''Mental'' ( typographically stylized MƎNTAL:) is a television series produced by

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's subsidiary

Fox Telecolombia TIS S.A. (also known as The Independent Studios and formerly known as Fox Telecolombia and TeleColombia S.A.) is a major Colombian television production company in Spanish, founded in 1995 as the ''programadora'' Producciones Bernardo Romero ...

, which aired in the summer and fall of 2009 on FOX international channels for Latin America, Europe and Asia, starring Chris Vance and

Annabella Sciorra Annabella Gloria Philomena Sciorra ( , ; born March 29, 1960) is an American actress. She came to prominence with her film debut in '' True Love'' (1989), earning an Independent Spirit nomination for Best Female Lead. Subsequent projects include ...

. ''Mental'' was executive-produced by

Deborah Joy LeVine Deborah Joy LeVine is an American television writer and producer who wrote the TV series, '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', which ran from 1993 to 1997. Filmography * ''Murder: By Reason of Insanity'' (associate producer) (1985 ...

– creator of the successful drama series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' and the Lifetime series ''

The Division ''The Division'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Deborah Joy LeVine starring Bonnie Bedelia. The series focuses on a team of female detectives and police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The ...

'', and executive producer of '' Any Day Now'', ''

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...

'' and the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

series ''

Early Edition ''Early Edition'' is an American fantasy comedy-drama television series that aired on CBS from September 28, 1996, to May 27, 2000. Set in Chicago, Illinois, it follows the adventures of a man who mysteriously receives each ''Chicago Sun-Times'' ...

'' – and her brother and writing/producing partner, Dan LeVine. Following its U.S. debut, it aired in 35 additional countries. Fox Latin America aired the first episode as a "Worldwide Premiere" on June 2, 2009.

aired the pilot episode on May 26, 2009, for the American market.FOX Official Mental Website
Fox TV Studios ordered 13 episodes. It began production on June 2, 2008, at the Fox Telecolombia production facilities in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

. Although the series was filmed in the city of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

representing

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

(United States), no Colombian actor was cast as a regular character and very few were cast for occasional roles, because of the strict American nature of the series. According to ''

TVWeek ''TVWeek'' is a weekly local television entertainment news and listings magazine owned by Canada Wide Media Limited, which acquired the magazine in 1976. The magazine is generally sold in the Metro Vancouver area, and is generally slanted toward ...

'',

Jacqueline McKenzie Jacqueline Susan McKenzie (born 24 October 1967) is an Australian film and stage actress. Early life Born in Sydney, New South Wales, McKenzie attended Wenona School in North Sydney until 1983 then moved to Pymble Ladies' College, where she ...

, Derek Webster,

Nicholas Gonzalez Nicholas Edward Gonzalez is an American actor. He is best known for playing the roles of Alex Santiago on the Showtime television series '' Resurrection Blvd'' and Dr. Neil Melendez on the ABC television series ''The Good Doctor''. Early li ...

, and

Marisa Ramirez Marisa Maguire Ramirez (born September 15, 1977) is an American actress, known for her work on television soap operas and for her role on the American police procedural television drama series '' Blue Bloods'' as Detective Maria Baez. Early ...

were added to the cast of ''Mental'', "probably as recurrent characters." Due to declining ratings, Fox cancelled the show following its first season."Mental: FOX TV Show Cancelled, No Season Two"
''TV Series Finale''.

Characters

Main cast

; Dr. Jack Gallagher ( Chris Vance) : The

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

of the show, Jack is an Australian man living in America, for what seems like much of his life as his stepfather of many years is American. He uses rather unorthodox methods to get inside the patient's head to help cure them; however, this usually gains him spite from his fellow doctors. He enjoys riding his bike and has a mentally unstable sister whom he is trying to find, and has been for four years. At the end of the episode "Do Over," he finds Becky, and she is placed in the hospital, diagnosed with

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

. Jack's mother and stepfather come and try to convince him to let them take Becky to Florida for treatment. Jack is skeptical, but Becky decides to leave with her parents. In the season finale, Jack is seen talking to an anonymous therapist (who turns out to be himself), and he admits that he has an irrational fear of developing schizophrenia, which is why he is afraid of commitment. It is also revealed that he, most likely, is dealing with

clinical depression Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Introdu ...

at this point. In the final scene, he punches Carl and is subsequently fired. Jack then leaves; the season, as well as the series, ends. The last shot of the series shows us Dr. Gallagher now vagrant and without direction, in opposition to his recently vagrant sister, who has chosen to return home with her family. The season ends in direct opposition to the season opening. ; Nora Skoff (

) : She is a hospital administrator who shares a romantic past with Dr. Gallagher. Nora has a distinctive and conservative style. She successfully battled cancer and is divorced with two daughters. ; Dr. Carl Belle (Derek Webster) : Dr. Belle is a master politician who is dedicated to Jack's downfall, even secretly black-mailing Arturo to spy on Jack. ; Dr. Veronica Hayden-Jones (

) : Dr. Hayden-Jones is a dedicated psychiatrist who is upset that she wasn't given Jack's job. She is married to a musician, but was cheating on him with one of the doctors in the hospital. This doctor has subsequently resigned. ; Dr. Chloë Artis (

) : Dr. Artis is a gorgeous doctor who is passing the time in a residency she feels is beneath her until Jack opens her mind to the inspirational benefits of psychiatry. She is frequently pursued by Arturo before she reveals to him that she is a lesbian. ; Dr. Arturo Suarez (

) : Dr. Suarez is a first-year resident. He is young and cocky, constantly looking for love (or sex), and won't seem to give up on Chloe, even knowing her sexual orientation. Arturo falsified his transcripts so that he could become a doctor and that information is being held against him by Carl, who is blackmailing Arturo into spying on Jack.

Recurring cast

;Margo Stroud (

Samantha Eggar Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar (born 5 March 1939) is a retired British-American actress. After beginning her career in Shakespearean theatre she rose to fame for her performance in William Wyler's thriller '' The Collec ...

) :Jack and Becky's mother, whose first husband and the father of her children, died. She is now living in Florida and is married to James. ;James Stroud (Madison Mason) :Jack and Becky's step-father and Margo's second husband. James is a retired Navy Vice Admiral - Jack even bitterly states that James raised them as though they were soldiers. Jack holds a grudge on James for sticking Becky in the first institution he could find, twenty years ago, when Becky was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He is American. ;Becky Gallagher (

Amanda Douge Amanda Douge (born December 1976) is an Australian actress, best known from a range of television and feature film roles. Douge studied law at Melbourne University (1993) and has been with the Melbourne Theatre Company. She has played Becky G ...

) :Becky is Jack's twin sister, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia twenty years ago. She has been missing for four years, and showed up on Jack's doorstep near the end of the first season. Jack is very protective over her and they both share a strong loving bond. She is frequently haunted by hallucinations of a young man named Gabe.

Special guests

The series features performances by actors from the United States or other countries who have traveled to

, to film the episode where they have their respective appearance in the next table special performances that stand out:

Episodes

Critical response

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

gave ''season 1'' a score of 40% based on reviews by 18 critics.

Ratings

The series premiere of ''Mental'' on FOX improved on its lead-in and averaged a 3.6/6, to go with just under 5.8 million viewers.

U.S. ratings

Canadian ratings

DVD Releases

A DVD of the complete series titled ''Mental - The Complete 1st Season'' was announced on September 2, 2009. The DVD was released on December 1, 2009. The DVD includes all 13 episodes on a 4-disc set, plus an unrated alternate pilot.

References

External links

*
''Mental'' Official Site
at

FOX.com The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations and ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mental (TV Series) Fox Broadcasting Company original programming 2009 American television series debuts 2000s American drama television series 2009 American television series endings Television shows set in Los Angeles Colombian drama television series 2000s American medical television series Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series produced by Fox Telecolombia