ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Do not watch this show.

You'll get addicted like I did.

It's very old and very sad story, my friends. Here's how I fell into this unfortunate situation.

First, a group of very imaginative and talented people set out to make a hit TV show with interesting characters, great writing, and a fascinating premise: a brilliant man gets rich pretending to be a psychic, but when he taunts a serial killer on a TV show, the killer murders his wife and child.

The fake psychic turns himself into a brilliant criminologist, solving murders by being so insanely smart he rivals Sherlock Holmes in every way. And he's such a nutty guy by nature, it's a delight to watch him stir up trouble and puzzle the hell out of everyone around him by devising wacky plans that make no sense . . . until he springs his clever trap and nabs the bad guys.

There are seven seasons of this insidiously addict series, and I've seen every episode twice. Netflix has the DVDs, Watchfree.to has the download links, and at least one channel is showing reruns — so there's no shortage of "dealers" to provide me with a fix every time I start shivering and shaking and sweating when my craving for a fresh corpse and new mystery to satisfied my unnatural desires.

Learn from my mistake, my friends. Do not watch this show. You'll end up with a Mentalist Monkey on your back!



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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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I’m an avid fan of all the Sherlock Holmes stories —









— along with several of the movies and TV series which portrayed that legendary character.

But I've come to realize that Simon Baker's remarkable portrayal of Patrick Jane in The Mentalist is actually the best "Sherlock Holmes" concept ever brought to the screen!

Patrick Jane does exactly what Sherlock Holmes is famous for doing — but he does it with such pure panache and unpredictable playfulness that he's a joy to watch.

Sherlock Holmes is, of course, a legendary detective who uses logic and observation to make brilliant deductions. That's fun to watch in any of the movies — and the British series Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch excelled in presenting a version of Holmes who made him playful, unpredictable, and gleefully unconcerned about to the consequences of his actions.

Unfortunately, the Sherlock character degenerated in the third season, so I stopped watching it.

The Mentalist began the series by radically changing Patrick Jane's basic nature from what it was prior to the pilot of the series by having him suffer the loss of his beloved wife and child. The culprit is a serial killer known as Rid John, a sadistic man who slays people periodical, but eludes the police on a regular basis.

So, we have a tortured man who desperately seeks evidence which will lead to the arrest of Rid John, But to do this he must become part of the California Bureau of Investigation’s team who are hunting the serial killer.

Patrick Jane proves his worth to the CBI team by dazzling them with his unigue ability to solve murders. His Sherlock-like abilities frequently astound these “by the book” cops, and they eventually come to accept his genius, along with his completely unconventional methods.

The writers for this series knew exactly how to take full advantage of the character they created, along with the unique talents of Simon Baker.

Thankfully this fine series remained at the top of it’s game right up until the series finale, after seven enjoyable season.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)