What television critic Mary McNamara watches when she’s not working

OK, shoot me, I think Simon Baker is adorable, and his twinkly take on the broken but brilliant detective, in this case one Patrick Jane, makes “The Mentalist” a quick fix of a show. Yes, I preferred the darker and more complex “Life,” but NBC canceled it because, you know, it just had to air such dazzlers as “Trauma” and “Mercy” and turn 10 o’clock over to Leno. Not that I’m bitter.   (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)