The Mentalist

**Mulder** · 26th March 2009, 09:31 PM

Just watched the first episode. I expect people here know it's a drama featuring an ex 'fake' psychic who helps the police by 'noticing things' that others don't. I suppose he's a sort of modern Sherlock Holmes but more smug and without the seven percent solution.

It's very popular in the US, despite the hero repeating endlessly that there are 'no genuine psychics'. Anyone else watch it?

**Trinoc** · 26th March 2009, 09:36 PM

I didn't watch it, but wasn't Millennium a lot like this, with a guy who claimed to have no special powers, just to be amazingly intuitive, yet he was always able to work things out well beyond what the evidence justified.

**bobdezon** · 26th March 2009, 09:51 PM

Yup, been a fan of that show for a while now. Its usually pretty good (in a movie/TV way) and interesting. There was one episode which annoyed me though, the one where a "psychic" gives him a message from his dead wife, and he swallows it.

**MischiefMonkey** · 27th March 2009, 07:13 AM

My Digibox & Channel Five had a falling out last night so I missed it

**bruce** · 27th March 2009, 07:30 AM

Originally Posted by MischiefMonkey

My Digibox & Channel Five had a falling out last night so I missed it

I had the same problem, but managed to circumvent it, via Zatoo

**farmersboy** · 27th March 2009, 09:06 AM

We watched it last night and enjoyed it a great deal. Anyone else think the title is a little....unfortunate for the UK market?

**Trinoc** · 27th March 2009, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by farmersboy

Anyone else think the title is a little....unfortunate for the UK market?

Why so? If you mean the use of "mental" to mean "insane", I think that applies in the US as well, and it seems a fairly mild insult.

**MischiefMonkey** · 27th March 2009, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by bruce

I had the same problem, but managed to circumvent it, via Zatoo

Wow, never heard of that. Might give it a try, thanks.

I did get Channel Five working in the end, switched to a stronger signal, but it took me half an hour to work out how to do it

so I had missed too much to bother watching it.

**bruce** · 27th March 2009, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by MischiefMonkey

Wow, never heard of that. Might give it a try, thanks.

I did get Channel Five working in the end, switched to a stronger signal, but it took me half an hour to work out how to do it

so I had missed too much to bother watching it.

I'd installed Zatoo on my laptop a few weeks ago, when I was away from home and the signal from my Slingbox was a bit below par.
I was doubtful at first, but it does produce a usable picture, and the fullscreen image, although showing the occasional compression artefact, was watchable.

**farmersboy** · 27th March 2009, 11:14 AM

From A Dictionary of Slang

mentalistNoun. A crazy person, a mental case. Derog. [Orig. U.S.?]

Ordinary dcitionary

1.a person who believes in or advocates mentalism.2.a person who believes that the mind and its functions are a legitimate area of psychological research.3.a mind reader, psychic, or fortuneteller.

**Mongrel** · 27th March 2009, 12:30 PM

Sounds like a serious version of Psych, very funny show if you get the opportunity to watch it (think it was on Paramount channel)

**Admin** · 27th March 2009, 08:57 PM

I watched it and thought it was OK. It's a good idea but the programme could have been better.

I really liked the bit where he was saying that there's no such thing as psychics and people were responding with things like "science doesn't know everything!". It was just like a typical forum debate.