talk to a police officer)
Shawn: I am a psychic.

Gus: We work for the Santa Barbara Police Department.  We've solved over 47 cases.

Shawn: You've seen the Mentalist, right?

Police Guy:  Yes.

Shawn:  It's like that.

Gus:  Except that guy's a fake.

Shawn:  Right, if I was a fake psychic it would be eerily similar.

Gus:  Exactly the same.

Shawn:  A virtual carbon copy.

You can see the clip here - psych totally disses the mentalist.

[Fluffy]

barmar, on Feb 24 2010, 09:10 PM, said:

The Mentalist is in its second season here in the US, maybe it hasn't been exported to where you are.

No, it actually has, and exactly the same as US, Psych is only on private channels, and has small audience, while mentalist is everywhere, when you talk about psych people don't understand a word :/, but all know the fake.

[Oren Goren]

Fluffy, on Feb 24 2010, 08:24 AM, said:

I've had the privilege to watch Psych on a secondary tv channel before the mentalist was ever released, but somehow, in Spain nobody knows about Psych, it has been shown only half a season in a channel reacheable by 10% population at most.


When I got to see half an episode of Mentalist I had the same horrible feeling than when I hear a new version of an old music classic from The Police or U2, it is just a bad copy, and the original is much much better.

So my question is, why is the mentalist having so much audience then?. What happens in other countries?

I have watched every episode of both shows and can say only this:

Both depend on the personality of the male lead, especially Mentalist. Simon is as charming an actor as has ever been.

Well, a second thing, Roday is none-the-less not nearly as charming, but the gimmick is excellent, and the relationship with the father, played be Corbin Berenson (sp) is GREAT! When this last episode skipped the child Sean/Shawn's scene w/his dad, I was pixxed!

I would miss both shows, but the Mentalist more despite my feelings about an original's great gimmicks.

oren

[barmar]

I prefer Psych, because I like quirky shows. Mentalist is usually opposite other shows that I prefer, so I generally catch it in reruns.

The character on The Mentalist is a charming rogue. The character on Psyche is also charming, but in a goofy way.

And Maggie Lawson is cuter than Robin Tunney.

[Oren Goren]

barmar, on Feb 26 2010, 07:54 PM, said:

I prefer Psych, because I like quirky shows.  Mentalist is usually opposite other shows that I prefer, so I generally catch it in reruns.

The character on The Mentalist is a charming rogue.  The character on Psyche is also charming, but in a goofy way.

And Maggie Lawson is cuter than Robin Tunney.

Yes,"Jules" is better than the Mentalist femlead. But Dule' Hill's role is extra-irritating, and/but the "Lassy" character (Edmondson?) is fun.

Yet, Roday's character can be irritating.

But Kang is excellent on Mentalist, as well as Madsen and the red-head.

Innyhoo, both are fun.

oren

[Al_U_Card]

I just watched the 2hr first season episode.

Enjoyed it greatly and will continue the downloads for the four seasons.

I enjoy the Mentalist and all it's characters but find the "Red John" premise a bit much with all it's rather far-fetched premises and intrigues.
(The Wade Foyett vs Hutch storyline on Criminal Minds was much more believable.)

So far, the characterisations on Psych are a bit excessive but necessary to get the ball rolling, I suppose.

[Al_U_Card]

Being duly inspired, I sense an attempt to take out more than just his next meal...

[barmar]

I think the Red John backstory is also what bugs me about The Mentalist.

[Al_U_Card]

I suppose that since he can play poker and make megabucks, the "reason" for his staying on the force is to eventually have a go at "the one-armed man"....

I just watched S1 E2 and 3 of Psych and hopefully the dramedy elements will get a bit more sophisticated because the scenarios were pretty amateurish. Corbin does a pretty good job, tho.

[barmar]

I doubt Psych has any plans to get more sophisticated. The formula is working for it.

[fred]

barmar, on Mar 1 2010, 04:38 PM, said:

I think the Red John backstory is also what bugs me about The Mentalist.

It is my favorite part about the show because it leaves me hope that he will eventually kill all the annoying characters in some sort of gruesome way

Psych desperately needs a Red John type because the characters on that show are even more annoying!

It boggles my mind that intelligent people enjoy watching Psych, a show that IMO is painfully awful.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[Al_U_Card]

Looks like I won't get thru S01 then....indeed they are all pretty annoying (except Corbin, for now....)

Since Red John is some kind of super bad guy with great powers of persuasion etc. perhaps he will be found to be Patrick Jane's evil twin?

[kenberg]

Regarding taste, or lack thereof:

Fred, I always new you were my kind of guy. I tried Psych a couple of times and didn't care for it. But then I don't like House either. Or Woody Allen. And do the French really like Jerry Lewis? Jerry Lee Lewis maybe, but Jerry Lewis?


I like Bones. My wife got me started on it and I get a kick out of it. A good supporting cast.

My wife also watches Lost, it's not to my taste. And Burn Notice, which has the good sense not to take itself seriously.

The show that was the biggest surprise to me was The Good Wife. Here research aide, or whatever she is, is a most interesting character.

Also, I prefer Whoppers to Big Macs.

[fred]

kenberg, on Mar 1 2010, 07:10 PM, said:

Also, I prefer Whoppers to Big Macs.

Me too - not even close

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com