Psych
Psych has been renewed for a fifth season, TVGuide.com has confirmed.
The super-sleuthing USA comedy — which stars James Roday as a fake psychic who solves crimes with his excellent observational skills and Dulé Hill as his best friend and partner — has been given a...
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Cybill Shepherd by Mathew Imaging/WireImage.com
Sorry, couldn't resist. The coveted role of James Roday's TV mom on Psych has actually gone to Chuck Lorre's BFF ex-Moonlighting P.I. Cybill Shepherd. Not nearly as exciting as Meryl Streep, but, c'mon, still a fun piece of casting. Shepherd will appear in at least two episodes, beginning with the third-season premiere on July 18. According to a USA insider, her character, Madeline, is a private practice psychologist who, after spending a few years abroad, returns to Santa Barbara to pay her ex-hubby (Corbin Bernsen) and son a visit and ends up helping them with a case. She's described as being a free spirit and the source of Shawn's adventurous side. Ma Spencer was actually introduced in the final moments of the Season 2 finale when she showed up unannounced on Shawn's doorstep; viewers, however, did not see her face.Hey, Psych fans — does the idea of a Roday-Shepherd-Bernsen confab give you good or bad vibes? Sound off below!
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USA Network has renewed the Friday-night drama pseries Pysch for a third, 16-episode pseason to air in psummer 2008. Over the course of its psophomore run (which concluded this past Friday), Psych averaged 4.6 million total viewers and was the No. 1 cable pshow in its time pslot.
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Question: I wanted to echo TaMara's recent "Ask Matt" comments about the improvement of Psych. When the show's first season received quite a bit of attention last summer, I thought it was being overpraised. Though billed as a detective comedy, sometimes it was tough to sort through James Roday's antics and find any genuine comedic moments. But Season 2's writing has been crisper and far more focused. Even the cops are funny this year. Also, rather than emphasizing the often antagonistic father-son relationship that drove the first year, this season's stories have wisely been mostly driven by the best-friend camaraderie of Roday and Dulé Hill's characters. Hill in particular has shown a flair for physical comedy that is a delightful surprise after all his dramatic work on The West Wing, while Roday's overacting has been thankfully toned down since he doesn't have to do all the work. In my opinion, the show has been the superior of the Monk-Psych combo most weeks this summer (not that ...
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James Roday and Dulé Hill, Psych
To see if life would imitate art, TVGuide.com recently spent a night at River Rock Casino in suburban Vancouver with James Roday and Dulé Hill of Psych, USA Network's breezy buddy series (airing Fridays at 10 pm/ET) about a bogus psychic and his put-upon partner who run their own detective agency. Turns out the two are just as zany off camera as they are on screen. "We make each other laugh to the point where we ruin takes," reveals Roday, who says the wisecracking duo are known for ad-libbing, hiding the crew's equipment, organizing poker nights and breaking out into '80s songs.
"They sing nonstop on set," confirms Roday's real-life girlfriend and costar Maggie Lawson, who plays detective
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James Roday, Psych
One of TV's most appealing new sleuths is fake psychic Shawn Spencer of USA's Psych (Fridays at 10 pm/ET). The tongue-in-cheek cases of James Roday's boyish, temple-tapping Sherlock have rapidly become a Friday-night mainstay on the cabler, which has already renewed the series for a second season. Roday talked with us about "faking it" and much more.
TV Guide: Shawn is a really charming and noble con man. Does conning people come naturally to you?James Roday: I'm going to have to say no. I try to live my life with the "honesty is the best policy" philosophy.
TV Guide: Are you a free spirit like Shawn?Roday: I wish there were more of Shawn in me. I have a lot of respect for people who live from moment to moment and go places on a whim.
TV Guide: Why does Shawn even bother to pr
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Dulé Hill, Psych
After seven seasons of serious politics on The West Wing, Dulé Hill is enjoying tapping into his silly side on the USA crimedy Psych, which begins the back half of its freshman season this Friday, Jan. 19, at 10 pm/EST. As Burton 'Gus' Guster, the pent-up best friend/reluctant accomplice of bogus psychic Shawn Spencer (James Roday), Hill huffs, pouts, rolls his eyes and protests all of his buddy's schemes to no avail. He's the Cameron Frye to Roday's Ferris Bueller, if you will. But while Hill is technically the second banana, he ends up with the lion's share of laughs due to his endearing portrayal of a neurotic nerd. Hill chatted with TVGuide.com about his two si
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Question: If CBS' The Class breaks all of the sitcom rules, why is the cast entirely Caucasian? FYI to CBS and David Crane, non-Caucasians also can be lecherous, kooky, neurotic, etc. And while I'm on the topic of race, how interesting would Psych be if Dulé Hill played the psychic and James Roday played the uptight best friend?
Answer: David Crane was challenged on this very subject during his Q&A at the critics' press tour, and he apologized for the oversight. Honestly, though, if I were doing a show about my own third-grade class, it would also be monochrome, with no minority representation. I'm not proud of it, but that's the truth. Maybe Jason Ritter's character just happened to go to an elementary school like mine. But of course you're right. It is a blind spot on many network shows. As for Psych, the role reversal might have been refreshing, especially if nothing were made of the ethnicity of the lead. But given how well Psych turned out, and how much chemistry there is betwee ...
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Question: Thanks so much for your review of the new USA series Psych. I had read a scathing review of it in an entertainment mag and almost decided to skip it. Luckily, I tuned in and have really enjoyed the first two episodes. It's the perfect companion piece for Monk. This show has real potential, and I hope others aren't discouraged by the "snarky" reviews by critics who don't see how much better Psych is than 70 percent of the comedy the Big Four networks are producing these days. Thanks for turning me on to what I think is a diamond in the rough.
Answer: My pleasure. I'm not sure what magazine you were reading (how disloyal of you!), but most of the reviews I read were largely positive, although some naturally chose to compare it unfavorably to Monk. I think the show and star James Roday are a delight, and I hope the numbers hold throughout the summer. ...
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Corbin Bernsen, Psych
It's easy to take potshots at Corbin Bernsen. Although he was nominated for a pair of Emmys during his eight-year run as womanizing divorce attorney Arnie Becker on L.A. Law, his subsequent projects have been spotty. For every A-list appearance — a recurring role on The West Wing, the first two Major League films — he's made D-grade duds, numerous low-rent TV-movies and th
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