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America is going crazy over the fake psychic who solves crimes! ...Except they've been going crazy about this guy's show for three seasons already. USA's detective comedy Psych returns on Friday with new episodes, and we got the chance to talk to stars James Roday (Shawn) and Dulé Hill (Gus) about what's coming up in terms of romances, guest stars and possible references to a certain other psychic investigator.
Quite a few people have noticed similarities between the new CBS show, The Mentalist and Psych. Have you seen the show? What's your take on that?
James Roday: I mean, there's no point in trying to pretend the show wasn't influenced by us. Mimicry is the most sincere form of flattery, and I think the fact that someone saw something in our show that was worth reproducing on a much larger scale, I think it's kind of cool. But look at every show on television; it's derivative of another show that came before it. It was only a matter of time. So all you Mentalist fans, it's okay to like the show, but don't be in denial of where it came from. Friday nights, USA, basic cable-style baby.
Dulé Hill: Yeah, hats off to Steve Franks, because he's the one who created Psych. Obviously, someone picking up on your idea a little bit, to me that would be an honor. And I think we could probably have some fun with the idea of The Mentalist being on TV. You'll probably see Shawn and Gus make some references to it.
How much fun do you have making all of the pop-culture references on the show?
James Roday: You know, Dulé and I are kids of the '80s and '90s, and so are Shawn and Gus. The show is a reflection of what these characters grew up with. And it's basically just a free-for-all, like, "What's the most obscure thing you can come up with?" and you just put it out there. It's like a natural sort of Ginkgo biloba, because as I get older I'm losing track of all that useful information that I used to have at my fingertips. And, you know, half the time Dulé doesn't even know what I'm talking about, which is fun, because it becomes an education for him and a trip down memory lane for me.
Dulé Hill: I would say like 83.2% of the time I have no idea what he's talking about. I have to get the explanation afterwards. But on-scene, I act like I know exactly what he's talking about.
Roday: He commits to it and it's genius. And you buy it and it's awesome.
Do you guys joke around on the set a lot?
Hill: Pretty much from the time we get to work to the time we leave, unless we start getting tired, we're joking or having some fun somewhere.
Roday: Dulé likes to hide equipment, too, I would say.
Hill: I'm good for hiding the boom from Jon Lavender -- he's a boom operator on our show. And the focus puller, he has a little gadget to, I guess, focus the camera, and I'm good for putting that in a drawer somewhere if they put it down and they look away.
Roday: The slate. You like to hide the slate.
Hill: Yeah, the slate. I'm good for that, too. If you put something down and you look away, I'm taking it and I'm going to hide it.
James, what's it like working with Cybill Shepherd?
Roday: Once you get past the whole multiple personality disorder thing, she's an absolute doll... I'm kidding. She doesn't have multiple personalities. That was an old TV movie from the '80s that I was riffing on. Cybill is a pro, man. She's an iconic figure. And any time you work with that, you have to get over that initial sort of phase of, "Gosh, that's Cybill Shepherd. Do you think she'll let me touch her?" And then you realize wow, she's really jazzed to be up there with us and she thinks the show is fun. She bought into our vibe and our sort of silly self-image right away. Thumbs up for Cybill Shepherd.
Any more guest appearances we can look forward to before the end of the third season?
Roday: Ted McGinley came up, and his hair is just as ridiculously awesome as it ever was. Mykelti Williamson came up -- he's playing a quarterback, which for me it was like it might as well have been 1986. I was in the theater watching Wildcats with popcorn. Who else did we have? Mackenzie Astin, Justine Bateman... We have a return appearance from Rachael Leigh Cook. Yeah, read into that what you will. And let's see, we're forgetting... oh, Jonathan Silverman, who was one of the nicest guys in the business that you will ever meet.
Hill: He likes to be called Johnny Silver.
Roday: Johnny Silver, the Streak.
Between Shawn hooking up with Gus' sister in the Christmas episode this year, him getting friendlier with Juliet and the return of Rachel Leigh Cook's character, are there any plans for a substantial romance on the show?
Roday: You know what, I think you might just see something like that happening sooner rather than later. I mean, the idea of Shawn trying to negotiate a relationship with a woman is brand-new territory. I have no idea how it's going to go, but I do have a feeling that we're going to sort of scratch at something like that, as you'll see, if you can make it to the fifth season. If I were to list five options -- E being all of the above, hello? -- Juliet would be in there and Abigail, which is Rachael Leigh Cook's character, would be in there. But, you know, we might throw you a couple of curve balls along the way, too.
What is it about the show that keeps people in the house on a Friday night?
Roday: The short answer is Dulé's head, and he has the longer answer.
Hill: I just think that, you know, it's a great show that after a hard workweek you can come home, take it easy. You can be with your family. It's an adult show or a children's show. I think the show kind of brings people back to memories of their childhood. I mean we're pretty much two geeky kids in a candy store and who can't relate to that?
Roday: You know, there are probably some people out there that found out very early in life that they might have been diabetic or couldn't eat sugar, or whatever. And those people probably can't relate to being kids in a candy store, and I just want to put it out there that we're not discriminating against those people. They probably are able to enjoy the show in a different way. I just wanted to put that out there for our fans' sake. We love all of them, whether they could eat candy as a child or not.
Catch the return of Psych this Friday, January 9, at 10pm on USA.
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I LOVE PSYCH
And these guys are hilarious.
I LOVE PSYCH!
It has one of the best cast on tv! The references make me laugh. And when I watch Psych in rerun, I often catch stuff that I missed the first time or laugh harder than the first time.
Shawn & Gus would be the coolest guys to hang out with a bar. And I am sure that James & Dule are equally as funnier in real life.
P.S. I am glad someone is acknowledging The Mentalist similiarities. It was driving me crazy that people thought The Mentalist was dropped from the sky.
I love psych too!
I love psych too!
I hate that Entertainment Weekly always rips on Psych but just trips over itself praising The Mentalist. Psych is awesome!!
Psych's always good fun. I tried watching The Mentalist, to get me through the mid-season break, but the show's just... very "by the numbers" and a little too slow. Psych may not be terribly deep or complex, but at least it's entertaining.
I love these guys and the show. And yes, I've always known that 'The Mentalist' didn't come up with a completely original "hook" .. BUT they really are 2 different shows. 'The Mentalist' is really more of a procedural show and the "hook" makes it different from other procedurals. 'Psych' is not a procedural show by any means. And I love it for everything it is and isn't (and I have still been watching 'The Mentalist' and liking it well-enough for what IT is and isn't).
I love Psych Too!
I like The Mentalist but if it wasn't for Simon Baker I wouldn't probably watch when Psych has this nice and funny atmosphere that makes me love every characters and episodes!
Very good and funny show.
Simon Baker is the only reason I watch the mentalist. Robin Tunney is a show killer, and the rest of the cast lacks any sort of chemistry. Without Baker this show would have been cancelled by now.
Psych on the other hand, is made of awesome. Easily on of the most amusing shows I've seen on TV in a long time. The whole cast is great.
Psych is one of the main reasons I look forward to Friday night! James Roday and Dule Hill are a perfect foil for one another, and I can't wait to see what happens between Shawn and Jules.
Psych is one of the main reasons I look forward to Friday night! James Roday and Dule Hill are a perfect foil for one another, and I can't wait to see what happens between Shawn and Jules.
Too bad their characters are ripoffs of JD and Turk from Scrubs.
Puhlease, Psych & The Mentalist are two different shows. One's a comedy, one's a drama. One's about a dude faking a pyschic, one's about a dude who dispels the myth promoting that pyschics are fake.
James even said it himself. Every show these days is derivative from another. 95% of shows on TV right now are in some part rip-offs from other shows. The Mentalist also has a bit of House going for it too. And House itself is partly a rip-off from all the Sherlock Holmes styles shows on prior to it.
Yep The Mentalist has quite a few major aspects of Pysch. But Pysch has a few aspects of shows say, Monk. And like Pete said above, their characters are very JD & Turk-like.
So the whole thing of it originating from Friday nights, USA. Hah, no.
And for the record I like both of them. Though I do favour The Mentalist, not much can beat Simon Baker and his wonderful hair.
I love Psych. Are we getting recap from TWoP?
I'm sorry but The Mentalist is Psych without the funny. And the funny is why I love that show.
I'm sure The Mentalist is good in its own right (tried one episode and it wasn't my kind of procedural) but clearly the idea was done by Psych first and that's undeniable.
Love James and Dule. They are hilarious.
LOVED the Christmas epiode, especially. Snoopy dance!
I adore Psych and I love The Mentalist (Simon Baker and his killer smile make me swoon). Obviously the similarities are there but both shows are different in their own right. Psych definitely has elements of Monk and other shows and The Mentalist has the elements of many different shows (Monk, Psych, House, etc.) but I think the cast for both shows are great (yes, Robin Tunney included who I've grown to accept) and the leads (James, Dule,and Simon) are wonderful in their respectable roles.
And I must confess that once I saw that TWOP was doing an interview with James and Dule, I kind of squealed. Shawn and Gus are one of my favorite tv friendships.
I just spent a month and a half back home with my Dad undergoin chemo. He had never seen the show but I brought my DVDs. He laughed at every show (how can you not) and is now a fan. Thanks guys!
Aww, I love this Q&A! I like knowing Dule is a prankster on the set as well. He and James work well on and off the set, and I think that's why their chemistry is so fun to watch!!
Aww, I love this Q&A! I like knowing Dule is a prankster on the set as well. He and James work well on and off the set, and I think that's why their chemistry is so fun to watch!!
Great Q&A. Of course the Mentalist was inspired by the success of Psych. It's not a ripoff, but I could fully see some CBS network dude thinking, "What a great concept. We should have a guy like that, but not a fake psychic. It'll be procedural." And there's nothing wrong with that. Yeah, look how much Psych gets from other detective shows, ala Monk, as noted. I think in the beginning of the pilot of The Mentalist, the similarities are joked on, with a couple of wisecracks about Jane and fake psychics. Hell, Jane was even a fake psychic in his backstory. It's just a different take on the concept, which is also not wholly original. No biggie. And as melodramatic as it can be, don't forget that The Mentalist has a certain amount of humor to the main characters, which I could fully see characters like Shawn or Jane having, although Shawn has the slacker fear-of-failure underachiever thing, and Jane has the humiliated-devastated tragedy thing in his background. Some of the best moments of The Mentalist are Jane's very dry-witted jokes, especially when he teases people, which he does repeatedly. Such as the rock-paper-scissors with the one sheriff, or trying the Simon Says method of getting a killer to identify himself amongst a group by raising his/her hand. It's a serious show, but then it has this lighter edge to a potentially dark main character that kind of makes it unpredictable and interesting. And Psych, well that's just too fun not to watch.
I really love psych tv show. It always make me laugh