TV Review: Mental on Fox

The new show Mental on Fox Tuesday nights just aired its second episode. I was intrigued by the premise of this show, most likely because of my affection towards a very similar show House, which is also on Fox. The two shows parallel each other with an array of plot lines. Both shows have male leads who are "different" types of doctors, wiz doctors in a way. They both have wacky off the wall ideas that in the end prove to be right. The two shows also have a woman running the whole hospital who has some sort of relationship with said wiz doctor, which allows her to let him do anything he wants. The two argue, but ultimately she trusts him for some reason and allows his wild ideas. Then there is the worker bees who sit around and argue with the wiz doc and try to prove him wrong, and show how the basic taught way is the right way. This is the point in which i am interested. I like that these shows try to make people think outside the box, and not just always do the ways everyone else has done them before. I dont like how Mental is the psychiatric version of House. House was an original new idea type of show that actually made it big, and now here is a lame follower trying to get success of House's coat tails. I think its lame.

Dont get me wrong, there are some differences in the two shows, but not enough to keep me interested. Mental has a cheating doctor, who is all tough on the outside, but really a softy on the inside. It also has a typical lesbian relationship, in which the other male character is trying to "cure" her from. He claims that once they spend the night together she will no longer be a lesbian. I find that so disrespectful to the gay community and i honestly dont know how it made it to television...oh wait yes i do its on Fox! Oh and the one and only thing that is going to keep me watching next week is the fact that the lead role, (in which i dont even remember his name!!) keeps getting these mysterious calls from a "Rebecca" where she only breathes and he continually tries to get her to come meet him. At first i thought it was his sister, then his daughter, and now im believing it was his wife. Tonight she left him a note at the front desk, we are getting closer to an answer. If i was this shows producer, I would make sure that we didnt find out the story on Rebecca until the end of the season, otherwise they will have no viewers. We all miss House, but not enough to deal with this cheap replacement.