Psych (Series Premiere)

Cafe Society
#1

OK, it doesn’t premiere until tomorrow night, but thanks to On Demand, I watched it already.

I have to say I really enjoyed it. Although in the same vein as Monk, it’s more casual, even silly, and I enjoyed the two leads. James Roday (the fake psychic who relies on his powers of observation) is the classic slacker character who you’d hate in real life but is funny on the show (though he’s walking a tightrope, since the character could become over-bearing if they’re not careful). Dule Hill (from West Wing) plays a good straight man and lets more of his comedic skills through in an effective deadpan way.

Sure, some of the observations/conclusions were a bit far-fetched, but I like that the camera highlights what he sees, so we’re given an opportunity to piece together the conclusion ourselves before the “reveal” (though, again, I hope they don’t use this excessively to dumb the show down). Nothing really distinctive about the supporting cast, though Timothy Omundson threatens to be too obvious of a nemesis for our “hero”.

All in all, no great shakes, but I liked its breezy style and the two leads, so it’ll make a good companion piece for Monk (which is also funny, but more melancholy).

#2

Ooooh, sounds good. I’m glad you did a thread; otherwise I would have forgotten to watch. I’m ready to like any show that portrays humans as having (and using) their brains.

#3

No relation to James Randi, then. :eek:

#4

I liked it. It was annoying at times, and stupid at times, but it’s the first episode, and I’m always willing to cut it a little slack first time out. I think it has some promise, although they seemed to be trying to cram too much backstory in at one time. The bit with his dad just felt too obvious and one-dimensional. Dad is gruff, overly demanding, but deep down inside is proud of his son. Son is bitter and pretends to not care, but deep down inside really wants to make his dad proud. Hopefully they’ll work that out better or just drop it in later episodes.

#5

the show makes me want to start being more observant :wink:

#6

Well, then. Close your eyes. How many hats in the thread?! (Not counting beanies.)

#7

5, not including the one in your pocket… er, post. But admittedly they were all buried in other things. :slight_smile:

#8

My thoughts exactly. I liked it, and I’m willing to give it another couple of episodes, especially since it comes on after Monk. Just one more reason to keep my lazy butt on the sofa.

#9

I’m just happy to see a show where the skeptical viewpoint is proven correct. Not counting Scooby Doo. I’m not the kind of spoilsport who can’t suspend his belief to allow for aliens psychics etc in entertainment, but it’s still nice to see an antidote to all the psychic themed shows that have sprung up recently.

Besides that, I agree with the above. They’ve still got a few kinks to work out but overall quite strong.

#10

I enjoyed it, and it looks like a keeper. The big potential problem I see is that if his partner and the cops continue to disbelieve him, all the time, in every episode, it’s going to get annoying. Let’s hope they don’t.

#11

I also meant to say that I really like the visual device of ‘highlighting’ the obscure things he notices.

#12

It wasn’t bad for a first episode. It does have potential though, so I’ll be watching next week.

Will someone spoil the last five or so minutes for me please? The last scene I saw was the part when James called the police station from the car, and pretended to be a security guard.

#13

The police show up, and arrest James and um… Charlie, but James yells out his theory about the dog bites. The (interim) chief (and hey, pregnant woman who’s pregnancy isn’t a plot point, that’s kinda cool) decides to take a look at it, and the murderer spits out a confession. What a sad end for the former commander of SG1. O’Neil must be devastated. Later, when James goes to the station to collect his paycheck, the chief is talking to his dad. James is surprised to hear that dad supported the psychic story. The chief gives him another case, and there’s a touching father/son moment where dad chews James out for running a scam, but James notices that he has a clipping of his solving the case in his car. James shows Charlie his new office and tries to talk him into joining. He isn’t entirely successful, but does get him to go along on the new case.

#14

Thanks Menocchio.

#15

I enjoyed it. I liked the outtake at the end when Roday went through how the crime was committed and Dule Hill was singing in the background. There was good chemistry between them throughout.

And I like the ‘Dead Zone\Monk\Psych’ teasers they’ve been playing.

#16

Especially the one where Johnny uses his powers to discover the secret of the fruit punch.

#17

The obseravant among you will understand why I was pleasently suprised that this show supposedly takes place in Santa Barbara. With the possible exception of the exterior of the police station, none of it was filmed here though.

I enjoyed the show and will continue to watch it. I love how it mocks the concept of psychics.

#18

I have nothing original to add. But Dulé Hill is so adorable I want to put him in my pocket. His range of epressions, from grudgingly obliging, to outright skeptical, to morally indignant were hilarious. He’s the perfect foil to Spencer. And it’s kind of cool how he notices things that Spencer doesn’t, so he’s not just the bumbling Watson to Spencer’s Holmes.

And I agree that it’s nice to have an entertaining show that takes a skeptical point of view and explores the interesting ways that people are tricked, and how they want to believe. I hope it does something to combat the prevailing attitude that only the paranormal is interesting and that skeptics are closeminded killjoys.

I was impressed with that the way that Spencer was more or less forced into it. One of my worries from the previews was whether I could enjoy a comedy about a faux-psychic conman, but it was very deftly handled.

#19

Thanks to this thread, we watched a repeat of the pilot and liked it. It is good to have some shows to replace favorites that are off the air. One problem with Tivo is that since you aren’t watching commercials, you don’t see ones for promising new shows.

#20

I’ve seen quite a few of the teasers but not this one. Can you elaborate?