CBS returns to tried and true for fall

Having enjoyed its wicked, simmering summer with "Swingtown" and "Flashpoint," CBS returns to normalcy with the new TV season this week, and there's something comforting in that.

CBS rarely does anything great these days, but it doesn't do anything badly, either. That's the story with two new series debuting today and Wednesday.

First things first: CBS likes stars, and especially photogenic stars. To that end it's bringing back Simon Baker at his studmuffin best in "The Mentalist," debuting at 8 p.m. today on WBBM Channel 2. Baker is a two-time loser on the so-called Tiffany network, having put in a few years as "The Guardian" and then had a supporting role on the captivating, but short-lived Ray Liotta caper series, "Smith." Now he's a narcissistic pretty boy of an uber-observant, crime-solving reformed psychic as title character Patrick Jane in this new drama.

"You're psychic?" a woman says in tonight's pilot.

"No, just paying attention," he glibly replies while taking mental note of each small detail.

See, having raked in big bucks as a phony-baloney TV psychic a few years ago, he now insists, "There's no such thing as real psychics." He simply uses his amazing powers of observation to help the California Bureau of Investigation solve murders.

This is not unlike the more playful USA series "Psych," but it has a couple of other things going on as well. Patrick is cocksure and full of himself and a pain to work with, and he's been given the usual stock group of colleagues, led by Robin Tunney's CBI agent Teresa Lisbon. I think there's going to be some "Bones"-like sexual tension between the two before long, but for now the series is content to play the eccentric Patrick against his colleagues more in the manner of "House."

Yet there's also some painful back story. Patrick has a running rivalry going with the murderer known as Red John, his arch nemesis - and with good reason as it turns out, not to give anything away. On that note, stick around for the final scene showing Patrick's sleeping arrangements, which are almost as creepy as those of Adrian Pasdar's "Profit," for those who recall that too-good-for-this-TV-world Fox series. That's the thing about "The Mentalist": There's a genuinely edgy series trying to get out here, but for now it's willing to be a fairly predictable procedural, easy on the eyes and the brain. It turns out Baker is as constrained by his network as he is by his own astonishing good looks.

The comedy "Gary Unmarried" debuts at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, on Channel 2, and it too stars some multiple-series losers who deserve better. Jay Mohr, who played the ruthless young movie exec in Fox's too-edgy-to-thrive "Action," is the title character, a newly divorced guy trying to reconcile himself to his new life, new relationship with his kids and new girlfriend, all while still trying to deal with his old ex-wife, Allison, played by Paula Marshall. She too has always deserved better than she's gotten on TV, whether as the sensible therapist in Jeremy Piven's "Cupid" or the wry sidekick to Gina Gershon in "Snoops."

Like Jon Cryer in "Two and a Half Men," these are two skilled comedians who finally seem to be set up for success by CBS, so why do they have to be on opposite sides of the love fence? They have a sharp comic chemistry, but it's wasted on material better suited to the newspaper comic strip "The Lockhorns."

Talking of their son, she says, "Have you noticed Tommy's afraid of girls?"

"He should be afraid of girls," Gary replies. "They pretend to like you, then take all your stuff."

Ah, there's no knee-slapper like a good divorce joke.

Still, this is a proficient sitcom and well-suited to follow Julia Louis-Dreyfus' like-minded divorcee comedy, "The New Adventures of Old Christine." Yet it goes awry when it drags in Ed Begley Jr. as their couples therapist and, not coincidentally, Allison's new love interest, and he proceeds to set Gary and his new girlfriend down for some impromptu, but highly unlikely counseling. That's the point where "Gary Unmarried" strains belief, no matter how much one wants to see Mohr and Marshall finally have a hit.

In the air

Remotely interesting: PBS' "American Masters" takes an extensive look at the Warner Bros. movie studio in the three-part miniseries "You Must Remember This" at 9 p.m. today, Wednesday and Thursday on WTTW Channel 11. ... Who's running faster? Sen. John McCain and Jamaican Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt both appear on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" at 10:35 p.m. Wednesday on WBBM Channel 2.

TNT has already renewed "Saving Grace" and "Raising the Bar" for new seasons, and HBO will be bringing back "True Blood." Don't ask me why, but TBS is renewing "The Bill Engvall Show" as well.

End of the dial: Steve Harvey's syndicated morning show will air an hour later from 6 to 10 on urban-contemporary WGCI 107.5-FM starting next week. Bionce Foxx's midday shift runs until 2 p.m., followed by Tony Sculfield until 6.

Ray Hanania has a new weekday morning show from 8 to 9:30 on WJJG 1530-AM.