Needless to say, the world has become a rather surreal place ever since March 26, 2014, when the USA Network’s long-running series Psych aired its final episode.
A reality TV star now runs the country. The Chicago Cubs have won a World Series. Man buns and rompers have become things. However, just in the nick of time, Psych has returned to provide relief with a two-hour reunion movie set to air on USA Thursday, December 7. To celebrate the show’s (brief) return, here are the 10 best things (in no particular order) about having Psych back on TV.
1) This could be the start of a new TV tradition.
Not only is Psych:The Movie airing during the holiday season, it also features little touches of Christmas throughout. So, perhaps in the years to come, this story of “psychic” detective Sean Spencer (James Roday, who also co-wrote the script with Steve Franks) and partner Burton
“Gus” Guster (Dule Hill) chasing a mystery assassin will be as classic as the adventures of the Grinch, Rudolph and Charlie Brown.
“I don’t know that anything can replace Charlie Brown,” admits Roday.
“Or A Christmas Story,” Hill adds.
In fact, the whole idea of there being anything Christmas-y “was reverse engineered,” according to Roday. “We wrote a script we felt good about and then the network said, ‘By the way, it would be dope if this was a Christmas special. So we said, ‘Yeah, we’re Psych! We can do anything we want.”
Including doing another reunion movie with a different holiday theme. Explains Roday, “We’re the one show that could pull of a very special Arbor Day episode.”
2) Psych: The Movie teaches millennials the meaning of nostalgia.
The original Psych aired from 2006 to 2014 on USA, developing a huge following with a younger audience that was looking for something more challenging than what they found on Disney Channel.
“We do get a lot of people saying how they grew up with our show,” says Hill. “Then they say how thankful they are that we did this movie. When we were on the air, I knew we had a pretty wide spectrum of people in our audience so for younger people who’ll see this movie it’ll be a big throwback. Although hearing this from them has made me feel pretty old.”
“You feel old?” adds Roday. “Hearing that makes me feel like Kris Kristofferson.”
3) Roday and Hill finally got to sing “Happy Birthday” again.
The show’s two stars remained close even after Psych ended. “I live in Dule’s garage, so I see him pretty regularly,” Roday jokes. “Or at least when he parks his car.”
However, they haven’t stayed as close with the crew they worked with for eight seasons on the show’s Vancouver, Canada set. Doing the movie gave them a chance to reconnect and partake in one of their favorite Psych traditions.
“We liked to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to whoever had just wrapped an appearance on the show,” Hill explains. “And at the end of the final episode, we all sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to the series. So this time, before we shot our first take, the entire cast and crew sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Psych:The Movie. It’s a tradition that hasn’t made it into an episode yet but maybe someday.”
4) Now we know the city where the most intense Psych fans live.
To promote the movie, Roday and Hill attended screenings in Los Angeles, New York and….Salt Lake City?
Fans across America were asked to vote on what other city should host a screening followed by a question and answer session, and Salt Lake City came out on top.
“We were surprised but only because it’s a smaller market going against major cities,” says Roday. “We’d passed through Salt Lake earlier this year to just tease the fact that we were making the movie and got an absolutely incredible response. So know that happening, we weren’t exactly shell-shocked to hear that was the city that won the screening.”
5) Gus finally gets lucky.
It took eight seasons and a three-year hiatus, but “Gus” Guster has actually landed himself a girlfriend (played by series newcomer, and Hill’s real-life fiancée, Jazmyn Simon) in Psych: The Movie. Hill won’t reveal much about his character’s love interest, but he does promise the relationship will satisfy fans. “I mean, it’s about time Gus got a lady, don’t you think?”
6) At long last, Psych gets to pay tribute to David Bowie.
Roday and series creator Steve Franks have long been fans of the late singer and “we tried at least three times to convince him to come out of retirement to be on Psych,” he says. Needless to say, that never happened. Still, Roday and Franks were able to slip a little bit of a nod to Bowie by casting Zachary Levi as a villain who uses the legendary rocker’s nickname – The Thin White Duke.
“I think Zach’s fans will love hearing him using a British accent, and with blonde hair,” Hill explains. “They should also enjoy seeing him as a sinister character.”
7) This could be the beginning of a new beginning for Psych.
Does this movie mean that there will be more Psych in the future? Roday and Hill seem pretty optimistic they’ll be re-reuniting again soon.
“That’s going to be up to the fans,” teases Roday. “If they want more, they need to watch this one first. But I know I’m always up for more. This show changed and enriched our lives, so I can’t envision a world where we ever say ‘no’ to doing more.”
8) Making Psych: The Movie gave Hill the chance to bust out his winter sweaters.
Hill admits that Roday “makes me laugh, both when we’re on camera and away from it.” However, there’s one thing he didn’t miss about working with his friend. “His trailer is too damn cold. There’s no reason for a trailer to be as cold as his.”
Counters Roday, “Nobody’s twisting his arm to come into my trailer.”
“I’m just wanting to bond with a cast mate,” Hill responds. “I just want to come by and say hello and you force me to freeze my ass off. It’s very rude, if you ask me.”
Back to Roday. “Hey, it keeps me sharp! It keeps me from getting drowsy and sacking out. I get hot quickly, not unlike a large dog. So keeping it cold works for me on many levels. And by the way, despite his attack on my trailer temperature, there’s nothing negative at all that I can say about Dule. Killing 25 to 30 minutes on set waiting for him to show up for his scenes is always worth the wait.”
“Let me clarify, if I may,” says Hill, eager for the last word. “The only reason I’m late is because I had to go thaw myself out after being in your trailer. It’s very hard to do a scene professionally when your teeth are chattering.”
9) Timothy Omundson fans can be reassured that he is going to be all right.
Omundsen played straighter-than-an-arrow Detective Carlton Lassiter for all eight seasons of Psych. However, right before production began on the movie, he suffered a stroke and wasn’t able to film his scenes. Because he was such an important part of the Psych family, Roday and company still found a way to give their friend a sentimental moment.
“He’s our dear brother and family member, and it wouldn’t be Psych without him,” Roday explains. “He couldn’t join us for the shoot but we captured a scene with him later that we put into the movie. He lets his partner Juliet (Maggie Lawson) know that she’ll be okay with the crisis she’s facing and I hope fans will see that as a metaphor for (Omundson) letting everyone know he’ll be okay.”
10) It’s okay to be “Psych-o” again.
Psych fans are affectionately known as “Psych-os.” And now that Psych: The Movie is about to premiere, Hill has a very special catchphrase from the show to deliver to all for them.
“As long as they want to see us on television, we’re going to be there to deliver that,” he explains. “There’s nothing I love more than being able to once again tell our fans, ‘Suck it! Suck it hard!’ They’ll appreciate the significance of that!”
