Before I say anything more about "Psych," let me remind you that two of USA's most successful original series are "The Dead Zone," about a psychic, and "Monk," about a detective.
So it would only follow that "Psych" is about a detective pretending to be psychic. Hmmm. Can you hear the pitch meeting now?
"You know guys, we're doing so well with 'Dead Zone' and 'Monk,' -- maybe we could find a way to combine the two? Oh, but instead of casting veterans like Anthony Michael Hall or Tony Shalhoub in the lead, let's get a cocky young guy. And we'll give him a smart-straitlaced sidekick. And maybe we can get someone established to play dad to our cocky young star. Is Corbin Bernsen available? Hmm. And you know, our abduction show 'The 4400' is also doing well. So maybe the new show's pilot could involve a kidnapping?"
Well, maybe I'm way off. But still, "Psych," feels very manufactured. Here's the plot: Shawn Spencer (cocky, young James Roday) is the wise-cracking ne'er do well son of a no-nonsense cop (Bernsen). As a kid, dad taught little Shawn to be uber perceptive, noticing things like how many people in the local greasy spoon were wearing hats while eating their breakfast.
Grown Shawn is, as a result, able to solve crimes faster than the local police. When he sees the manager of a recently-robbed store interviewed on TV, he picks up on the man's nervous ticks and immediately (correctly) pegs him as the robber.
The police, annoyed by this smug know-it-all, arrest Shawn, assuming he is somehow involved with the crimes he solves.
He protests that he is not. Then how, ask the cops, can he solve the crimes so quickly?
Shawn, thinking fast, tells the cops he is psychic. Now, I'm no cop, but it seems to me that explaining that he's just really smart would be more believable to the cops than hearing that he's a psychic. No matter -- the police buy it, and soon Shawn is working for the cops, with the help of his trusty, straight-laced best buddy Gus (Dule Hill of "The West Wing").
This all greatly annoys Shawn's dad, from whom he is now estranged.
And there you have it. Now, "Psych" is not awful. Though Roday walks a fine line between being charming and being annoying, he mostly stays on the charming side. And he has two good foils in Hill and Bernsen. Bernsen in particular exudes a nicely weathered vibe as a disappointed dad.
No, "Psych" isn't bad. It's just unnecesary. It's too derivative of other, better shows, and its strong points just aren't strong enough to making up for an overall sense of familiarity.
Plus, USA's done it no favors having it follow the season premiere of "Monk." Now, "Monk" isn't that original a show, either. It's reminiscent of lot of other private eye shows. But it's made engaging and fun by a game cast, headed by Tony Shalhoub as obsessive compulsive detective Adrian Monk.
The new episode is particularly strong, and features dynamite character actor Stanley Tucci as a nutty thespian preparing to play Monk in a movie. Tucci and Shalhoub have worked together before, in the well-received indie "Big Night," and their chemistry is as good as ever.
It's a sharp, funny hour of television, and makes "Psych" look just like what it is -- a wan imitation.