I had such a good time watching the first season of Psych that I could hardly stop watching. Usually I like to be doing something else when watching tv, blogging, sorting parts, etc. How much I get done depends on how wrapped up in the show I get. I found I didn't get much done while watching them. At the core of the show it's just a detective using his special skills to catch crooks but there's a nice sense of humor that makes me laugh. The show's tag line is All The Law. None Of The Order. The series is the brain child of Steve Franks who's previous credit was the story for the Adam Sandler movie Big Daddy. Franks wrote several of the shows first scripts and that one of the things that really attracted me to the show. They are fun, there are lots of popular media references, plenty of good jokes, some suspense and a bit of heart. James Roday plays Shaun Spencer, a free spirit, fairly smart, excellent memory and highly observant. His police officer father, Corbin Bernsen, had trained his observational skills since he was young, drilled him on police procedures, all furthering the goal of the lad following in his footsteps. The episodes open with a scene of young Shaun and Corbin and lessons in life and detecting. Many of these are scenes of young Shaun getting caught doing something wrong and having some punishment. The guy in the nice gray suit is Dulé Hill. He was a regular on West Wing which I hadn't seen. He was the onion man in Holes which I had seen and really enjoyed. In Psych he's Shaun's best friend Burton Guster. Nearly everyone calls him Gus and he's a bit of a whimp, smart though. He has a good taste, sells pills to doctors for a living, and he's got knowledge that Shaun doesn't. The two of them together are fun to watch. Shaun is pretty much a party guy and not one to stay in a job for long. All his past experiences come in handy in his psychic sluthing.
In the opening episode Shaun calls in a tip for a crime he sees covered on the news. It wasn't the first time he'd done this and the local officers have become suspicious about all his knowledge. If he doesn't spill the beans about how he knows all this stuff they'll toss him in the slammer. To save his ass Shaun lies and claims to be psychic. Using his powers of keen observation he tricks them into thinking it might be true. The end result is the crimes are solved. This turns into a job for Shaun and his sidekick Gus. Timothy Omundson plays Detective Carlson Lassiter and Maggie Lawson plays Detective Juliet O'Hara. Kirsten Nelson plays Chief Vick. All are good characters and the actors play them well. There are a slew of goofy characters that come in for an episode or two and a few semi-regulars. Usually there's a murder but they aren't gorey or gruesome. Sometimes there's a second subplot that occasionally ties in with the main investigation. The second show has Shaun and Gus at a spelling bee contest where a man is murdered. There's a robbery that turns into murder, a murder during a Cival War reenactment, then a ghost tries to kill a guy which is followed by an episode with Shaun and Gus at a Science Fiction convention with George Takei in a goofy guest spot. Richard Kind, Frank Whaley and Kurtwood Smith turn up in other episodes. There were 15 episodes in the 4 discs set. It was on sale at Target Black Friday weekend with seasons 2-4 for 8 bucks each. It was cheap enough to take a chance and I certainly feel I got my money's worth with this series. I'll be watching the rest of the discs eventually.
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