Weekend Watch: Psych 2: Lassie Come Home
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, a new visit with old friends. And apologies for the slightly late delivery of this issue – mea culpa!
Psych might not represent the highest of high art (though its pun game often approaches that level), but I have always enjoyed the show. It’s a relatively easy sell: Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez), gifted with an eidetic memory, uses his superior powers of observation to pretend he’s a psychic, and, dragging nervy best friend Burton “Gus” Guster (Dulé Hill) into his schemes. Inveigling his way into a job consulting for the police, Shawn investigates murders and other crimes, quipping wildly along the way and constantly frustrating both his law enforcement “partners” and his former cop father Henry (Corbin Bernsen).
Created by Steve Franks, the show ran between 2006 and 2014, with the cast reuniting in 2017 for Psych The Movie. The series’ vibe is comedy procedural, albeit leaning much more towards the former, as Shawn and Gus both help and hinder the likes of Detective Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson, the perfect straitlaced foil to the boys’ nonsense) and Detective Juliet O’Hara (Maggie Lawson), who initially views Shawn with a blend of annoyance and indulgence, warming up to him to the point that they marry at the end of the first movie. Set in Santa Barbara (but very clearly shot in Vancouver), it was a reliably fun way to spend 42 or so minutes, with the occasional diversion into pop culture parody a welcome treat and even weaker episodes carried by the charisma of the cast.
Lassie Come Home catches us up to the current situation while adapting to real-life circumstances for one of the cast. Lassiter, who Shawn has always called “Lassie” (hence the subtitle), has been badly injured in the line of duty and, following surgery and a stroke, is in a rehabilitation centre. It’s all to account for the fact that Omundson suffered his own stroke in 2017, and the characters have plenty of gentle fun with the concept while welcoming him back to the cast. Also returning? Lawson, Bernsen, Kirsten Nelson as Chief Vick, Kurt Fuller as oddball coroner Woody and, in a small dream cameo, Jimmi Simpson as Mary Lightly. It’s such a joy to have the ensemble back on our screens, their chemistry unchanged despite the years that have passed. The show has lost none of its appeal or quick-witted style.
The actual mystery might not be all that much of, well, a mystery, but then Psych is rarely all about the crimes: they’re simply part of the delivery system for the laughs, and there are plenty to be found here, including Gus getting the chance to veto the weird names Shawn always uses to introduce him and the welcome presence of Scrubs veteran Sarah Chalke. Providing some gravitas (as well as a link to Hill’s past work on The West Wing) is Richard Schiff. Even if they both prove the theory that the more recognisable the guest star, the more likely they are to have something to do with the crime – it’s called The Columbo Rule.
If you’re a fan of the series, this is certainly a welcome return, and if you worry that you’d be scratching your head over in–jokes and oblique references, you might be right. But it’s worth checking out regardless. And I’m telling the truth.
Psych 2: Lassie Come Home debuted this week on Peacock, NBCUniversal’s entry to the increasingly crowded streaming service market. I’m still waiting to learn when the service will launch in the UK, or when the show might make it over there.