CBS axes The Mentalist after seven series

(Image credit: five)

The Mentalist, starring Simon Baker, is to end after seven seasons.

The crime show - which also stars Robin Tunney and Tim Kang - has been given the chop by US network CBS after a seven-year run, reported Deadline.

The upcoming seventh series will get a proper send-off with a full 13-episode season by creator Bruno Heller. It will premiere on US screens on November 30 before concluding with a two-hour finale on February 18, 2015.

The programme, which premiered in September 2008, follows former psychic Patrick Jane (played by Simon), who acts as a consultant to the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI), helping the team solve crimes while fighting his own demons.

The Mentalist's central Red John storyline came to an end in the sixth series, and the setting moved from California to Texas. The show's end coincides with the expiry of Simon's contract.

Simon, who is up for favourite crime drama TV actor in the 2015 People's Choice Awards alongside co-star Robin in the actress category, previously told Haute Living he is looking to get more involved with films.

"Creatively I'd definitely like to pursue more things. I'm focusing on a film that I want to direct," the 45-year-old Australian actor said. "It's a coming of age story; two teenage boys in Australia. It's adapted from a book called Breath by Tim Winton."

He continued: "There's a lot of stuff, a lot of options, but I kind of feel like I have to go where my heart is. My heart is kind of in that field, it's riskier. Not necessarily behind the scenes, but definitely being a bit more responsible for what I'm working on."

The Mentalist screens on Channel 5 in the UK.

 

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.