BURBANK, Calif. — It's certainly nothing new. It tends to happen in just about any show that features male and female characters.
Fans of CBS's hit "The Mentalist" (Tuesdays, 9 p.m., Ch. 2) quickly started questioning whether two of the lead characters are ever going to be more than just friends.
Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) and Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) have that adversarial relationship going, while at the same time the two seem to share a bit of a mutual attraction.
"The nub of it is Jane is a rule-breaker, and Robin is playing someone who is all about the rules," said creator/executive producer Bruce Heller. "So there's an underlying dramatic tension there that drives that side of their relationship."
Jane left his career as a highly paid celebrity psychic — skills he now says he feigned — to become a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation. He uses the same powers of observation that made him a great faux psychic to solve crimes. And he couldn't care less about protocol and procedures.
Senior agent Lisbon, on the other hand, is a by-the-book investigator who recognizes Jane's value even though he's constantly driving her crazy.
"On the other hand, they respect and love each other. So I guess the gap there is where (being) human comes in," Heller said.
That's pretty much where he's going to leave it for now. If viewers are intrigued by the relationship and continue to tune in to see what happens next, that's obviously great for the show. Just as long as those viewers enjoy reading into it more than might be there and don't mind that the two aren't going to be expanding their personal relationship anytime soon.
"I think seeing it and reading (into) it as opposed to having it is the fun bit," Heller said.
Part of what makes any procedural crime drama work is a certain familiarity with the characters and their relationship with one another, so Patrick and Teresa will butt heads for "as long as the audience wants to watch it," Tunney said.
"I think seven (years)," Baker interjected, with Tunney quickly agreeing.
"I have a bigger number than you," Heller said.
But Baker joked that he's not quite as sure about that.
"That's my number," he said. "I've threatened to quit once this season. Seven (seasons) — one (threat) a year."
On the other hand, Baker is clearly happier than he was during his three-year run as the star of CBS's "The Guardian." It seemed that from beginning to end of that 2001-04 show, he was constantly grumbling about how he couldn't wait for it to end.
Maybe it has something to do with how grim his "Guardian" character was. This time around, he's playing someone who actually smiles and has an almost-impish sense of humor.
"I have fun," he said. "I feel like I'm in fifth grade suddenly. I'm surprised that I'm still having fun and I don't have to work so hard."
And there doesn't seem to be any grumbling these days, although he says the big chance in his life is that, "My accountant talks to me a little bit more."
"How has my life changed? I'm really happy," Baker said. "I'm busy. I have to schedule things more, be a bit more organized with my time. I've got a whole bunch of very new friends (in the cast) that I really enjoy their company, a great new crew that I love to work with.
"Life is very good. Very good — touch wood."
EVEN THOUGH Patrick Jane has made it clear that his psychic skills were fake, there's also a certain contingent of viewers who believe he's actually psychic.
And Baker said he likes that.
"We are playing with deception," he said. "He's a deceptive sort of character. He uses that and uses those tools to get what he needs to get to the truth as opposed to always using the truth to get to the truth, although he might use the truth to get to the truth if the truth is going to get him the truth."
"The psychic members of the audience will understand what he said," Heller interjected.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com