Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Prepare to say “peace out” to Psych



USA Network announced Wednesday that the current eighth season of Psych would be its last.

I can’t say I’m surprised. Every season we got new episodes of Psych seemed like a gift to me – and eight seasons is a really good run, especially on cable.

Still, USA never gave the show the respect it deserved.

At its heart, Psych is a show for grownup children – like me.

Shawn and Gus have done some maturing over the years, but they’re really just big kids that like to get in trouble.

The genius of Psych is that fans were in on the gag, right from the beginning. The show about a fake psychic that was hyper aware of his surroundings could have gone either way. Since Psych as always willing to make fun of itself, it went the good way (unlike The Mentalist, which took itself too seriously, and went the bad way).

Psych was a pop culture nerd’s greatest joy – with homage after homage. Some of my favorites? Friday the 13th episode (series star James Roday is reportedly a huge fan) and the Twin Peaks episode, which is so surreal it has to be watched multiple times before all the in jokes become obvious. Check out my absolute favorite episodes in another blog I wrote here.
Well, the two biggest ones would be the

Over the years, Shawn and Gus took on werewolves, vampires, ghosts, serial killers, reality television and Ally Sheedy.

While the duo were an example of immaturity at its finest – the truth is, the show’s greatest accomplishment was in the sense of family it projected.

Corbin Bernsen played Shawn’s curmudgeon father, Henry, but through the years we saw that Shawn and Henry really had a lot in common and truly loved each other. Sure, Henry made Shawn jump through hoops for help -- and Shawn got perverse joy out of publicly embarrassing Henry -- but these were characters that made you feel like you were watching a real family.

Maggie Lawson (Roday’s real life girlfriend) lent her sparkly personality – and bring smile – to the suspicious and loyal Juliet. She was often the straight-man to Shawn and Gus, but she did it with bravado and charm.

Perhaps the best character, though, was Carlton Lassiter. In the capable hands of Timothy Omundson, Lassiter started out as a rigid jerk with no code. Through the years, he was still a rigid jerk – but he was one that showed a lot of loyalty and heart.

The core of this crew had so much chemistry you couldn’t help but want to tune in every week for a good laugh.

The news of Psych’s cancellation is kind of a double-edged sword for me. On one hand, we’ve had a good run and I don’t want the show to get tiresome. On the other, it still makes me laugh – and letting go of the Psych family is like letting go of a kooky member of my own.

Any way you look at it, I will miss the show and characters a great deal. At least it lives on via DVD.

The series finale of Psych is scheduled to air on March 26 -- although show-runners haven't ruled out a movie to tie things up in the future.
What do you think? Will you miss Psych?

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