For Eric McCormack, another role that could broaden minds

So will viewers make room for another eccentric consultant crime-solver in a TV world that’s seen the likes of “Monk,” “Psych,” “Castle” and “The Mentalist,” to name a few?

“I’m sure all of the critics will say there’s fatigue there,” McCormack said via Skype from New York, where he’s just wrapped a run in Broadway’s revival of Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man.” “But I don’t think the critical fatigue reflects the audience interest.

“I think we’re in the third phase of mystery shows,” the 49-year-old actor added. “In the ‘60s and ‘70s, we had ‘Columbo’ and ‘Quincy M.E.’ — it was their personality as they solved a mystery. Then we go into the Dick Wolf years and the ‘CSI’ years where it was about the case, not the cops. Now, I think with shows like ‘Monk’ and ‘The Mentalist,’ we’re back to wanting to know about the person and understand their psyche and how it benefits the solving of the crime.”

McCormack’s character presents a new twist in that evolution. In the classroom, he commands attention with his impassioned knowledge of the human brain. Outside, he’s socially awkward, finding comfort in Sudoku and the classical tunes he listens to on his Sony Walkman — when he’s not experiencing hallucinations in which numbers and words jump out at him and conversations are imagined.

The actor said he hopes the character broadens people’s concept of the schizophrenic community, much as “Will & Grace” increased American viewer comfort level with gay men. “Like with ‘Will & Grace,’ I didn’t set out to change anything; with this, I’m not setting out to change anything,” he said. “But I do hope that one of the byproducts is that it reminds people that there are a significant portion of the schizophrenic community functioning, working, dealing with it, holding down a job. It’s a horrible, horrible condition, but it doesn’t have to shut your life down.”