Today begins our holiday giveaway extravaganza in which we unload much of what we've gathered because we want you to keep watching TV.

And so, we offer the complete third season DVD of "The Mentalist," the hit Simon Baker-led CBS show. This is the season with the Red John arc; that's the serial killer who killed Patrick Jane's family.

Special features include an expert panel of 'world-class' criminologists devising a profile of Red John and taking us into his mind. And the "Red Moon" episode directed by Baker, giving his perspective from both sides of the camera. Plus there are unaired scenes!

1,022 minutes of TV watching! Just send an email by 9 p.m. tonight (12/6) and we'll have a random drawing.

Merry Christmas to Serena in Fuquay Varina!

She won the "Private Practice" DVD by knowing that Amy Brenneman was also in "Judging Amy."

And now the finale! "The Mentalist" starring Simon Baker. We've got the complete first season. That's when we first met mentalist Patrick Jane, a celebrity psychic whose wife and child were murdered by serial killer Red John. That leads him to renounce his phony act and use his observational skills to bring killers to justice.

You get 998 minutes of fun with Simon; special features include a meet the cast featurette, "Cracking the Crystal Ball," an examination of mental acuity vs. keen observation, unaired scenes on 3 key episodes, and a gag reel. Plus you can get subtitles in French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese or Thai. Wow.

Just email me (adrienne.johnson@newsobserver.com) with the name of the other CBS show that starred Simon Baker (we gave that away too!) in the subject line. In the body, give your name and contact information. Entries with the correct answer will be put in a random drawing to choose a winner.

We'll take emails until midnight. (Thursday, Dec. 24) Check back tomorrow for the winner.

Today's giveaway reminds us of the humble beginnings for a star with a CBS hit.

Let us turn to the hottie that is Simon Baker. Before he had the grand title of "The Mentalist," he had the grand title of "The Guardian."

Baker played Nick Fallin, a high-powered attorney who gets arrested on a drug charge and has to do community service. He ends up working for the underprivileged and finding it's his true calling. His supervisor at Children's Legal Services of Pittsburgh is played by Alan Rosenberg. His law firm boss is the incomparable Dabney Coleman.

It's a 6-disc set with 22 episodes (16 hours of viewing!) and minimal features: the CBS series launch promos. But we think Simon is feature enough.

Just email me (adrienne.johnson@newsobserver.com) with the name of the CBS sitcom in which Alan Rosenberg played Ira Woodbine in the subject line. In the body, give your name and contact information. Entries with the correct answer will be put in a random drawing to choose a winner.

We'll take emails until midnight. (Saturday, Dec. 12) Check back tomorrow for and a new chance to win.

We'll announce the winners of the Friday, Saturday and Sunday giveaways on Monday.

"The Mentalist" (9 p.m., Tuesdays, CBS)

It would be easy to enough dismiss this series about a man who used to make a living as a psychic, thanks to his razor-sharp mental acuity, as a rip-off of USA's screwball "Psych." But this dark series is definitely not a comedy, and is nowhere near as annoying. Simon Baker's ace portrayal of Patrick Jane, a cocky but spiritually wounded mentalist who helps the police solve murders, puts him in an ever-growing list of flawed heroes that includes Vincent D'Onofrio on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and Damian Lewis on "Life." It's up to you if you need to add another cop show of its type to your schedule. But Baker is always worth watching, even when the details Jane catches are obvious or ridiculous. And boy oh boy, does Patrick Jane have some back story.

Grade: B plus