"The Mentalist" voted sexiest, best new TV show

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Television crime drama "The Mentalist" was not only the best new show of 2009, it also boasted the sexiest cast, according to a viewers poll released on Thursday at the close of the 2008-09 U.S. TV season.

But teen drama "The Hills" is clearly over the hill. After five seasons on MTV and the departure of star fashion intern Lauren Conrad, 25 percent of those questioned in the poll for AOL Television deemed it the most "SO over" program on TV.

Medical drama "House" won the season's best water-cooler moment with the unexpected suicide of Dr. Lawrence Kutner. The Kutner episode beat last week's "American Idol" finale which saw presumed front-runner Adam Lambert lose to Kris Allen.

"The Mentalist", CBS's program starring Australian actor Simon Baker as a police consultant with acute observational powers, took 58 percent of ballots cast for top new program.

The cast of "The Mentalist", which includes Robin Tunney, also was overwhelmingly deemed the sexiest cast, beating teen high society favorites "Gossip Girl" and "90210". A winning 56 per cent decided that Baker, 39, had the best comeback from his appearance in the short-lived drama "Smith" in 2006.

Actress Anna Torv of sci-fi series "Fringe" was voted best newcomer to TV, taking 32 percent of votes, and the best guest star spot went to George Clooney for his return as Dr. Doug Ross to the final season of long-running medical drama "ER".

The poll was conducted by AOL Television (www.television.aol.com) between May 22-27 and attracted a total of 353,953 votes.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant)