8.15.2009

Psych is the greatest show ever.

I think the title of this particular blog should actually be more than enough for readers... if they've seen Psych on the USA network. I currently believe Psych is the greatest show ever. At least right now. Besides, I should have posted this a long time ago to hopefully get more viewers to watch it and share my enthusiasm.

The newest season, 4th, started on Aug. 7th and I have already missed the first two episodes, which is what prompted me to put this post up. I am very much at a loss without cable to view this great show with. Luckily I have seasons 1 through 3 to watch repeatedly.

The show is about a guy named Shawn Spencer who has an uncanny ability to notice and remember immense amounts of tiny details with little effort. His lifetime of slackery and reliance on his gift get him into potential trouble with the police and he pretends to be a psychic to get out of trouble.

It works fabulously, and leads to him working his way into team playing with the police in the form of his new detective agency Psych. He works in tandem with his longtime friend Burton "Gus" Guster, who is more of a by-the-books level-headed guy.
The comedic duo are a great pair. Their ludicrous antics work even better when they are tag-teaming up on, or with, secondary characters like Shawn's father Henry(a former police officer that loves telling Shawn how stupid he is), and the dectectives Carl Lassiter and Juliet O'Hara. A great cast of well rounded personalities that work suprisingly well together even when the characters are butting heads.

Throughout the series they solve many mysteries of a variety of crimes with as much humor as possible. Tons of 80's references abound, and a bunch of previous-episode "in-jokes" done in a subtle but hilarious manner. So if you haven't seen the previous show, the joke still makes sense, but is THAT much more meaningful if you have.
A nice touch to the show is many episodes have themes throughout such as season 2's "Lights, Camera...Homicidio". Large parts of the it are done like a mexican day-time soap opera with a poor camera and cheesy dramatic acting. Another very notable, absurdly amazing episode is season 3's "Disco Didn't Die. It Was Murdered!" riffing off of 70's shows. The swanky music, their undercover 70's clothes, crazy jive dialog, and even a ridiculous suburban car chase scene. At one point Gus has a 70's swaggering walk caused by a faulty seat in an old car, and Shawn comments on about how sweet the tire-squealing spinning-car parking job by Gus would have been if it was done on purpose, not because the power steering was out.
There is also a horror camp movie episode, a high school reunion episode, and an American Idol-esque reality show episode! They take old preconceived silly cliches and stereotypical storylines and make them fresh and fun. Outrageous laughs even after multiple viewings because you may pick up on something small someone says, or some strange thing going on in the background that may have been missed earlier.

Also every episode has a pineapple somewhere in it. A fun small game to play while watching the show.

I absolutely LOVE this show and highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.