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Psych
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This SourcePsych is an American comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks and broadcast on USA Network. The show stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara, California Police Department (SBPD) whose "heightened observational skills and impressive detective instincts allow him to convince people that he is psychic. The program also stars Dulé Hill as Shawn's best friend, straight man and reluctant partner Burton "Gus" Guster, as well as Corbin Bernsen as Shawn's captious father, Henry.
The series airs in the US on Friday nights at 10PM ET/PT on the USA Network. During the second season, an animated segment was added to the series titled "The Big Adventures Of Little Shawn And Gus". Psych debuted July 7, 2006, immediately following the fifth season premiere of Monk. The show was the highest-rated U.S. basic cable television premiere of 2006.
Characters
Main characters
| Name | Portrayed by | Occupation/Status |
|---|---|---|
| Shawn Spencer | James Roday, as a child: Liam James | A fake psychic who works with the Santa Barbara Police Department (SBPD) and childhood friend Gus |
| Burton "Gus" Guster | Dulé Hill, as a child: Isaah Brown (Season 1), Carlos McCullers II (Season 2) | Shawn's best friend and partner; works in pharmaceuticals |
| Carlton "Lassy" Lassiter | Timothy Omundson | Head detective for the SBPD |
| Juliet "Jules" O'Hara | Maggie Lawson | Junior detective for the SBPD; Lassiter's partner |
| Karen Vick | Kirsten Nelson | Chief for the SBPD |
| Henry Spencer | Corbin Bernsen | Shawn's father; a former police detective |
In flashbacks, we see that Henry Spencer assumed his son would follow in his footsteps and become a law officer. In preparation, Henry helps Shawn hone his powers of observation and deduction, often using games and challenges to test him.
Shawn originally becomes known as a psychic when, after calling in a tip on a crime covered on the news, the police become suspicious of his knowledge. Theorizing that such knowledge could only come from the inside, they are about to arrest him when he uses his observations to convince all present that he is psychic. The interim police chief warns Shawn that if his "powers" are fake, he will be prosecuted. With no choice but to keep up the act, he makes the most of it. Pretending to have psychic powers allows him to engage in strange and comic behavior as he turns real clues into hunches and otherworldly visitations. He enjoys teasing lifelong friend Gus, a pharmaceutical representative, over his eclectic interests (including a love for comic books and superheroes, spelling bees, astronomy, and Spanish-language soap operas).
Head detective Lassiter doubts Shawn's psychic abilities and initially does not value his work, while junior detective O'Hara and chief Vick either fail to recognize that Shawn is a fake, or else are more willing to go along with the charade to solve cases. Henry Spencer and Shawn have a difficult relationship; still Henry helps Shawn on numerous occasions.
Recurring characters
Police officer Buzz McNab, played by Sage Brocklebank, is a naive but lovable cop who often provides Shawn and Gus with clues.Former characters
Detective Lucinda Barry (portrayed by Anne Dudek) was partnered with Head Detective Carlton Lassiter for nearly a year; five months after Lassiter's separation from his wife, Barry and Lassiter became involved in a relationship of their own, though Barry wanted to keep it quiet so that their colleagues wouldn't think she was "climbing the ladder the hard way."Det. Barry seemed amenable to the arrival of Shawn Spencer, helping him covertly when he needed information about the McCallum disappearance. Soon after, however, Barry transferred out of the SBPD, at least partially to be closer to her mother who was recovering from an industrial accident. Whether her relationship with Lassiter played any part in the transfer is yet unknown. She was replaced by Jr. Det. Juliet O'Hara. Although she and Shawn seemed to get along very well in the first episode, he moved on very quickly to Juliet as soon as she was transferred, and he revealed to Gus that he prefers Juliet.
While her name was never given in the pilot episode, the episode summary lists her as "Lucinda," and Lassiter reveals her last name as "Barry" on his blog (though he also refers to her first name as "Lucinda").
Episodes
The first season comprised fifteen episodes and ran on USA Network from July 7, 2006 to March 2, 2007.
The second season of Psych comprised sixteen episodes which began airing on July 13, 2007. The second half of season 2 began on January 11, 2008, with the season finale aired on February 15, 2008.
The third season began airing July 18, 2008.New episodes air fridays on USA Network at 10pm right after Monk
Production information
The show uses White Rock, British Columbia, Canada for its arid Santa Barbara, California setting. Psych also incorporates Vancouver and various locations around the Lower Mainland of British Columbia as a backdrop. The terrain portrayed in the series is very green and marked by bays and islands. Santa Barbara is on a mountainous coastline without bays and just has the few Channel Islands miles offshore. Many of the overlooking helicopter shots and set up shots (in which the exterior of the Santa Barbara Courthouse is shown) are actually filmed in Santa Barbara. The animated Segments "The Big Adventures Of Little Shawn And Gus" were created by J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, Inc.. The music, effects and sound design for "The Big Adventures Of Little Shawn And Gus" were created by Fred Weinberg.Theme Song
The theme song for Psych is "I Know You Know" by The Friendly Indians, series creator Steve Franks' band. It has been re-done in Season 2 with a Christmas theme for the episode Gus' Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy (episode 10), as well as sung in Spanish for Lights, Camera, Homicidio (episode 13).Response
Critical reaction and 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 (households, P18-49, P25-54, and total viewers), according to a USA Network press release, quoted from the Futon Critic.From the San Jose Mercury News:
- James Roday (Miss Match) is utterly charming and delightfully funny as Shawn Spencer (who may not be psychic but who does have wonderful powers of observation), and he gets fine support from Corbin Bernsen (L.A. Law) as his cop father and Dulé Hill (The West Wing) as his Dr. Watson-esque sidekick.
From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
- "Psych" is one of those happy collisions of an intelligent script and an appealing cast. Roday's a charmer, nice looking but more charismatic than pretty, and ably paired with West Wing alumnus Dulé Hill, who plays Shawn's ultra-responsible childhood friend Gus.
From Entertainment Weekly:
- It's nonsensical, relies heavily on the likability of its leads to distract from thin plots, and won't leave much of a lasting impression. So why bother with a show that's the detective-series equivalent of Cannonball Run? Because as the CSIs and 24 go ever more gory, watching people who are clearly having a good time solve light mysteries makes a nice change.
Nominations and awards
Psych was the winner of an Independent Investigations Group Annual Award for Excellence in Entertainment for advancing the cause of science and exposing superstition (2006).James Roday was nominated for a 2006 Satellite Award for Best Actor - TV Series Musical or Comedy.
International broadcasters
| Country | TV Network(s) | Series Premiere | Weekly Schedule (local time) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Network Ten | December 4 2007 | Tuesdays, 9:30pm Cancelled after just 4 episodes went to air. Returned on Saturday June 21, 2008 at 7:30pm in Sydney only, cancelled once again the following day |
| Brazil | Universal Channel and Rede Record | September 27, 2006 (Universal Channel) May 7, 2007 (Rede Record) | Wednesdays, 10:00 pm (Universal Channel) Mondays, 12:00 am (Rede Record) |
| Canada | CH now E! | Fridays, 9:00 pm | |
| Canada | Mystère | Thursdays, 8:00 and 9:00 pm | |
| Croatia | Nova TV | January 20 2008 | Sundays, 1:00 pm |
| Ecuador | Teleamazonas | February 1 2008 | Fridays, 11:30 pm |
| France | TF1 | December 2 2007 | Sundays, 3:10 pm Cancelled after a few episodes |
| Germany | RTL Television | October 30 2007 | Tuesdays, 10:15 pm |
| Greece | Alter Channel | September 29 2007 | Thursdays, 9:00 pm |
| Hungary | TV2 | April 22 2007 | Sundays, 3:30 pm |
| Iceland | SkjárEinn | Sundays, 8:40 pm | |
| India | Star World | May 7 2007 | Mondays, 10:00 pm |
| Israel | yes stars 2 (channel 13) | January 29, 2007 | Mondays, 9:30 pm |
| Ireland | RTE 2 | April 17(Pilot), 2008 | Thursdays(Time To Be Chosen) |
| Italy | Steel (digital tv) | January 19, 2008 | Sundays, 9:00 pm |
| Latvia | TV3 Latvia | January 5 2008 | Sundays, 4:00 pm |
| Lithuania | TV3 Lithuania | June 28 2008 | Saturdays and Sundays, 5:40 pm |
| New Zealand | Prime | July 2 2008 | Wednesdays, 7:30 pm (Season 2). Season 1 aired on sky 1 (Now called: the BOX) mid 2007. |
| Norway | NRK3, Viasat 4 | Mondays, 9:25 pm | |
| Philippines | C/S on RPN | February 22 2007 | Thursdays, 8:00 pm |
| Portugal | FX | September 26 2007 | Sundays, 10:00 pm |
| Russia | Universal Channel | June 1 2008 | Sundays, 5:00 pm |
| Slovakia | Markíza | December 3 2007 | Weekdays, 3:00 pm |
| Slovenia | Kanal A | August 31 2007 | Fridays, 9:40 pm |
| South Korea | OnStory | June 27 2007 | Wednesdays/Thursdays, 9:00 pm |
| Spain | Cuatro , Calle 13 | January 10 2007 | Sundays, 10 pm |
| Sweden | Kanal 5 | June 8 2007 | Fridays, 9:00 pm |
| Switzerland | TSR 1 3+ TSI_1 | September 1 2007 October 25 2007 June 2 2008 | Saturdays, 4:30 pm Thursdays, 9:50 pm Weekdays, 6:15pm (Seasons 1+2 back-to-back) |
| Turkey | DiziMax | March 18 2008 | Tuesdays, 10:00 pm |
| United Kingdom | Hallmark Channel (Second Series) | January 20, 2008 | Sundays, 8:00 pm |
| United States | USA Network and NBC | July 7 2006 | Fridays, 10:00 pm/9:00 pm Central Time |
| Arab World | Showtime Arabia (Show Series 2) | April 25 2007 | Wednesdays, 10:00 pm |
| Asia | Star World | July 11 2007 | Wednesdays, 9:30 pm |
| Southeast Asia | Star World | July 11 2007 | Wednesdays, 9:00 pm (HK/SIN) Wednesdays, 8:00 pm (THAI/WIB) |
| October 22 2007 (Philippines) | Mondays, 10:00 pm | ||
| Latin America | Universal Channel | September 27, 2006 | Sundays, 06:00 pm |
DVD releases
| Title | Ep # | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season One | 15 | June 26 2007 | September 1 2008 | April 30 2008 |
| Season Two | 16 | July 11 2008 | September 8 2008 | TBA |
References
External links
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Thursday July 24, 2008 at 15:33:30 PDT (GMT -0700)
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