Psych
Psych is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observational skills" and impressive eidetic memory allow him to convince people that he solves cases with his psychic abilities. The program also stars Dulé Hill as Shawn's intelligent best friend and reluctant partner Burton "Gus" Guster, as well as Corbin Bernsen as Shawn's father Henry, a former detective with the Santa Barbara Police Department.
Psych premiered on July 7, 2006, following the fifth season premiere of Monk, and continued to be paired with the series until Monk
Psych: The Movie, a two-hour television film, aired on USA Network on December 7, 2017, launching the Psych film series, with Franks's hope being to make five more Psych movies following Psych: The Movie. On February 14, 2019, it was announced Psych: The Movie 2 was greenlit and set to premiere in late 2019, for which the main cast would return, but the premiere thereof was subsequently delayed to 2020, with the film renamed Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, and released on NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock, July 15, 2020, the day the service officially launched. On May 13, 2021, Peacock announced a third film, Psych 3: This Is Gus, which premiered on November 18, 2021. Three further Psych films were reportedly in development.
Overview
Most episodes in the earlier seasons begin with a cold open in the form of a flashback to Shawn and Gus's childhoods. The flashbacks usually involve Shawn and Gus being taught a lesson by a younger Henry Spencer , who wishes that his son would follow in his footsteps and become a law enforcement officer. These lessons often play a role for the climax of the episode. As a child, Shawn was taught by Henry to hone his powers of observation and deduction, often using games and challenges to test him. Each flashback also sets the theme for the episode.Shawn originally becomes known as a psychic when, after calling in tips on dozens of crimes covered on the news which help the police to close the case, the police become suspicious of his knowledge, theorizing that such knowledge could only come from the "inside" and unwilling to believe that it is merely Shawn having honed his observational skills. To avoid being sent to jail, Shawn uses those skills to convince the police that he is psychic; though the interim police chief Karen Vick warns Shawn that if his "powers" are fake, he will be prosecuted. With no choice but to keep up the act, and having proven himself an effective aid to the police in solving crimes, he establishes a psychic detective agency, Psych, and becomes an outside consultant to the police. Pretending to have psychic powers allows him to engage in strange and comic behaviour as he turns real clues into hunches and otherworldly visitations. He enjoys teasing lifelong friend Burton Guster, a pharmaceutical sales representative about Gus's eclectic interests as they drive around in a blue Toyota Echo nicknamed "The Blueberry" solving crimes.
Head Detective Carlton Lassiter, playfully nicknamed "Lassie" by Shawn and Gus, quietly comes to respect Shawn's crime-solving skills despite doubting his psychic abilities; Lassiter is constantly exasperated by Shawn keeping investigations ongoing and/or infuriated by Shawn's antics. However, junior detective Juliet "Jules" O'Hara and Chief Karen Vick are far less antagonistic – with O'Hara expressing belief in Shawn's abilities while Vick is mum on the subject – and usually willing to give Shawn the leeway he needs to solve cases. Henry and Shawn have a difficult relationship, but despite this, Henry reluctantly helps Shawn on various occasions.
The show is famous for its numerous recurring gags, which include Shawn's outlandish nicknames for Gus, the "hidden pineapple" in every episode of the show, and featuring nearly all of the main cast from the 1985 film The Breakfast Club.
Characters
Main
- Shawn Spencer is a freelance consultant with the Santa Barbara Police Department who pretends to be a psychic.
- Burton "Gus" Guster is Shawn's best friend and business partner.
- Carlton "Lassie" Lassiter is the head detective for the Santa Barbara Police Department.
- Juliet "Jules" O'Hara is a junior detective for the Santa Barbara Police Department partnered with Lassiter.
- Henry Spencer is Shawn's uptight and precise father and a former police sergeant.
- Karen Vick is the SBPD Interim Chief and is later named Chief in "Shawn (and Gus) of the Dead".
- Lucinda Barry is Lassiter's original partner and love interest in the pilot. She is transferred after Shawn tips off her relationship with Lassiter to the Santa Barbara Police Department.
Recurring
- Young Shawn is the younger version of Shawn Spencer.
- Young Gus is the younger version of Burton "Gus" Guster.
- Buzz McNab is a naïve but lovable cop who often provides Shawn and Gus with clues.
- Madeleine Spencer is a police psychologist who is Shawn's mother and Henry's ex-wife.
- Abigail Lytar is Shawn's high-school crush, later his girlfriend.
- Winnie Guster is Gus's mother.
- Bill Guster is Gus's father.
- Mr. Yang is a serial killer.
- Mary Lightly is a department psychologist who is an expert on Mr. Yang.
- Woody the Coroner is a police coroner with whom Shawn shares a mutual respect.
- Pierre Despereaux is an extremely elusive international art thief.
- Declan Rand is a rich criminal profiler.
- Marlowe Viccellio is a woman Lassiter meets and later marries.
- Curt Smith is the singer of the band Tears for Fears.
- Frank O'Hara is Juliet's estranged father.
- Rachael is Gus's girlfriend.
- Lloyd French is Juliet's stepfather.
- Harris Trout is a special consultant hired by the mayor to increase efficiency at the SBPD.
- Betsy Brannigan takes over as the new Head Detective when Lassiter is promoted to Chief.
- Father Wesley is a Catholic priest and a friend of Shawn and Gus.
Episodes
Production
The show uses White Rock, British Columbia, Canada for its Santa Barbara, California setting.Casting
Anne Dudek's character was written out of the series after the character generated a negative test audience reaction with Lassiter due to their relationship. Maggie Lawson was cast as Juliet O'Hara to serve as a replacement.Theme song
The theme song for Psych is "I Know You Know" by the Friendly Indians, series creator Steve Franks's band. Some episodes in the third through eighth seasons use an extended version of "I Know You Know" consisting of the first verse and the chorus, though most episodes use a shortened version consisting of mostly the chorus. In some episodes, the theme song is changed, usually as a tie-in to the theme of the episode to come.Variations of the theme song include:
- A Christmas-themed version in the Christmas episodes, "Gus's Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy", "Christmas Joy", and "The Polarizing Express"
- A Spanish-sung version in "Lights, Camera... Homicidio" and "No Country for Two Old Men"
- A Bollywood-themed version sung in Hindi for "Bollywood Homicide"
- A cappella version performed by Boyz II Men in the episodes revolving around Gus's a cappella group, "High Top Fade-Out" and "Let's Doo-Wop It Again"
- A version recorded by Curt Smith for "Shawn 2.0"
- A version sung by Julee Cruise in the Twin Peaks-inspired episode, "Dual Spires"
- A superhero-themed version in "The Amazing Psych-Man & Tap-Man, Issue 2"
- A The Shining-inspired version for "Heeeeere's Lassie"
Pineapple
Series finale aftershow
Following the series finale on March 26, 2014, USA Network aired a live aftershow entitled "Psych After Pshow." The hour-long special was hosted by Kevin Pereira and featured series stars and creator/executive producer Steve Franks.Release
Syndication
In July 2011, Ion Television announced that Psych would become part of its 2012 broadcast in syndication. During 2012, reruns of the show mostly ran on Saturdays as a marathon. In 2013, Ion Television announced the acquisition option pick-up of season seven of Psych. It no longer airs on Ion Television. The deal with NBC Universal Cable & New Media Distribution adds all 16 new episodes of season seven to Ion's existing library of seasons one to six of Psych and includes rights to future seasons. In January 2023, Psych started airing on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. The show also aired on its sister channel, Hallmark Channel, starting in January 2025. The Hallmark airings contain edited dialogue and scenes to align with the channel's content guidelines.Home media
Reception
Ratings
Psych scored a 4.51 rating and an average of 6.1 million total viewers at its premiere, which made it the highest-rated scripted series premiere on basic cable in 2006 in all key demographics, according to a USA Network press release, quoted from the Futon Critic.Rotten Tomatoes gave the first three seasons of the series an overall 89% "fresh" rating.
Nominations and awards
Psych was the winner of the Center for Inquiry Annual Award for "Excellence in Entertainment" for advancing the cause of science and exposing superstition. Accepting for Psych was staff writer Daniel Hsia. James Roday Rodriguez was nominated for the 2006 Satellite [Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy]. Rodriguez was also nominated for the 2009 Ewwy Award for Best Actor in a Comedy. Psych was nominated for its first Emmy Award in 2010 in the category Primetime [Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)] for the episode "Mr. Yin Presents...". Adam Cohen and John Robert Wood were the composers for this episode. Psych was nominated for its second Emmy Award in 2012 in the category "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Emerging Media Program" for their interactive game "HashTag Killer". In 2012 and 2013, Psych was nominated for the People's Choice Award for "Best Cable TV Comedy". In 2014, Psych won the People's Choice Award for "Best Cable TV Comedy" in its last nomination.Other media
Novels
has written and published five novels based on the series. The novels are written in third-person narrative style. Additionally, Chad Gervich has published a crime-fighting guide based on methods presented in the show.| Author | Title | ISBN | Publication date |
| William Rabkin | A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read | January 6, 2009 | |
| William Rabkin | Mind Over Magic | July 7, 2009 | |
| William Rabkin | The Call of the Mild | January 5, 2010 | |
| William Rabkin | A Fatal Frame of Mind | August 3, 2010 | |
| William Rabkin | Mind-Altering Murder | February 1, 2011 | |
| Chad Gervich | Psych's Guide to Crime Fighting for the Totally Unqualified | May 7, 2013 |