'The Mentalist' kicks off after AFC Championship Sunday night, Jan.18

By April MacIntyre Jan 18, 2009, 21:43 GMT

The Mentalist star Simon Baker. 01/07/2009 - Simon Baker - 35th Annual People\'s Choice Awards - Press Room - The Shrine Auditorium - Los Angeles, CA. USA © Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos

TCA News: Tonight (Sunday) CBS presents a special episode of the Simon Baker drama "The Mentalist" after the AFC Championship game, giving the newbie series a great lead in audience.

Two names define the quality of the latest CBS detective show that appeals on so many levels: Simon Baker and Bruno Heller.

Writer/producer Heller brought us HBO’s two season lush drama of “Rome”, and actor Simon Baker was the cad in “Devil Wears Prada” and the star of CBS short-lived “Smith.”

"The Mentalist" has done well for CBS.  Baker plays Patrick Jane - a former TV psychic huckster who one night becomes a serial murderer's prey, suffers an unimaginable loss, and turns his life over to the California Bureau of Investigation with his honest abilities of deduction and observational prowess.

CBS released an announcement that they were ordering an extra episode of "The Mentalist" for a total of 23 this season.

CBS also confirmed a spinoff of "The Mentalist's" long-running lead-in series, "NCIS." The network is shooting a pilot that will premiere as an episode of the series, similar to how hey launched "JAG."