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Psych

Psych is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network.[1] The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observational skills"[2] and impressive eidetic memory allow him to convince people that he solves cases with 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.[3]

This article is about the television series. For other uses, see Psych (disambiguation).

Psych

"I Know You Know"
by The Friendly Indians

United States

English

8

  • Andy Berman
  • Gordon Mark
  • James Roday
  • Dulé Hill
  • Tim Meltreger
  • Tracey Jeffrey

Single-camera

42 minutes

July 7, 2006 (2006-07-07) –
March 26, 2014 (2014-03-26)

Psych premiered on July 7, 2006, following the fifth-season premiere of Monk, and continued to be paired with the series until Monk's conclusion on December 4, 2009. During the second season, an animated segment titled "The Big Adventures of Little Shawn and Gus" was added to the series. Psych was the highest-rated US basic cable television premiere of 2006.[4] USA Network renewed the series for an eighth season on December 19, 2012, to include eight episodes, and ordered two more episodes on June 25, 2013, bringing the episode order to ten.[5][6] On February 5, 2014, USA Network confirmed that the eighth season of Psych would be its last, with the series finale airing on March 26, 2014.[7]


Psych: The Movie, a two-hour television film, aired on USA Network on December 7, 2017, launching the Psych film series,[8] with Franks' hope being to make five more Psych movies following Psych: The Movie.[9] 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.[10][11][12] On May 13, 2021, Peacock announced a third film, Psych 3: This Is Gus, which premiered on November 18, 2021.[13][14] Three further Psych films are in development.[9]

Overview[edit]

Most episodes begin with a cold open in the form of a flashback to Shawn and Gus' childhoods. The flashbacks usually involve Shawn and Gus being taught a lesson by a young Henry Spencer (Shawn's father) (Corbin Bernsen), 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 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 behavior as he turns real clues into hunches and otherworldly visitations. He enjoys teasing lifelong friend Burton Guster (Gus), a pharmaceutical sales representative, about Gus' eclectic interests as they drive around in a blue Toyota Echo nicknamed "The Blueberry"[15] solving crimes.


Head detective Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson), 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 (Maggie Lawson) and Chief Vick (Kirsten Nelson) 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.

(James Roday) is a freelance consultant with the Santa Barbara Police Department who pretends to be a psychic.

Shawn Spencer

(Dulé Hill) is Shawn's best friend and business partner.

Burton "Gus" Guster

(Timothy Omundson) is the head detective for the Santa Barbara Police Department.

Carlton "Lassie" Lassiter

(Maggie Lawson) is a junior detective for the Santa Barbara Police Department partnered with Lassiter.

Juliet "Jules" O'Hara

Henry Spencer () is Shawn's uptight and precise father and a former police sergeant.

Corbin Bernsen

(Kirsten Nelson) is the SBPD Interim Chief and is later named Chief in "Shawn (and Gus) of the Dead" (main seasons 2–8, recurring season 1).

Karen Vick

Lucinda Barry ()[a] 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 (season 1).

Anne Dudek

A -themed version in "Gus' Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy" (2x10), "Christmas Joy" (3x09), and "The Polarizing Express" (5x14)

Christmas

A -sung version in "Lights, Camera... Homicidio" (2x13) and "No Country for Two Old Men" (7x04)

Spanish

A -themed version sung in Hindi for "Bollywood Homicide" (4x06)

Bollywood

An version recorded by Boyz II Men in "High Top Fade-Out" (4x07) and "Let's Doo-Wop It Again" (6x13)

a cappella

A version recorded by for "Shawn 2.0" (5x08)

Curt Smith

A version sung by in "Dual Spires" (5x12)

Julee Cruise

A superhero-themed version in "The Amazing Psych-Man & Tap-Man, Issue 2" (6x04)

A -inspired version for "Heeeeere's Lassie" (6x11)

The Shining

Release[edit]

Syndication[edit]

In July 2011, Ion Television announced that Psych would become part of its 2012 broadcast in syndication.[23] 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–six of Psych and includes rights to future seasons.[24] As of January 2023, Psych started airing on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries.

Reception[edit]

Ratings[edit]

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.[4]

Other media[edit]

Novels[edit]

William Rabkin has written and published five novels based on the series. The novels are written in third-person narrative style. Additionally, Chad Gervich (Small Screen, Big Picture) has published a crime-fighting guide based on methods presented in the show.

Official website

at IMDb

Psych