Psyched for ‘Psych’
If ever there was a show that I got sold on entirely because of its advertising, then Psych is it. My living room television spends a fair amount of time parked on basic cable’s USA channel because there’s always something vaguely interesting on the network when I need to take a break from whatever I’m working on at the moment. Not only does it have a pretty good original series lineup with such titles as Monk, Nashville Star, and The 4400, but the channel is also arguably a frontrunner for the title of Basic Cable’s Best Syndication Network, with syndicated shows encompassing the last two flavors of the ubiquitous Law & Order franchise, House, Nash Bridges, JAG, Walker, Texas Ranger, The District, and Coach. And let’s not forget the regular theatrical movies either, shall we.
During my downtime on the network over the past few weeks, I found myself continually bombarded with the promo for the forthcoming new crime-light series Psych whenever commercials aired. The only reason I even bothered to watch the ad all the way through the first time was because of the presence of West Wing alum Dulé Hill. Totally curious about his next great TV venture, I hunkered down and suffered the annoying antics of series star James Roday, whom I had never seen before and seriously wished would just go the hell away.
But then the unthinkable gradually happened: Roday grew on me. As the frequently broadcast promo continued to assault my senses every time I was tuned in to USA, Rohan slowly metamorphosed from irritating to silly to appealingly weird to “I can’t wait to see this damn show already!”
The reviews for Psych started surfacing last week, and I am thrilled that most folks seem to have positive things to say about the series thus far. After I got the bug, I knew Psych would prove a great Friday-night match for my other favorite freaky crime solver, Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) of Monk, if only it were good. Advance buzz preliminarily assures me that is so, so I’m now psyched more than ever for James, Dulé, and Corbin Bernsen (who plays the main character’s cop dad) to help get my weekend TV viewing off to a fun start.
Psych makes its special 90-minute debut tomorrow (Friday), July 7, at 10pm EST on USA in the USA, immediately following Monk‘s fifth season premiere at 9pm EST. Be there or be square, I say.
