Simon Baker in "The Mentalist"

As the networks settle into fall, rookie series disappear from the airwaves in favor of tried-and-true favorites. With no shortage of dramas in prime time, it's tough to compete, but the right star can charm viewers season after season.

Charming Australian actor Simon Baker is well into his fifth season as Patrick Jane in "The Mentalist," and he's still popular. The series, which follows a former con artist turned investigative consultant, airs Sundays on CBS.

Robin Tunney co-stars as Teresa Lisbon, a senior agent with the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI) who works with Jane to crack tough cases. The cast also includes Tim Kang as Kimball Cho, Owain Yeoman as Wayne Rigsby, and Amanda Righetti as Grace Van Pelt, all CBI agents.

Once a well-known medium, Jane has finely tuned observational skills that allow him to piece together clues in a way that eludes Lisbon and her fellow agents, making him an invaluable asset to the team. Jane's unique skills stem from his upbringing as the son of a carny, who taught him how to dupe and swindle people. He later translated those skills into a successful career as a psychic and medium, but his success proved to be his downfall. Achieving semi-celebrity status, Jane appeared on TV and boasted that he'd helped authorities with the Red John serial killer case. The killer then retaliated by murdering Jane's beloved wife and daughter.

The incident was the catalyst that convinced Jane to change his ways and come clean as a fraud. Thirsting for revenge on Red John, the tormented widower helps Lisbon solve serious crimes, always focused on one day bringing his nemesis to justice.

"The Mentalist" has strung along viewers with the underlying Red John plotline for five seasons, but fans shouldn't necessarily count on a Red John reveal any time soon. After the Season 4 finale, series creator Bruno Heller hinted to "Entertainment Weekly" that it could be another two seasons before such a shocker. In many ways, it's a smart move. Whether it's a will-they-won't-they romance or a surprise plot twist, fickle viewers often lose interest in TV shows that give them the answers they're after (remember "Lost"?).

For now, "The Mentalist" is still going strong. The first four seasons consistently ranked among the top 20 programs on television, dropping to a "low" last season with more than 14 million average viewers. Only time will tell whether moving the show from its coveted Thursday night timeslot last season to Sunday nights this season will affect its overall ranking.

So far, so good for the drama, which was a hit out of the gate with a win for favorite new drama at the 2009 People's Choice Awards. That same year, the British Crime Writers' Association nominated the show as The International TV Dagger at the Crime Thriller Awards. "The Mentalist" also earned a unique distinction when the Independent Investigations Group recognized the series with an award for scientific and critical thinking content in 2010.

More recently, the show marked its milestone 100th episode, which revealed how Jane met Lisbon and the rest of the CBI team for the first time. It was a highly anticipated episode among fans, who are eager to learn everything they can about Jane's past and his history with Red John. Tom Szentgyorgyi, a writer and producer whose credits include "NYPD Blue" and "Lie to Me," wrote the script for the landmark episode.

Riveting scripts, prestigious awards and gripping plotlines aside, the real draw of "The Mentalist" is Baker's performance, and he's earned his fair share of accolades for his work. His gig as Jane garnered an Emmy nomination in 2009, and he was later honored with both Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for the role.

Previously, Baker had earned a Golden Globe nod for his work in another CBS drama, "The Guardian," which ran from 2001 to 2004. The actor may have been a relatively new face to American TV audiences when he landed in "The Guardian," but had risen to fame in his native Australia in such series as "Home and Away" and "E Street." His film credits include "L.A. Confidential" (1997) and "The Devil Wears Prada" (2006).

Right now, the tousle-haired Australian seems to be holding steady against the major network competition, beating out ABC's "666 Park Avenue" on more than one occasion, and performing reasonably well against NBC's football coverage, averaging around 10 million viewers over the season's first three episodes.

The numbers are, admittedly, a slight dip from last season's viewership. However, Baker's charm and the thrilling Red John storyline have kept "The Mentalist" fans tuning in week after week for five seasons. Check it out to see if the show has what it takes to make it to six.