CBS Television: Working a Day on the Set of the Mentalist

CBS television show, The Mentalist, starring Simon Baker gave my son, Layne, another chance to work with some of Hollywood's finest. It's only background work, of course, but what would the movie industry do without background talent? There were over ten minors working that day, including two principles, so there was a teacher on set to make sure the kids did their necessary school work. The original call time for all minors was 9:30am but this changed to 11:30am. Unfortunately, the late call time would mean that the working day was extended to 8:00pm.

We were on the road by 7:30am to allow extra time for traffic which luckily we did not encounter. The usual three-hour drive to Saugus Speedway only took us two and half hours. We reached base camp at the speed track by 10:00am, got into the company van with a courteous driver who drove us to location'"Mountasia Family Fun Center including a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour.

The show's leading men '" Australian-born Simon Baker, British actor Owain Yeoman, and Tim Kang (all very slender and handsome) '" were present for the shoot. In this scene, Simon Baker who is the mentalist, Patrick Jane, approaches a group of teenagers playing a pinball machine in an arcade while fellow CBI agent, Wayne Rigsby portrayed by Owain Yeoman, looks on. Yeoman also managed to chomp down on a Farrell's giant lolli pop.

Layne was first cast as one of the seedy teenagers but wound up amongst the minors who walked around the arcade. He was fine with that and a nice pay off for just strolling kept the smile on his face'"another month of Xbox live paid for. A late lunch of fabulous steak, Spanish rice, tamales, vegetables and much more, gave the kids some needed energy before it was back to the set. Somebody please tell them that working on CBS television shows is more play than work.

In any case, being more on the quiet and shy side, I stayed in the background enjoying my day observing the interesting people in television land. Towards the end of the evening I joined a couple of moms and moved right behind the director so we could watch the actors on the monitors. Apparently we were quiet enough. Besides, we have the right to be within earshot of our working children.

I also had the pleasure of meeting a few wonderful stage moms (yes there are good ones) and have even befriended and stayed in touch with one of them through Facebook. The power of networking, it's a beautiful thing.

CBS looks like they have a winner with The Mentalist. The cast and crew seem to be a happy one, at least when we were there. Simon Baker smiled throughout the day and was gracious enough to take a few pictures with the moms. Owain Yeoman acted like nothing was beneath him and was seen sitting around with crew and talking to anyone who happened to be sitting close by. And Tim Kang was spotted with all the extras in the lunch line. Eventually, one of the assistants offered to make him a plate and bring it to his "Star Wagon" trailer. This television series airs on CBS every Tuesday at nine o'clock. The episode Layne worked on is titled, "Red Sauce" and will air this April.