TV Jots

Fridays Are About to Get Funnier

Starting at 9pm EST on USA Network tonight, everybody’s favorite detectives on Monk and Psych will return to solve more cases during their respective new seasons. I’ve watched the premieres for both shows and assure all viewers, whether longtime fans or newcomers, that the summer continues to look spectacular when it comes to USA’s winning roster of crime dramedies.

Monk begins the night of programming with the seventh-season premiere “Mr. Monk Buys a House,” an episode that essentially serves as a fond and fitting farewell to Stanley Kamel’s character Dr. Charles Kroger. The actor who played the psychiatrist from the beginning of the series passed away in April of this year, leaving a huge void that some feared could not be filled.

Although there will never be another Kamel or Dr. Kroger, Adrian Monk’s (Tony Shalhoub) new therapist Dr. Neven Bell, played by veteran actor Hector Elizondo, gets off to a promising start with our resident OCD sufferer. The rapport between the two characters is spot-on from their first scene together, which is a relief and a reflection of the two actors’ talent.

Another familiar face on the episode is ‘Til Death’s Brad Garrett, who stops by to guest star as a handyman with a really big knack for spotting flaws in construction. Monk hires Honest Jake — yes, that’s his name — to fix one of the inevitable problems in the detective’s recently purchased home, and let’s just say, the residence gets a very new look very fast.

There’s less home improvement — okay, no home improvement — involved in Psych’s third-season premiere “The Ghost in You,” but that doesn’t mean nothing needs repairing. If you’ve already heard that Moonlighting icon Cybill Shepherd has been tapped to portray Shawn Spencer’s (James Roday) previously unseen but always present mother Madeline Spencer this season, then you can guess what I mean.

The Spencers are one of those families people would pay to have dinner with if they were real, just to get a front-row seat to the guaranteed melodrama. The episode doesn’t disappoint on that front.

It also scores when it comes to the main plot, which revolves around Shawn’s best buddy Burton “Gus” Guster (Dulé Hill). Of course, viewers have always known that Gus has a legitimate occupation, something Shawn can’t claim. The premiere gives us a closeup view of Gus on the job, but, unfortunately, he’s having a very bad time.

Thanks to Shawn and Gus’ sleuthing success, word gets around to Gus’ boss that he pursues a time-intensive side hobby solving crimes. An ultimatum is delivered, and suddenly a very reluctant Gus finds himself trying to unravel the case of The Ghost in His Boss’ House.

Yeah, it’s good times, as is the entire episode, pretty much, and it makes me happy to have Shawn and Gus and Monk and all my other Friday-night USA faves back.

True Monk and/or Psych fanatics can enter the MONK & PSYCH Friday-Night Prize Pack giveaway hosted at my other TV blog Comedy Centric before August 4. The prizes are cool and generous.