| Psych | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Steve Franks |
| Showrunner | Steve Franks |
| Starring | |
| Opening theme | "I Know You Know" bythe Friendly Indians |
| Ending theme | "I Know You Know" by the Friendly Indians |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 121(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers |
|
| Production locations | White Rock, British Columbia, Canada |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 42 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | USA Network |
| Release | July 7, 2006 (2006-07-07) – March 26, 2014 (2014-03-26) |
| Related | |
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Psych is an Americandetectivecomedy-drama television series created bySteve Franks forUSA Network.[1] The series starsJames Roday asShawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for theSanta Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observational skills"[2] and impressiveeidetic memory allow him to convince people that he solves cases with hispsychic abilities. The program also starsDulé Hill as Shawn's intelligent best friend and reluctant partnerBurton "Gus" Guster, as well asCorbin Bernsen as Shawn's father Henry, a former detective with the Santa Barbara Police Department.[3]
Psych premiered on July 7, 2006, following thefifth season premiere ofMonk, and continued to be paired with the series untilMonk's conclusion on December 4, 2009. During thesecond season, an animated segment titled "The Big Adventures of Little Shawn and Gus" was added to the series.Psych was the highest-rated Americanbasic 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 ofPsych would be its last, with the series finale airing on March 26, 2014.[7]
Psych: The Movie, a two-hourtelevision film, aired on USA Network on December 7, 2017, launching thePsych film series,[8] with Franks's hope being to make five morePsych movies followingPsych: The Movie.[9] On February 14, 2019, it was announcedPsych: 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 renamedPsych 2: Lassie Come Home, and released onNBCUniversal'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 furtherPsych films were reportedly in development.[9]
Most episodes in the earlier seasons begin with acold open in the form of a flashback to Shawn and Gus's childhoods. The flashbacks usually involve Shawn and Gus being taught a lesson by a younger 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 chiefKaren Vick warns Shawn that if his "powers" are fake, he will beprosecuted. With no choice but to keep up the act, and having proven himself an effective aid to the police in solving crimes, he establishes apsychic detective agency, Psych, and becomes an outside consultant to the police. Pretending to have psychic powers allows him to engage in strange and comic behaviour as he turns real clues into hunches and otherworldly visitations. He enjoys teasing lifelong friend Burton Guster (Gus), apharmaceutical sales representative about Gus's eclectic interests as they drive around in a blueToyota Echo nicknamed "The Blueberry"[15] solving crimes.
HeadDetectiveCarlton 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 Karen 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.
The show is famous for its numerous recurring gags, which include Shawn's outlandish nicknames for Gus, the "hidden pineapple" in every episode of the show, and featuring nearly all of the main cast from the 1985 filmThe Breakfast Club (with the exception ofEmilio Estevez).[16][17]
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | Network | |||
| 1 | 15 | July 7, 2006 (2006-07-07) | March 2, 2007 (2007-03-02) | USA | |
| 2 | 16 | July 13, 2007 (2007-07-13) | February 15, 2008 (2008-02-15) | ||
| 3 | 16 | July 18, 2008 (2008-07-18) | February 20, 2009 (2009-02-20) | ||
| 4 | 16 | August 7, 2009 (2009-08-07) | March 10, 2010 (2010-03-10) | ||
| 5 | 16 | July 14, 2010 (2010-07-14) | December 22, 2010 (2010-12-22) | ||
| 6 | 16 | October 12, 2011 (2011-10-12) | April 11, 2012 (2012-04-11) | ||
| 7 | 14 | February 27, 2013 (2013-02-27) | May 29, 2013 (2013-05-29) | ||
| Psych: The Musical | December 15, 2013 (2013-12-15) | ||||
| 8 | 10 | January 8, 2014 (2014-01-08) | March 26, 2014 (2014-03-26) | ||
| Psych: The Movie | December 7, 2017 (2017-12-07) | ||||
| Psych 2: Lassie Come Home | July 15, 2020 (2020-07-15) | Peacock | |||
| Psych 3: This Is Gus | November 18, 2021 (2021-11-18) | ||||
The show usesWhite Rock, British Columbia, Canada for its Santa Barbara, California setting.[18]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2021) |
Anne Dudek's character was written out of the series after the character generated a negative test audience reaction with Lassiter due to their relationship. Maggie Lawson was cast as Juliet O'Hara to serve as a replacement.[19][20]
Thetheme song forPsych is "I Know You Know" by the Friendly Indians, series creatorSteve Franks's band. Some episodes in the third through eighth seasons use an extended version of "I Know You Know" consisting of the first verse and the chorus,[21] though most episodes use a shortened version consisting of mostly the chorus. In some episodes, the theme song is changed, usually as a tie-in to the theme of the episode to come.
Variations of the theme song include:
In the "pilot", Rodayimprovised by picking up apineapple and saying, "Should I slice this up for the road?" Since then, pineapples have appeared in every episode as arunning gag, whether just one in the background or the actual mention of it. It is Shawn's go-to housewarming gift. The pineapple is a major marketing point for items related to the show on the USA website.[22] Fan movements, such as fan-made websites, have also been dedicated to finding a pineapple or pineapple-related object in each episode.[23]
Following the series finale on March 26, 2014, USA Network aired a liveaftershow entitled "Psych After Pshow." The hour-long special was hosted byKevin Pereira and featured series stars and creator/executive producer Steve Franks.[24]
In July 2011,Ion Television announced thatPsych would become part of its 2012 broadcast in syndication.[25] 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 ofPsych. It no longer airs onIon 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 to six ofPsych and includes rights to future seasons.[26] In January 2023,Psych started airing onHallmark Movies & Mysteries. The show also aired on its sister channel,Hallmark Channel, starting in January 2025. The Hallmark airings contain edited dialogue and scenes to align with the channel's content guidelines.
| Title | Ep # | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | 15 | June 26, 2007 | April 24, 2008 | April 30, 2008 |
| The Complete Second Season | 16 | July 8, 2008 | June 7, 2010 | March 3, 2010 |
| The Complete Third Season | 16 | July 21, 2009 | February 21, 2011 | March 2, 2011 |
| The Complete Fourth Season | 16 | July 13, 2010 | July 18, 2011 | August 22, 2012 |
| The Complete Fifth Season | 16 | May 31, 2011 | May 21, 2012 | September 5, 2013 |
| The Psych-O-Ween Collection | 4 | September 11, 2012[27] | TBA | TBA |
| The Complete Sixth Season | 16 | October 16, 2012 | July 26, 2013 | August 14, 2014 |
| The Complete Seventh Season | 14 | October 8, 2013 | July 11, 2016 | TBA |
| Psych: The Musical | 4 | December 17, 2013[28] | TBA | TBA |
| The Eighth and Final Season | 10 | April 1, 2014[29] | TBA | TBA |
| The Complete Series | 120 | October 7, 2014[30] | TBA | TBA |
| The Complete Collection | 120, 1 Movie | July 3, 2018[31] | TBA | TBA |
| The Complete Collection (Blu-ray version) | 120, 3 Movies | October 17, 2023[32] | TBA | TBA |
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 allkey demographics (households, P18–49, P25–54, and total viewers), according to aUSA Network press release, quoted from the Futon Critic.[4]
| Season | Timeslot (ET) | Episodes | Premiered | Ended | TV season | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Premiere Viewers (in millions) | Date | Finale Viewers (in millions) | ||||
| 1 | Friday 10:00 pm (July 7, 2006 – February 20, 2009) | 15 | July 7, 2006 | 6.06[33] | March 2, 2007 | 4.48[34] | 2006–2007 |
| 2 | 16 | July 13, 2007 | 4.33[35] | February 15, 2008 | 4.70[36] | 2007–2008 | |
| 3 | 16 | July 18, 2008 | 4.89[37] | February 20, 2009 | 4.83[38] | 2008–2009 | |
| 4 | Friday 10:00 pm (August 7, 2009 – October 16, 2009) Wednesday 10:00 pm (January 27, 2010 – March 10, 2010) | 16 | August 7, 2009 | 3.98[39] | March 10, 2010 | 2.95[40] | 2009–2010 |
| 5 | Wednesday 10:00 pm (July 14, 2010 – May 29, 2013)[c] | 16 | July 14, 2010 | 3.69[41] | December 22, 2010 | 2.90[42] | 2010 |
| 6 | 16 | October 12, 2011 | 3.00[43] | April 11, 2012 | 2.71[44] | 2011–2012 | |
| 7 | 14 | February 27, 2013 | 2.94[45] | May 29, 2013[c] | 2.18[46] | 2013 | |
| 8 | Wednesday 9:00 pm (January 8, 2014 – March 26, 2014) | 10 | January 8, 2014 | 2.28[47] | March 26, 2014 | 1.93[48] | 2014 |
Rotten Tomatoes gave the first three seasons of the series an overall 89% "fresh" rating.[49]
Psych was the winner of theCenter for Inquiry Annual Award for "Excellence in Entertainment" for advancing the cause of science and exposing superstition. Accepting forPsych was staff writer Daniel Hsia.[50][51]James Roday Rodriguez was nominated for the 2006Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy.[52] Rodriguez was also nominated for the 2009Ewwy Award for Best Actor in a Comedy.Psych was nominated for its firstEmmy Award in 2010 in the categoryPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) for the episode "Mr. Yin Presents...".[53] Adam Cohen and John Robert Wood were the composers for this episode.Psych was nominated for its second Emmy Award in 2012 in the category "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Emerging Media Program" for their interactive game "HashTag Killer". In 2012 and 2013,Psych was nominated for thePeople's Choice Award for "Best Cable TV Comedy". In 2014,Psych won thePeople's Choice Award for "Best Cable TV Comedy" in its last nomination.
William Rabkin has written and published five novels based on the series. The novels are written inthird-person narrative style. Additionally,Chad Gervich (Small Screen, Big Picture) has published a crime-fighting guide based on methods presented in the show.
| Author | Title | ISBN | Publication date |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Rabkin | A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read | 0-451-22635-6 | January 6, 2009 |
| Mind Over Magic | 0-451-22744-1 | July 7, 2009 | |
| The Call of the Mild | 0-451-22876-6 | January 5, 2010 | |
| A Fatal Frame of Mind | 0-451-23159-7 | August 3, 2010 | |
| Mind-Altering Murder | 0-451-23252-6 | February 1, 2011 | |
| Chad Gervich | Psych's Guide to Crime Fighting for the Totally Unqualified | 1-455-51286-9 | May 7, 2013 |
Once production on the original series wrapped, series creatorSteve Franks had the idea to bring thePsych universe back in film form. On May 8, 2017, USA Network announcedPsych: The Movie, a two-hour TV film to air December 7, 2017.[54] All the original main cast returned for the film, directed by Franks and co-written by Franks and series starJames Roday Rodriguez. The first sequel,Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, was released on NBCUniversal's newstreaming service,Peacock, on July 15, 2020.[55] A third film,Psych 3: This Is Gus, followed on November 18, 2021.[14] Three furtherPsych films are in development[9] with the script forPsych 4 reportedly complete.[56]
Launched in November 2021, Maggie Lawson and Timothy Omundson have hosted a weeklyrewatch podcast of the series and films. Episodes include plot recaps and behind-the-scenes memories from the two hosts. The series also features interviews with cast members, guest stars, and crew members, including writers, directors, and series creator Steve Franks.[57]
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