Returning for the second half of its first season is USA‘s Psych, the story of Shawn Spencer (James Roday), a twentysomething with a gift for perception who convinces the Santa Barbara Police Department that he’s a psychic solving cases from missing persons to murders in the quiet coastal town. The first season of the series was a bright spot at the end of the summer season balancing a great level of humor along with the standard drama of a detective show, much akin to USA‘s Monk.
As the series returns January 19th for a second run the show brings back the familiar scenarios in unfamiliar circumstances as Shawn and his childhood friend Gus (Dule Hill) strive to make their town a safer place. The subtly of the shows humor is not lost as sight gags blend well with wordplay. The second season premiere also keeps the routine of flashing back to Shawn’s childhood in a situation that impacts the outcome of the crime in some way, usually for the better.
Much to the dismay of the police department, Shawn continues to show them up in many of the cases they are assigned as Detective Lassiter (Timonthy Omundson) fails to believe Shawn’s “gift” at every turn while his open-minded partner Juliet O-Hara (Maggie Lawson). Providing additional foil for Shawn’s antics is his father, a perfectly cast Corbin Bernsen still channeling Roger Dorn from Major League.
When I reviewed the first part of the season last summer I did question whether the series would have enough steam to keep up the farce that Shawn was a psychic long enough to make it hold up over time, but as the season went on, and now into the new batch of episodes, Psych seems to be hitting its stride with fun stories, and excellent dose of humor making the show a pleasure to watch.
This run’s debut, “Forget Me Not”, guest stars Kurtwood Smith (That 70’s Show) as a former police captain attempting to tie a twenty year old cold case to a recent mountain lion mauling. In the typical Psych fashion things aren’t always as they seem, and a series of misadventures and predicaments await our heroes in locating the true killer. What more could you ask from an entertaining Friday night program?
Psych’s first season continues Friday, January 19 on USA. Check your local listings for time an appropriate channel.
