jamesroday

Many of us expected to see the names of a few cable series when the major networks released their updated winter schedules because not only would it help fill the void but also give those series a chance at getting a new audience. Sadly, it wasn't the case. However, NBC announced today that the upcoming seasons of USA Network's Psych and Monk would air on NBC in March.

(S02E07) Look, if I understood what you guys were saying I'd still be a virgin. -- Shawn

Sometime during the run of Psych I expected someone to discover that Shawn Spencer's psychic abilities were a crock of poop. I just didn't expect it to come so soon, and from a bunch of teenage super-geniuses. They were all over him this episode, saying that his powers were simply of hyper-observation rather than the ability to see into another realm. Luckily, Shawn and Gus were able to point those teeniuses (a word coined by Gus, which should be on Wikipedia any day now) in another direction. If not, the show would be over and replaced by another rerun of Law & Order:SVU.

(S0E06) Victim's Wife: I never broke two stars.

I realized something just as this week's episode of Psych was about to air. We were looking at a mini (and I mean mini) West Wing reunion with John Amos appearing as Gus' Uncle Burton. For those who don't remember, Amos had a recurring role on The West Wing as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace. His character met an untimely end during Wing's fifth season when his vehicle was caught in an IED explosion. I don't recall if Fitzwallace or Dule Hill's character, Charlie Young, ever spoke to each other while on Wing, but at least they were on the show together.

(S02E03) Lassiter: What color is that suit?

Agent Ewing: Black.

Lassiter: Really? Really? It seems blacker than black.

Ewing: It's Washington Black.

Man o' man o' man, did Shawn have to work his arse off tonight! For the second week in a row Mr. Spencer really had to put his skills to the test to show both the Santa Barbara police department and the Federal government what he could do. And, if that wasn't hard enough, he had to compete with another 'psychic' hired by the Treasury Department. In the end he got the culprit, of course, but it was fun to watch him squirm and try to keep up throughout the episode.

(S02E02) Gus (to Shawn): If you slur one word I'm gonna give you an Indian burn so hot your socks will catch on fire!

Well, that was much better! After last week's funny but unusually disjointed season premiere of Psych the show got back to the normal zaniness that fans of the show fell in love with. Actually, the difference between this episode and the season premiere proved two things. One, don't rely on your guest stars to carry the show. Two, don't have John Landis direct anymore episodes. Seriously, the first season finale and last week's episode were both directed by Landis and they were both a bit off kilter. Maybe it's better to stay away from film directors and concentrate on those who continue to direct television.

(S02E01) Lassiter: We found prints.

Shawn: Was he driving a Little Red Corvette?

Gus: Under the Cherry Moon?

Lassiter: Fingerprints.

And so, with that reference to 80's pop culture, I welcome you back to the second season of USA Network's Psych. After watching this week's episode I have come to the conclusion that this show has replaced Gilmore Girls as the program with the most pop culture references. In addition to it's nod to American Idol this week there were references to Prince, Michael Jackson, A-Ha, Tears for Fears, Hall & Oates, David Lee Roth's song Yankee Rose, and so many others that I'm sure you, the beautiful TV Squad reader, will remember and point out in the comments.

(S01E15) Exactly twenty years later . . . give or take ten minutes.

And so, with heavy heart, we come to the conclusion of the first season of Psych. What at first seemed like a quirky little comedy-mystery hybrid (I call it mysterdy) featuring a Tom Cruise lookalike, the guy from The West Wing, and Arnie Becker, has become an amusing show full of snappy banter, decent character development and references to 227. Yes, Psych has come a long way in a very short time and I'll miss it while it's away on vacation. In the meantime, though, let's take a gander at this week's show.

Pretty strong for a final episode, although a bit different. That's because it was co-written by Shawn Spencer himself, James Roday, and directed by one Mr. John Landis (Animal House, Blues Brothers). The tone of the show was a little less humor, a little more tension. As Roday put it in his blog, it was a "thriller" episode of Psych.

Smell that? It has the aroma of burning leaves. It must be me thinking about something again. Here's the skinny: I've noticed over the last few weeks that Shawn likes to tell people that Gus is his hero, that he looks up to his best friend. I think that most of that is just joking since it is usually preceded or followed by a false statement about Gus' skills. However, deep down, I wonder if Shawn really does look up to Gus. Gus is very intelligent (something we have just started to see), has a steady job, and seems to have his head straight on his shoulders. Meanwhile, until he began his detective agency, Shawn flitted around from job to job and girl to girl. Perhaps the younger Spencer wants to have just a bit of what Gus has. Then again, I could be blowing smoke out of my poopie chute.

I'm actually going to start off this week's review with a mention about Gus. I haven't spoken much about him even though this role on the show has expanded quite a bit over the last few episodes. I put him up top this time around because even though he was kinda, sorta missing in a few scenes this week the ones he was in he made some significant impact. One of the things I noticed is that he is starting to pick up on some of the detective skills that Shawn had drilled into him by his father. There were one or two occasions where Gus actually saw evidence first before Shawn. The other noticeable trait Gus is exhibiting is his intelligence. I couldn't really tell how smart he was in the first half of the season because he always seemed to be whining. In the second half the producers have fleshed Gus out a bit more to show his intelligence and use it in the process of an investigation.

(S01E12) Rich is off on his annual pilgrimage to North Carolina to tour the shops of various NASCAR teams. It's either that, or he's performing with his improv group. I forget. Either way, he's handed off Psych duties to me for the week. He'll return with a review of "Ready Set... Muuurder" next week.

Right off the top, I have to say this was a fantastic episode. Possibly my favorite of the series so far. The courtroom venue worked great, and really set the stage for some fun bits. As Gus said, "Man, this is fun."

Donnelly Rhodes (Battlestar Galactica) was perfectly cast as Judge Leland. His 'psychic mumbo jumbo' scene with Shawn was particularly good. The asparagus on his bench at the end of the episode was a nice touch. There has been so much serious courtroom drama on television, that it's nice to see a comedic take on things from time to time

(S01E11) Yes, the review is late. I'll apologize to each and every one of you individually. That should take a few years, and by that time you'll probably forget what I was apologizing about.

How do you connect speed dating with naked, fat guys found out in the middle of a field? I'm not too sure, but Psych did it and made it work quite well. Gosh, what a funny episode! I can't remember laughing out loud at this show so much as I did this time around.

The second half of Psych has seen a lot of changes. We've seen Shawn mature quite a bit, we've seen Lassiter mellow out, and we've even seen Henry Spencer going out on a date. This week we saw another change. This was probably one of the first episodes where all of the members of the ensemble cast were utilized. We've seen combinations on Gus and Shawn with one or two of the other players, but this week they all participated. Even Kristen Nelson was back as Interim Police Chief Karen Vick. With some of the attention off of Shawn and Gus, the show took on a different feel. The cast is really jelling together as a cohesive team.

(S01E10) I predict we'll solve it Friday at 10:01pm, then maybe watch some cable. -- Shawn Spencer

This was a very significant episode. Not because of the mystery being solved (which was very weak), but because of the character development we saw in three of the main players -- Carlton Lassiter, Henry Spencer, and our fair-haired boy Shawn Spencer.

Let's begin with Carlton. As I mentioned last week I noticed that Lassiter performance in the second-half of the first season was much more subdued than he was first portrayed. At the beginning he was shown almost like an amalgam of other over-the-top television cops. With this episode we can see he has been considerably toned down and made to be a bit more human.

(S01E09) After five long months Psych has returned with all new episodes featuring James Roday as Shawn Spencer and Dule Hill (The West Wing) as his trusty companion Gus. For those of you who watched and enjoyed this show when it aired over the summer on USA I say welcome back. For those of you who aren't familiar with this comedy-mystery hybrid (I call it a mysterdy) let me give you a brief synopsis of the plot . . .

The show follows Shawn in his role as a police psychic, solving crimes that they cannot (which are many). However, he really isn't a true psychic. In reality, he has an extraordinarily keen eye minute details, which he obtained through intense training conducted by his policeman father (Corbin Bernsen).

Got it? There will be a quiz at the end of the review, of course. With that out of the way let's move on to this week's show.

I know that we already have a 'Ask TV Squad' category to answer questions from our beautiful and intelligent readers, but that is usually meant for one question at a time. In this episode of 'The Five' I'd like to reply to a number of questions that have come to us over the last few weeks. So, without further ado . . .

1. Steph writes 'Please help! Is Psych canceled? I just discovered it and I've only seen reruns.'

Fear not, dear Steph. Psych is just taking a mid-season break, which is normal for cable shows to do. The USA Network comedy, which stars James Roday, Dule Hill and Corbin Bernsen, returns with new episodes in January of 2007.

If you were worried about the fate of Shawn and Gus, you can relax. USA has announced that both Psych and The Dead Zone will be getting another season. This comes on the heels of news that Monk and The 4400 have also been renewed. I guess that programming gig over at USA is a pretty cushy one.

While the ratings did drop somewhat after the premiere, Psych still managed over 5 million viewers a week, which is very good for a cable series. The Dead Zone didn't do as well, with an average of 2.8 million viewers. Still, that was enough to get it another season paired with The 4400.

Psych and Monk are currently away on one of those midseason breaks that the networks don't seem to realize are incredibly annoying to fans... They'll both return to finish their seasons in January.

(S01E07) They changed it up a bit this episode. We've had some pretty standard mysteries during the early run of Psych, but this time they gave us a little twist on who committed the crime. Plus, there seemed to be two crimes happening at the same time that didn't correlate to each other. Well, at least in the beginning they didn't connect.

It began with the murder of a local doctor who was a client of the pharmaceutical company Gus worked for. Shawn and Gus thought this was going to be their case until a man came into their office ranting that a ghost was trying to kill him. In a change of pace Shawn was not interested in taking the case while Gus was raring to go.

After that things got a bit weird for our duo. First, while spending the night at their client's house, the 'ghost' started a fire in the living room. Then, someone tried to slam their car into Gus' sub-compact. Nothing made sense. Then, Gus and Shawn discover an attic full women's clothes, wigs and makeup. It turns out that their client may have been housing more than one person in his head.