Psych

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This article is about the TV show. For the field of study of the human brain sometimes shortened to "psych", see Psychology.

Psych
Psych main characters, James Roday (left) and Dulé Hill (right)
Genre	Drama / Comedy
Creator(s)	Steve Franks
Starring	James Roday Dulé Hill Corbin Bernsen Kirsten Nelson Timothy Omundson Maggie Lawson
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	15 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	approx. 43 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	USA Network
Picture format	4:3
Original run	July 7, 2006 – present
Links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Psych is a critically acclaimed American comedy-drama series billed as "a fake psychic, real detective series" starring James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young police consultant whose "heightened observational skills" and impressive detective instincts lead people to believe that he's psychic. The program also stars Dulé Hill as Shawn's best friend, straight man, and reluctant partner Gus, and Corbin Bernsen as Shawn's captious father, Henry.

Shawn originally became 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 Gus, a socially awkward pharmaceutical representative, over his love of comic books and superheroes.

In the United States, the series airs Friday nights at 10 p.m. ET/PT on the USA Network. It debuted on July 7, 2006, immediately following the fifth season premiere of Monk and was the highest-rated basic cable TV show premiere of 2006.^[1].

The show uses Vancouver and White Rock, British Columbia, Canada for its semi-desert Santa Barbara, California setting. Viewers might note that the terrain portrayed in the series is very green and marked by bays and islands, but otherwise flat. Santa Barbara is on a mountainous coastline without bays and just has the few Channel Islands miles offshore.

1 Characters
2 Episodes
3 DVD Release
4 Critical reaction and ratings
5 Season Two
6 Possible WWE crossover
7 Trivia
8 International Broadcasters
9 References
10 External links

[edit] Characters

Name	Portrayed by	Occupation/Status
Shawn Spencer	James Roday	SBPD Consultant, Fake-Psychic Private Detective
Burton 'Gus' Guster	Dulé Hill	Pharmaceutical Sales Representative, Shawn Spencer's Business Partner/Best Friend
Carlton Lassiter	Timothy Omundson	SBPD Head Detective
Juliet O'Hara	Maggie Lawson	SBPD Junior Detective
Karen Vick	Kirsten Nelson	SBPD Interim Chief (Recurring Guest Star)
Henry Spencer	Corbin Bernsen	Retired SBPD Detective, Shawn Spencer's Father
Young Shawn	Liam James	Student
Young Gus	Isaah Brown	Student
Lucinda Barry	Anne Dudek	Former SBPD Junior Detective
Buzz McNab	Sage Brocklebank	SBPD Police Officer

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of Psych episodes

No.	Season 1 — Episode	Air Date
1001	"Pilot" (90 minutes)	7 July 2006
1002	"Spellingg Bee"	14 July 2006
1003	"Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Piece"	21 July 2006
1004	"Woman Seeking Dead Husband — Smokers Okay, No Pets"	28 July 2006
1005	"Who Ya Gonna Call?"	18 August 2006
1006	"9 Lives"	4 August 2006
1007	"Weekend Warriors"	11 August 2006
1008	"Shawn vs. the Red Phantom"	25 August 2006
1009	"Forget Me Not"	19 January 2007
1010	"From the Earth to the Starbucks"	26 January 2007
1011	"He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, He Loves Me, Oops He's Dead"	2 February 2007
1012	"Cloudy...Chance of Murder"	9 February 2007
1013	"Game Set...Muuurder?"	16 February 2007
1014	"Poker? I Barely Know Her"	23 February 2007
1015	"Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast"	2 March 2007

[edit] DVD Release

On June 26, 2007, Universal Home Video will be releasing Psych- The Complete First Season on DVD in Region 1. [1]

[edit] 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.^[2]

From The 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

[edit] Season Two

A second season has been confirmed and new episodes will begin sometime in July 2007.^[6]

[edit] Possible WWE crossover

There are early plans for characters from the TV comedy “Psych” on the USA Network to crossover onto WWE’s Monday Night RAW. The actors will be appearing as their TV personas in vignettes. [2]

[edit] Trivia

The theme song, "I Know, You Know", is performed by series creator Steve Franks and his band, The Friendly Indians.^[7]

The name of the eponymous detective agency derives from multiple applicable meanings. "Psych" was used as a shorthand slang by students of psychology as early as 1895, and Shawn's observational abilities and memory are as psychologically based as they are environmentally. As Shawn points out, "psych" also serves as a less-commonly used shorthand for psychic, which he uses his flawless recall to pretend to be. As Gus points out, the term "psych," by itself, is most commonly used in reference to the 1980's interjection, meaning "gotcha" or "just kidding," and which seems to stem from the "to outsmart" meaning of "psych out" first attested in 1934.

Gus drives a five-door Toyota Echo hatchback (now known as the Toyota Yaris). While popular in Canada (where the series is shot), this model is not available in the United States (where the series is fictionally set), although the other cars in the Yaris family are.

Shawn rides a Norton 750 Commando motorcycle. The exact year of the classic model is unknown, as there were several 750 Commandos released in the 1970s.

Shawn's cell phone often goes off while he is trying to hide from someone.

After departing from The West Wing, Dule Hill joined the cast just in time.

Dulé Hill, Kirsten Nelson and Corbin Bernsen all worked on NBC's The West Wing: Hill as Charlie Young, Personal Aide to President Bartlet (main cast); Nelson as the young Mrs. Delores Landingham, (then) secretary to Bartlet's father (Two Cathedrals); and Bernsen as Henry Shallick, Deputy House Majority Whip (R) (The Leadership Breakfast & Bartlet's Third State of the Union).

[edit] International Broadcasters

Country	TV Network(s)	Series Premiere	Weekly Schedule (local time)
United States	USA Network	July 7, 2006	Friday, 10:00 pm
Canada	CH		Thursday, 9:00 pm
Brazil	Universal Channel	September 27, 2006	Wednesday, 10:00 pm
Israel	yes stars 2 (channel 13)	January 29, 2007	Monday night, 10:20 pm
Latin America	Universal Channel	September 27, 2006	Wednesday, 10:00 pm
United Kingdom	Hallmark Channel (first run and repeats) and BBC Two (re-runs)	2007
Spain	Cuatro TV , Calle 13	January 10, 2007	Wednesday, 10 pm
Philippines	C/S Crime and Suspense (Cable TV)	February 22, 2007	Every Thursday at 8:00pm
New Zealand	Prime TV	April 2007	Every Thursday at 9:00pm
Iceland	SkjárEinn