DVD Review: Psych: The Complete First & Second Seasons: James Roday, Dule Hill, Corbin Bernsen, Psych: Movies & TV

May19

DVD Review: Psych: The Complete First & Second Seasons: James Roday, Dule Hill, Corbin Bernsen, Psych: Movies & TV

Posted by admin | on 19 May, 12:24 PM

DVD Review: Psych: The Complete First & Second Seasons: James Roday, Dule Hill, Corbin Bernsen, Psych: Movies & TVI know, you know, that I’m not tellin’ the truth,

By E. A Solinas “ea_solinas” (MD USA) -
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)

Actual detective shows are kind of hard to find now — let alone a funny, well-written detective series with a hilarious twist. That’s where “Psych” comes on, on the heels of “Monk.” While the first season needs a bit of ironing, “Psych: Complete First & Second Seasons” does a good job blending comedy and mystery, and gives us some lovably fradulent guys to follow the adventures of.

Shawn Spencer (James Roday) was trained to be ultra-observant and intelligent by his strict, humorless father Henry (Corbin Bernsen), who wanted him to be a cop. And though he is determined never to be a cop (he doesn’t even have a steady job), Shawn can glimpse clues and details that nobody else notices — even the police. Even if he only sees them on TV.

But it backfires when he reports his observations to the police, and is arrested as a suspect. To save himself, Shawn pretends to be a psychic — and the gimmick works so well that he decides to do it professionally. So he drags his very reluctant pal Gus (Dulé Hill) out of a boring job, and they end up regularly hired by the police chief, despite the skepticism of Carl Lassiter (Timothy Omundson), who doesn’t buy their act.

And so they set out into a variety of cases: death at a spelling bee, a haunting at a sorority house, a wedding tainted by theft and murder, a ghostly stalking, a cat used as a witness, Civil war reenactments, a comic book convention (where they mess with George Takei’s head), alien abductions, speed dating, underground poker, and organizing a surprise birthday party for Lassiter.

And the second season is no less uproarious when Shawn and Gus have to protect a verbally abusive Simon Cowell clone (Tim Curry) and deal with crimes involving a dinosaur, Yuletide murder, fixed horse races, murder at a telenovela, nanny-related thefts, bounty hunters, chop shops, a murder committed by a 3000-year-old mummy, and even a run-in with a crazy megarich woman that Gus once drunkenly married during spring break.

Most shows aren’t really able to strike a balance between comedy and mystery, but “Psych” does. The mysteries are light and fun, and the people making it actually seem to be enjoying themselves — no hardcore crimes, gore and grimness. Instead there’s still lots of comedy, spoofery, silly dialogue (”It’s spontaneous psychic krav maga!”) and enjoyable mysteries, usually involving some unusual plot twists (strangulation by mummy bandage? Refrigeration trucks?).

Each episode is a well-done little mystery, usually with some solid whodunnit material, dozens of pop culture references (from James Bond to wikipedia). Not to mention the hilarious dialogue (”My name is Ichabod Fletchman, Sticky-Icky to my boys”) and kookiness (Shawn’s pseudo-mystical “episodes”) that keeps it from ever being dull — mostly supplied by Shawn, but everybody gets some fun time. Gotta love that.

There is a slight flaw, though — in the first season, a disproportionate number of the guilty parties seem to be pretty young women. Fortunately this starts lessening as time goes on. The mysteries get progressively tighter, and the writing cleverer and funnier (”I’m never doing anything blindly with you again! I learned that at the Mexican border. Twice!”).

Roday is hilarious and brilliant — charming, funny, likable, pleasant, and completely devoid of any dignity (”IIIIII hear a voice!”), with some great full-body acting. Shawn is one of those people who is half luck and half talent; no matter how outragous he gets, things somehow always work out. Hill is equally great as his intelligent, responsible, geeky sidekick who tries to keep them out of serious trouble.

On the official side of the cast fence, we have the crusty, hard-nosed Timothy Omundson and tentative love interest Maggie Lawson (”an enigma wrapped in a little blonde riddle”) to round off the cast. Corbin Bernsen also makes regular appearances as Shawn’s dad, who considers his son a walking freakshow but privately indulges in spray-tans and radioactive shirts.

“Psych: Complete First & Second Seasons” is a delightfully frothy mix of comedy and mystery, with solid scripting and likable characters. Definitely a good show to keep an eye on.
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