We all know of the great slights that Hollywood deals out to the American right. We see them all the time. From the TV shows that casts Republicans as villains, the movies that make Christians out to be hypocrites or even outright evil. Traditional motherhood and fatherhood also find constant ridicule at the hands of Hollywood. The overt examples are everywhere, of course. But the grand swipe isn’t all that Hollywood indulges. There are also these ubiquitous, small, quick, too fast to notice swipes against the right perpetrated by Hollywood. A fine example of the side-swipe approach to denigrating the right came in the April 29 episode of The Mentalist, a CBS detective show starring Australian actor Simon Baker.

Now, at the top here I want to say that The Mentalist is generally an inoffensive, amusing little show fashioned in the Sherlock Holmes mode featuring a detective that sees every little clue and can with ease assemble these disparate facts to solve the crime. Baker turns in a funny performance with just enough underlying darkness to make his character interesting.

But, despite that it is generally a diverting entertainment, the show is just as disposed to slam anything from the right as any other and the April 29 episode gives us a prime example of that.

In the episode titled “Red All Over,” the investigative team tries to solve the murder of a media mogul. One of the plot lines deals with the leader of a Scientology-styled cult played by famed actor Malcolm McDowell. (more…)

In the classic manner of series television, the USA Network’s latest new dramedy, White Collar (Fridays at 10 EST), smartly combines elements common to numerous other contemporary TV crime dramas, especially other USA Network shows, in a way calculated to maximize both familiarity and originality. Thus we have at the center of the show a pair of characters of strongly contrasting personalities but similar values under the surface differences, working together to do good.

Convicted confidence artist, forger, and counterfeiter Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) is released from prison (and shackled with an electronic tracking device) in order to assist FBI agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) in catching other criminals. As in the 1960s TV series It Takes a Thief, Caffrey is young, handsome, single, insouciant, creative, and free-spirited, and his FBI handler is more mature, less handsome, and more conventional and stable. (more…)

The return of the popular mystery-comedy series Monk and Psych for new seasons on the USA Network (at 9 and 10 p.m. EDT, respectively) is a bittersweet thing for most followers of the popular show featuring Tony Shaloub as the obsessive-compulsive detective. After a seven-year run in which Monk led the way in building USA and other cable/satellite outlets into a plausible long-term challenge to the broadcast networks’ dominance of television audiences, the coming sixteen episodes will constitute the last season for the show.

The good news is that the producers are planning to resolve the show’s central story lines–Monk’s quest to identify his wife’s killer, and his attempts to become mentally healthy enough to resume his position on the San Francisco police force. (Throughout the series he has served as a consultant on homicide investigations for the force.)

Equally heartening is the fact that Psych, now entering its fourth season, has continued to improve over the years (after a very promising start) and is as enjoyable as Monk. (more…)