TV Review: Psych

Poking fun at the current trend of shows about psychic detectives, USA network's new series Psych is fun and clever. Shawn Spencer (played by James Roday) was trained by his overbearing detective father (Corbin Bernsen) to notice and process all the little details, so he too could be a detective. Instead, he turned out to be a goof-off and after having a series of brief or dead-end jobs, was turned down by the police. In the pilot, he calls in a tip to solve a robbery after seeing a report on the news, and when the police decide the only way he could have known who did it is by being an accomplice, he instead convinces (some of) them that he's psychic.

Dragging his best friend, Gus, a pharmaceutical salesman with a nerdish streak, along with him, he begins to be assigned (and occasionally commandeers) investigations. The police chief especially isn't convinced of his "powers" but after he starts solving cases, assigns him more. He and Gus open their own investigations firm, which he cheekily names "Psych" - a ploy which opens up the series nicely to cover more than just police cases.

The conflict in the episodes have been provided by the standard incompetent grouchy cop who hates him and his own father who worries that he is going to be embarrassed by his son and that faking the psychic moments is mocking real police work.

The dialogue is fun and clever, and the relationship between Shawn and Gus is closer to partners than hero and sidekick, as Gus often provides the actual knowledge to help solve the crimes, while Shawn puts that together with the clues he can see. When Shawn spots something significant, the camera zooms in on it and it's highlighted, though not always explained immediately, allowing the viewer some time to make up his own guess.

If you can catch the pilot and the first few episodes as reruns, you should, and if not, you can still jump in now and easily catch on. This is a good series with a lot of room to grow.