Indie Spotlight: ‘Baby Mentalist’ Fights Crime, Is A Baby

We receive a ton of tips every day from independent creators, unaffiliated with any major motion picture studios, television networks, new media studios, or other well-funded online video entities. The Indie Spotlight is where we’ll write about and shout out to a select few of them and bring you up to speed on the great (and sometimes not-so-great) attention-grabbing series you probably haven’t heard about until now.  Read previous installments here.

An adorable, funny and ass-kicking web series is currently making its mark. Randall Park‘s Baby Mentalist, which stars his daughter as an tiny, crime-fighting psychic, has been tearing up Los Angeles’ Channel 101 screenings thanks in large part to its star’s deadpan delivery.

At its simplest, Baby Mentalist is a straightforward parody of The Mentalist, as it features a comedic version of the CBS drama’s central concept: a psychic uses his or her mind powers to help out the police. The only difference is that the web series’ mind reader is Park’s precious child, Ruby. Even for those who, like me, have never seen The Mentalist, the show still works as a general satire of overly serious crime dramas.

The best part of Baby Mentalist is Park himself. He only refers to Ruby as ‘Baby Mentalist‘ and makes everything that comes out of his mouth funny thanks to his perfect delivery. The deadpan humor of the series is reminiscent of Convos With My Two Year Old

, and it’s fair to call Baby Mentalist the reverse version of that show: instead of an adult acting like a baby for comedic effect, it’s the other way around.

Baby Mentalist recently broke a Channel 101 record by becoming the regular event’s #1 series for the fifth week in a row. I hope that attendees will continue to cheer loudly for their favorite series, because Park is funny enough to make me laugh for a long time.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT:

• Internet Affairs. A city girl navigates the always-unpredictable world of online dating.
• Comfort Food. A couple attempts to keep its long-distance relationship alive through the powerful magic of desserts.
• Death Row Diet. An animated series featuring an unusual combination: Death row and dieting. It’s currently seeking money on Kickstarter.
• Breaking The Law. A series that tries to emulate shows like Mythbusters and Top Gear by having its hosts break obscure and unusual state laws. It too is seeking Kickstarter funding.

Got a series you’d like to see featured in the Indie Spotlight? Be sure to contact us here.