Customer Reviews

Psych: The Complete First Season

5 star:		(98)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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 it could use a bit more ironing, this clever series 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.

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.

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. That's what makes it so enjoyable.

The mysteries are well done, but each one has enough funny dialogue ("My name is Ichabod Fletchman, Sticky-Icky to my boys") and kookiness to keep it from ever being dull. Between kooky mysteries -- usually with Shawn flailing around in his pseudo-mystical act -- we get to see what turned him into such a weirdo, and his current relationship with his sarcastic father.

There is a slight flaw, though -- a disproportionate number of the guilty parties seem to be pretty young women. Fortunately this starts lessening as the season 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, while the crusty Timothy Omundson and tentative love interest Maggie Lawson round off the cast. Corbin Bernsen also makes regular appearances as Shawn's dad, who considers his son a walking freakshow.

"Psych's" first season is a delightfully frothy mix of comedy and mystery, with solid scripting and likable characters. Definitely a good show to keep an eye on.

Shawn Spencer (James Roday) is a loser. He's drifted from job to job ever since graduating from high school. The one thing he absolutely knows he doesn't want to do is become a cop. That's what his dad (Corbin Bernsen) has been training him to do since he was a little kid. Growing up, he learned how to observe every little detail at a glance.

Even though Shawn has no desire to be a cop, he can't stop himself from calling in tips to the local police based on news reports he sees. After one such tip, he finds himself under suspicion for knowing too much. He quickly talks his way out of it by pretending to be a psychic. In fact, he's so convincing, Chief Vick (Kirsten Nelson) hires him on a part time basis to help with difficult cases.

Shawn is usually teamed up with Detectives Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) and O'Hara (Maggie Lawson). Lassiter doesn't believe a word Shawn says and usually tries to trip him up. O'Hara is skeptical but can't deny what she sees Shawn pull off time after time.

Also along for the ride is Shawn's best friend Gus (Dule Hill). Gus is reluctant to get involved in the cases, but Shawn drags him in anyway. And the two have to deal with plenty of exciting cases. There's a heir who is kidnapped, murders at a spelling bee and a comic convention, dastardly deeds at a high society wedding, and an urban legend that may be repeating itself.

This show is a blend of comedy and mystery. It airs right after Monk on USA, and is a perfect fit. While that show is often melancholy, this one is high energy. In fact, sometimes, it's a bit too over the top. But most of the time it's fun.

As with many shows, it took a little while to hit its stride. The first few mysteries are rather weak and the focus is on Shawn doing his fake psychic thing. When the show returned from hiatus with "Forget Me Not," (easily my favorite of the season) it found the right balance. The show is still hilarious but the mysteries are much tighter.

And the comedy has something for everyone. It's got fast, witty dialog, absurd situations, and full body slapstick.

The DVD set is packed with lots of extras. There are plenty of deleted scenes and one or two commentaries per disc. The first disc contains two versions of the pilot, behind the scenes segments, and some hilarious bloopers. My only real complaint with the set is the lack of episode descriptions. The titles are given, but they don't always trigger my memory as to what the episode itself is about.

The show took a while to find its footing. But once it did, it became lots of fun.

Okay, other reviews have explained the premise, so I won't re-hash that. Some of the things that impress me the most about this show is the level of quality, and that it is consistently entertaining. Sadly, as a Monk viewer, I cannot say that the past couple of seasons of that show have been of a consistent high quality - some have been downright painful to watch, for which I blame different writers and directing. Hopefully PYSCH will be able to maintain its quality of writing, acting, and directing. The cast of PSYCH is superb - beyond the two leads, we have an excellent supporting cast, plus Corbin Bernson just lends something to the show that just seems to take it up a notch on the grin-factor scale. The writing is SO good - rarely do I watch even good episodes of MONK twice, but with PSYCH, I actually enjoy watching episodes through multiple times, and will share scenes with friends (eg. the cat in the car with Gus). The show doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is, but what it is, is a sharp, witty, snappily-paced crime mystery show. Other than watching my Yankees baseball, it is presently the only show on television that I very much look forward to every week, and will actually plan around. I hope that you will find it enjoyable, too.

Okay so I love Psych, I am ADDICTED I can not wait until it comes out on DVD. So here it does not mention any extras, but I was at USA's website and clicked on the link for the Psych DVD and it says:

USA Network's latest eccentric sleuth, Shawn Spencer (James Roday), is on the case again with the Season One release of the hit show Psych on DVD. Relive every hilarious moment as quick-witted Shawn and his skeptical best friend Gus (Dulé Hill) race to solve crimes while deceiving the police into believing in Shawn's so-called psychic abilities. And take a deeper look into the Psychfiles with exclusive bonus features, including a behind the scenes featurette, actor audition tapes, character profiles, and much more. Also featured in this must-own 4-disc collection is the 2-hour international pilot with 15-minutes of additional footage!

Hope that helps...I can't wait for it to come out!

When Psych started advertising the first season in July of 2006, I'll admit I had my dobts. At first glance it looks like a cheesy rip off of Monk - Season One. I wasn't even going to watch the show which premired after the 1st episode of Monk's 5th season.


But I am so glad i decided to watch the premire. Even after the first episodes, I wasn't sure it could live up to all the hype and the reputation of "Monk". As the season progressed it was obvious that this was a genuine TV show. Each episode is very similar yet, never quite the same. Every episode starts off with a flashback of Shawn's childhood which ties in to Shawn's current predicament.

The characters are very well casted and there is never an episode that goes by that doesn't make me laugh. The show combines the usual dective/mystery aspect with a bit of comedy which makes the show PERFECT.

I highly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of "Monk". Great show can't wait for more episodes to come.

We love Psych! Even the kids can watch it with me. Some of the more adult humor is over there heads. I loved Monk and didn't think another show could be as good, but Psych cracks me up even more. I have many favorite episodes but the season finale had me in stitches. It was a spoof on horror movies and Dule Hill waving his belt around did me in! This is the first time I have ever bought a TV show season on video. I usually just get them from my local library. But my kids begged me to buy it and it was wasy to give in. Can't wait for it to arrive!

This show hooked me almost from the beginning. There is some physical comedy, what with Shawn failing about with his pretend visions, which is normally a turn-off for me. But the chemistry between the actors is almost flawless. Gus's deadpan reactions to the antics and Lassiter's reluctance to even be in the same room with the duo both make for great viewing. It still cracks me up almost every time Shawn calls him Lassie even though it shouldn't. Somehow, it just never crosses the line into silly.

There are pop culture references sprinkled throughout (mostly from the 80s) that might even spark some nostalgia. I highly recommend watching this one.

Amanda Hamm, author of Dear Jane Letters

Sadly at this present time there are no DVD features listed. But I can tell you the show is wonderful. In a world (Our real world) where it's hard to find TV shows with a shred of quality Psych has lots of it and it's original. He is exactly what the show says he is. Shawn Spencer in a fake psychic detective. And when you watch the show it's absolutely hilariousness when he pretends to have a psychic vision. It's a comedy, not a serious show. So when he is having a psychic vision all the right people believe he's telling the truth. But he actually has a photo graphic memory. His Dad knows the secret, his partner can't believe they keep getting away with it and the real detective knows he's a fake he just can't prove it and Shawn keeps on solving the cases.

It's a great show. At least rent it if you don't buy it.

Too many shows come along today that don't live up to expectations; thankfully, Psych is not one of those shows. With quirky characters and interesting storylines that have me wondering till the end (something that usually doesn't happen)Psych is a breath of fresh air in the pot of redone ideas usually found on TV today.

The only critique I have of the DVD set is--Where are the PSYCHOUTS????? I wait for these at the end of every episode and could not believe they are not on the DVD.

Even with this one misstep the DVD has plenty of extras to make watching fun. Psych is a welcome addition to USA's cast of "Characters".

Great show, good DVDs but where are the psych outs, when the shows were originally broadcast they did cool little song snippets during the credits sung by the cast, very funny stuff, perfect thing to put on a dvd set... but they're not on here. otherwise a decent set, some deleted scenes and a couple of commentaries, just the lack of all the extras they could have put on here makes it feel kind of mediocre. this show deserves better.