I know that most office pools tend to revolve around sporting events, but I think an equally entertaining measure would be to pick out new show lineups on television and predict which shows were going to last the longest. Sure it would take awhile to playout, but I bet you’d have a hard time guessing that the Mentalist would be the #1 new series in the fall of 2008. It was one of those shows that always looked “meh” to me, but apparently the alluring look of Robin Tunney combined with the prince charming Simon Baker has been more than enough to bring in a captive audience.

Tunney claims that they were both rather nervous that the show wouldn’t do as well as everyone hoped..and I can certainly relate to that. It must be tough for an actor to really put all their efforts into a show only to have it cut due to a lack of popularity (or for a bombed movie, I’d wager). One has to wonder if there isn’t something there between the two:

“There have been moments when you are so tired, and I look over and say, ‘If I hated you this would be the worst job in the world.’ You spend more time together than you do with your partner or your family. It is crazy. I am so lucky because he makes me laugh.”

Of course she also goes on to immediately point out that he’s happily married, so maybe not. If you’re interested, the Mentalist shows up on Tuesday nights on CBS at 9 pm. I may check the series out one of these days.