Psych is a comedy series that ran from 2006 to 2014 on the USA network and spawned three movies in 2017, 2020, and 2021. The premise of the series is that a hyper-observant guy named Shawn Spencer (played by James Roday) calls in a tip about a crime to the Santa Barbara police department; he becomes a suspect because he knows more than he should. He convinces them that he is a psychic and ends up as a consultant for the department. The only ones who know that Shawn is not a psychic are his best friend Gus, who gets dragged along in the consulting business (played by Dule Hill), and his ex-cop father Henry (played by Corbin Bernsen), who taught, drilled in and fostered Shawn's powers of observation from the time he was a kid. The show is mostly a case-of-the-week episode in which Shawn and Gus are brought in as consultants to help some particular case, much to the chagrin of the detective that they are often paired with, Carleton Lassiter (played by Timothy Omundson), who does not believe Shawn is psychic but cannot prove that he is a fraud either. In the pilot, Carleton's partner was played by Anne Dudek (from the series House and Covert Affairs), but her character was written out of the show after the pilot, and when it was picked up as a series, Maggie Lawson was cast as Carleton's new partner Juliet O'Hara. The other main cast member is Kirsten Nelson, who plays police chief Vick.
For those who get the DVD set, the 15 episodes are spread across four discs. The extras include an international version of the pilot episode, audio commentaries on selected episodes that usually included the creator and then various cast members, deleted scenes for most episodes, audition tapes, an Inside the Writer's Room featurette, character profiles, gag reels, and a couple of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes. So, a lot there if you like watching the bonus material.
The show is mostly a procedural comedy with some suspense and drama mixed in. Each episode would start out with Shawn (and sometimes Gus) as kids, learning some lesson that was taught by Henry that would be applicable to the episode's plot. The writing and acting are great all around. There are a ton of pop-culture references, especially from the 80s and 90s (which increase in the subsequent seasons). It can definitely be silly and very tongue-in-cheek, but it usually has a good message mixed in with the comedy. It is not a conventional prime-time crime drama. It actually makes fun of those types of shows and almost breaks the fourth wall on more than one occasion. So, if you have not checked out the series, it is well worth watching.
For those who get the DVD set, the 15 episodes are spread across four discs. The extras include an international version of the pilot episode, audio commentaries on selected episodes that usually included the creator and then various cast members, deleted scenes for most episodes, audition tapes, an Inside the Writer's Room featurette, character profiles, gag reels, and a couple of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes. So, a lot there if you like watching the bonus material.
The show is mostly a procedural comedy with some suspense and drama mixed in. Each episode would start out with Shawn (and sometimes Gus) as kids, learning some lesson that was taught by Henry that would be applicable to the episode's plot. The writing and acting are great all around. There are a ton of pop-culture references, especially from the 80s and 90s (which increase in the subsequent seasons). It can definitely be silly and very tongue-in-cheek, but it usually has a good message mixed in with the comedy. It is not a conventional prime-time crime drama. It actually makes fun of those types of shows and almost breaks the fourth wall on more than one occasion. So, if you have not checked out the series, it is well worth watching.
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