On Lily's TiVo: "Psych"

If you’re around my age, your earliest memory of the USA Network was “The Cartoon Express,” where we could gorge our cartoon appetites with episodes of the “Laffolympics” and “The Pebbles and Bam Bam Show” (or as I like to think of it, “Joni Loves Chachi: The Stone Age Years). Or perhaps you were a hip preteen watching “Dance Party USA” (Did you know Kelly Ripa was a dancer on that show?) where 80s fashion and teenage gyrations ruled the hour.

Ahh…nostalgia.

But that was then. Now, the USA Network is a healthy mix of syndicated series and originals. At any given time, you could be watching a rerun of one of the venerable “Law and Order” series to the latest episodes of “Monk,” “The 4400,” or “The Dead Zone.” And now, on Friday nights, you can add the hilarious “Psych” to that list.

“Psych” is about slacker-turned-crime-solver, Shawn Spencer (newcomer James Roday). Shawn isn’t exactly the most responsible person in the world. In fact, when we first meet him, we learn that he is the former holder of 51 different jobs. Through flashbacks, we learn that his man-child behavior may be in part to his upbringing under his police officer father, Henry (Corbin Bersen), with whom he has a tenuous and barely respectable relationship. While he may be a disappointment to his dad, his hyper-observant skills are keen.

And by hyper-observant, I mean Spencer can spot things with his just his eyes in a split second where it would take the CSI team HOURS. The boy has skills. But, according to his dad…too bad he’s wasting them.

In the pilot episode, Shawn’s attempt to avoid jail time by claiming he is a psychic lands him on the case of a missing spoiled heir. Smart-assed, but not stupid, Shawn realizes that he’s got help or it’s a cell for him. Dragging his best friend, Gus (Dule Hill), along for the ride, Shawn helps the local police department (much to the chagrin of the egotistical and hardened Det. Lassiter) solve a double murder thanks to his self-pronounced “psychic” powers. However he solved it, the interim police chief, Karen Vick, is impressed enough to ask for his assistance on certain cases on their payroll.

Money in hand and for the first time with a purpose, the Peter Pan-like Shawn opens up his detective agency with Gus. He calls the agency “Psych” (Now do you get it?).

I’ve watched the first two episodes and I couldn’t believe how hard I was laughing! Roday makes Shawn a mix of the wiseass that is Dane Cook, combined with the right amount of insecurity whenever he deals with Henry. I for one am sooooo happy that Dule Hill has found something to sink his teeth into after eight years on “The West Wing.” And it’s great to see these two interact. Gus’ geekiness and Shawn’s need to be the center of attention make this odd couple a really funny and different take on crime solving teams like the Hardy Boys.

There are so many crime shows out there, that it’s easy to make one a carbon copy of the other (and then spin it off into a billion other shows). But “Psych” is definitely something unique and has its place in the landscape of crime solving. Hey, someone has to solve the mysterious death at a spelling bee (That’s episode two!).

Catch “Psych” on the USA Network. New episodes air on Fridays 10/9c, with a repeat showing on Monday nights!