Psych: I See Fake Dead People
Monk Jr. and Best Bud to the Rescue
I’ve had a hate-love affair with the rookie hit Psych every since I first spied the promo for it on USA not long before its premiere. Initially, I found the incessant ads—featuring series star James Roday “cutting up” the screen in assorted odd situations—highly irritating and almost grounds for switching the channel and vowing to never watch the program even if it was the last TV show on Earth.
As I was exposed to the commercials more and more, however, Roday and his unseemly antics gradually grew on me, making me increasingly curious about the premise of the crime dramedy and how well it would or would not be executed. Would the show turn out to be just as annoying as my initial impression of it based on those tiresome ubiquitous ads? Or would it actually prove worth watching after all the hype?
The first few installments of the eight-episode debut summer season indicated that Psych does have something to offer both fans of lightweight crime series that don’t require too much brain power to enjoy and solve the mini-mysteries, and those who appreciate a hammy, quirky, and oftentimes funny character when they encounter one. And to boot, it’s a perfect Friday-night chaser for venerable Monk, USA’s other popular crime-light dramedy featuring a unique and amusing ace crime-solver.
Psych revolves around the investigative escapades of Shawn Spencer (Roday), a somewhat lazy guy who has nevertheless harnessed his unusual photographic memory to yield amazingly well-honed observational skills thanks to the tutelage of his demanding father Henry (L.A. Law‘s Corbin Bernsen), a no-nonsense, hypercritical retired police officer who has a strained relationship with his only child. Despite his lithe powers of recollection, Shawn is the type of person who prefers performing odd jobs to pursuing a stable career, and who is not above trying to earn a living by calling in tips to police hotlines in order to receive potential cash rewards. It’s this type of aimless lifestyle and accompanying lackadaisical attitude that keeps Shawn’s father perpetually miffed.
The 90-minute pilot reveals just how Shawn acquires his cushy job as a psychic consultant to the police by using the very same fierce powers of observation that allow him to successfully sell himself as a genuine psychic. The incident occurs when he arrives at the police station to collect his reward money after calling in yet another accurate tip to the police. This time, unfortunately, one of the detectives, Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson of Judging Amy), becomes suspicious that Shawn is in on the crime and holds him for questioning.
In a desperate attempt to establish his innocence, Shawn utilizes several of the minute details he noticed while waiting for his easy payday to feign an onslaught of visions and convince everyone present that he has knowledge that could only come from extraordinary mental abilities. All but Detective Lassiter are sold on the spot, and thus begins Shawn’s new psychic consulting career, which later expands to include his best childhood friend Burton “Gus” Guster (Dulé Hill of the recently departed The West Wing) as a co-conspirator and fellow pseudo detective.
Like Monk before it, Psych is one of those rare blessed shows that manage to garner an almost instantaneous following and seal of approval from both TV viewers and professional critics. The acclaim is well deserved in many aspects because Psych is frequently entertaining, amusing, and interesting, not to mention that it has a very capable cast of actors portraying distinct and memorable, if more or less stereotypical, characters.
Even so, as the season has progressed, Shawn’s trademark goofy mannerisms have started to grate on my nerves, as have the easily deciphered “mysteries” each week. It would also be nice if the writers gave Gus something more to do besides act like either an exasperated or terrified manservant to his underemployed pal. After experiencing Hill’s considerable acting talent during his long West Wing tenure, it’s becoming harder and harder to buy such a wimpy persona. Some depth or breadth for the second most prominent player in the series would be much appreciated.
So, it turns out that Monk and Psych have something else in common besides the similarities between their two central characters and their fortuitous followings—both series are in dire need of more complex and less transparent plotlines to challenge not only the obvious intelligence of their protagonists, but that of their audiences, as well.
The Verdict: B-
The 1st-season summer finale of Psych premieres Friday, August 25, at 9pm EST on USA
Psych photo courtesy of USA Network
