CBS has announced its fall premiere dates for the 2009-10 season and, because this is CBS we’re talking about, it’s the most orderly of any announced schedule to date.

All but two of CBS’ shows — returning and new — will premiere between Monday, Sept. 21 and Sunday, Sept. 27. And — wouldn’t you know it? — CBS’ premiere dates coincide with the official start of the Nielsen season.

The two exceptions are “Survivor: Samoa” and “Three Rivers.” The long-running reality hit’s 19th installment will premiere on Thursday, Sept. 17, one week ahead of the Thursday premieres for “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “The Mentalist.” The organ transplant drama “Three Rivers,” featuring the return of “Moonlight” star Alex O’Loughlin, will premiere on Sunday, Oct. 4, allowing the 15th installment of “The Amazing Race” to have two-hour launch on Sunday, Sept. 27.

Because CBS is proud of the longevity of much of its schedule (including “60 Minutes” starting its 42nd season), it included original premiere dates for all shows in the network press release.

The full premiere list:

Thursday, Sept. 17
8:00-9:00 p.m. ET “Survivor: Samoa” (19th Installment Premiere)

Monday, Sept. 21
8:00-8:30 p.m. ET “How I Met Your Mother” (5th Season Premiere, OAD 9/19/05)
8:30-9:00 p.m. ET “Accidentally on Purpose” (Series Debut)
9:00-9:30 p.m. ET “Two and a Half Men” (7th Season Premiere, OAD 9/22/03)
9:30-10:00 p.m. ET “The Big Bang Theory” (3rd Season Premiere, OAD 9/24/07)
10:00-11:00 p.m. ET “CSI: Miami” (8th Season Premiere, OAD 9/23/02)

Tuesday, Sept. 22
8:00-9:00 p.m. ET “NCIS” (7th Season Premiere, OAD 9/12/03)
9:00-10:00 p.m. ET “NCIS: Los Angeles” (Series Debut)
10:00-11:00 p.m. ET “The Good Wife” (Series Debut)

Wednesday, Sept. 23
8:00-8:30 p.m. ET “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (5th Season Premiere, OAD 3/13/06)
8:30-9:00 p.m. ET “Gary Unmarried” (2nd Season Premiere, OAD 9/14/08)
9:00-10:00 p.m. ET “Criminal Minds” (5th Season Premiere, OAD 9/22/05)
10:00-11:00 p.m. ET “CSI: NY” (6th Season Premiere, OAD 9/22/04)

Thursday, Sept. 24
9:00-10:00 p.m. ET “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (10th Season Premiere, OAD 10/6/00)
10:00-11:00 p.m. ET “The Mentalist” (2nd Season Premiere, OAD 9/23/08)

Friday, Sept. 25
8:00-9:00 p.m. ET “Ghost Whisperer” (5th Season Premiere, OAD 9/23/05)
9:00-10:00 p.m. ET “Medium” (Network Debut, OAD 1/23/05)
10:00-11:00 p.m. ET “Numb3rs” (6th Season Premiere, OAD 1/21/05)

Saturday, Sept. 26
8:00-9:00 p.m. ET Procedural repeats
9:00-10:00 p.m. ET Procedural repeats
10:00-11:00 p.m. ET “48 Hours Mystery” (Season Premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 27
7:00-8:00 p.m. ET “60 Minutes” (42nd Season Premiere)
8:00-10:00 p.m. ET “The Amazing Race” (15th Edition Premiere)
10:00-11:00 p.m. ET “Cold Case” (7th Season Premiere, OAD 9/23/03)

Sunday, Oct. 4
9:00-10:00 p.m. ET “Three Rivers”(Series Debut)

On CBS’ breakout hit “The Mentalist,” Simon Baker stars as a former fake psychic who lends his expertise to murder investigations. Not even a tarot card reader, however, might have been able to anticipate Baker’s status as one of the hottest faces in all of television.

The Australian-born thesp had previously appeared on the Eye series “The Guardian” and “Smith,” but didn’t pop in viewer minds until portraying Patrick Jane, a man whose bravado led to the murder of his wife and child by a mysterious serial killer known only as Red John. Despite his tragic past, Jane exhibits a lot of cheeky wit as he tracks down bad guys.

“He’s essentially a dark character, but instead of choosing to indulge in that dark torturous side, he has an optimistic take on life,” Baker explains. “From the pilot, the key to the character is that through his tragedy he has been freed. He’s not desperately hanging on to anything material and physical things, just living moment to moment. (more…)

THE Mentalist star Simon Baker was in good company at game two of the NBA Finals series in Los Angeles yesterday.

Baker and his son Harry sat courtside for the match between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic, with the Aussie star chatting to movie heavyweight Leonardo DiCaprio at half-time.

Other celebrities catching the action courtside included singer Rihanna, actors Zac Efron, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg, and musicians Sean “Diddy” Combs, will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas, and Maroon 5′s Adam Levine.

Baker’s next project is The Killer Inside Me starring Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba and Casey Affleck.

Thanks to The Mentalist, he has become one of the most popular TV stars in the US.

An online viewer poll recently voted the crime drama as the best new show of 2009, and named it as having the sexiest cast.

Gone are the days when being a leading man on television meant being the most likable guy onscreen. TV actors now get to show their skills with dark, complex characters — even on broadcast network shows. The Hollywood Reporter’s Ray Richmond and Matthew Belloni gathered six fine examples of TV’s new actor elite — Simon Baker (CBS’ “The Mentalist”), Bryan Cranston (AMC’s “Breaking Bad”), Laurence Fishburne (CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”), Michael C. Hall (Showtime’s “Dexter”), Denis Leary (FX’s “Rescue Me”) and Bill Paxton (HBO’s “Big Love”) — to discus the grind of series work and the good fun in playing bad guys.

(more…)

TVSHOWSONDVD.COM have the release date for season one DVD of The Mentalist as September 22nd. They also have the DVD cover art. See it HERE!