The first season of ''

Psych ''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observ ...

'' originally aired in the United States on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

television network between July 7, 2006 and March 2, 2007. Produced by

Universal Cable Productions Universal Content Productions (UCP) is an American television production company operating within the Universal Studio Group division of NBCUniversal. History Universal Cable Productions In July 2008, Universal Cable Productions was split off ...

and Tagline Television, the series was created by Steve Franks, who served as executive producer with Kelly Kulchak and Chris Henze. The

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

series focuses on

Shawn Spencer Shawn Spencer is a fictional character and main protagonist on the American television comedy-drama ''Psych'' played by American actor James Roday Rodriguez. Taking advantage of his eidetic memory and keen observational skills, he poses as a p ...

(

James Roday James Roday Rodriguez (born James David Rodriguez, April 4, 1976) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He is best known for starring on the USA Network series ''Psych'' as hyper-observant consultant detective and fake psychic Shawn ...

), a police consultant who pretends to be psychic, and his assistant Burton "Gus" Guster, a pharmaceuticals salesman. The season consisted of fifteen 43-minute episodes, which aired at 10:00 p.m. on Fridays. Franks conceived the idea for the show when producers at

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

requested he pitch them ideas for a TV program while he was working on the film ''Big Daddy''. Initially rejected, the concept was shelved for several years until Franks collaborated with Kulchak to create an hour-long TV show. USA Network picked up the program, initially ordering an eleven-episode season. Overall, the first season has received generally positive reviews from critics. Initially, the show was met with mixed reviews, with episodes later in the season receiving generally positive reception. Many critics compared the series to its lead-in program, ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

'', leading to negative opinions on the program's originality. The premiere episode was watched by approximately 6.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated scripted series premiere for a cable network. However, ratings decreased for the following episodes, with the next highest-rated episode achieving just 4.76 million viewers, according to the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

. The season finale, "Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast", received the best reviews of the season and saw an increase in viewership.

Cast

Main Cast

Dulé Hill Karim Dulé Hill (; born May 3, 1975) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as personal presidential aide and Deputy Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff Charlie Young on the NBC drama television series ''The West Wing'', for whi ...

as Burton "Gus" Guster *

Timothy Omundson Timothy Michael Omundson (born July 29, 1969) is an American actor. He is notable for his supporting roles as Sean Potter on the CBS television series ''Judging Amy'', Eli on the syndicated series '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', Carlton Lassit ...

Carlton Lassiter Detective Carlton Jebediah Lassiter MCJ is a fictitious character in the American sitcom ''Psych'', played by Timothy Omundson. Fictional biography One of the main supporting characters of the detective comedy-drama show ''Psych'', Lassiter is ...

* Anne Dudek as Lucinda Barry *

Corbin Bernsen Corbin Dean Bernsen (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor and film director. He appeared as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series '' L.A. Law'',

Henry Spencer Henry Spencer (born 1955) is a Canadian computer programmer and space enthusiast. He wrote "regex", a widely used software library for regular expressions, and co-wrote C News, a Usenet server program. He also wrote ''The Ten Commandments for C ...

Maggie Lawson Margaret Cassidy Lawson (born August 12, 1980) is an American actress who is best known for her role as Detective Juliet "Jules" O'Hara in the TV show '' Psych''. From 2018 to 2019, she held the recurring role of Nathalie Flynn on Fox's ''Leth ...

Juliet O'Hara Head Detective Juliet Lynn "Jules" O'Hara is a character on the American comedy ''Psych'' played by Maggie Lawson. She attended the University of Miami. Fictional biography Juliet O'Hara first appears undercover in the show's second episode, "Sp ...

Recurring Cast

Kirsten Nelson Kirsten Nelson (born October 3, 1970) is an American actress and director best known for her role as police chief Karen Vick on the TV series '' Psych''. Early life and education Kirsten Nelson was born in Enid, Oklahoma and raised in Chica ...

as interim police chief

Karen Vick Karen C. Vick (née Dunlap) is a character on the American comedy detective drama ''Psych'' played by Kirsten Nelson. Fictional biography According to Head Detective Carlton Lassiter's weblog, Vick replaced Police Chief John Fenich upon his retir ...

Liam James Liam James (born August 7, 1996) is a Canadian actor, known for his role as Noah Curtis in the 2009 film ''2012 (film), 2012'', List of Psych characters#Young Shawn, young Shawn Spencer on the USA Network television series ''Psych'', and the lead ...

, Josh Hayden, and Kyle Pejpar as Young Shawn Spencer *

Sage Brocklebank Sage Brocklebank (born January 14, 1978) is a Canadian actor best known for his role as Buzz McNab, a long-standing role on the comedy-drama '' Psych''. He also produces movies and writes for theatre and film. Career Actor Since 2001 Brocklebank ...

as police officer

Buzz McNab This is a list of characters in the USA Network original comedy-drama TV series '' Psych'' and subsequent movies that were released on Peacock. The principal cast of the series has remained the same throughout the series. However, various rec ...

* Carlos McCullers II, Julien Hill, and Isaah Brown as Young Gus *

Patricia Idlette Patricia Idlette is an American actress known for her role as Kiffany in Showtime's ''Dead Like Me''. She also appeared in four episodes of '' Battlestar Galactica'' as politician Sarah Porter, and as Melanie Blackstone in the miniseries '' A ...

as Police Officer Allen

Episodes

Production

Conception and development

Steve Franks originally conceived the concept for ''Psych'' while working as the lead writer for the 1999 film '' Big Daddy''. After he successfully pitched the film to producers with

, Franks was requested to come up with ideas for five new TV programs. He presented the shows to Columbia, who rejected all proposals. Among the outlines he presented was the source for Psych. After the programs were rejected, he shelved the ideas. Franks would not reopen the idea for Psych until several years later, when he met with producer Kelly Kulchak about creating a one-hour long TV program. After discussion, Franks presented the idea for ''Psych'', which Kulchak deemed to be "brilliant". After finalizing an episode draft for ''Psych'', Franks and Kulchak pitched the show to all major TV networks, including the

Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. The show was rejected by each network they presented the idea to. Kulchak stated that "it was a great pitch and that everybody laughed, but no one wanted to buy it". She attributed its rejection to the show's unique comedy–drama format, which was virtually unused by a TV show at the time. They then pitched the show to several cable networks, where it was again rejected. The final network Franks and Kulchak pitched the show to was

. The network "loved the concept", and decided to produce the show. Franks has cited multiple sources as inspiration for the show. His father, as well as multiple uncles, are former

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

officers; Franks has given real-life experiences as direct inspiration for numerous events which occurred in the first season. Franks later explained that his comedic inspiration for the program was that he always "thought it would be fun to apply my comic sensibility to a cop show". He has since explained that the inspiration for the fake-psychic concept in the show was due to a longtime wish to write a show about a man with "no psychic abilities but just had a great grasp of details". The program's unique comedy drama format has been explained by producers to have been inspired by several 1980s detective shows. A prominent source cited by executives and actors was the TV show ''

Moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job A side job, also informally called a side hustle or side gig, is an additional job that a person takes in addition to their primary job in order to supplement their income. Side jobs may be done out of nec ...

''. Other sources include programs ''

Remington Steele ''Remington Steele'' is an American television series co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from Oc ...

'' and ''

Simon & Simon ''Simon & Simon'' is an American crime drama television series that originally ran from November 24, 1981, to September 16, 1989. The series was broadcast on CBS, and starred Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as two disparate brothers who operate ...

''. USA Network first announced their potential broadcasting of ''Psych'' on June 17, 2005. The network stated that they had requested a pilot episode of the series, to be managed by Tagline Productions. The original working name for the series was "Psyche". It was announced on August 30 that the production for the show's pilot episode would begin shortly, and the episode would likely air in 2006. On January 5, 2006, USA announced the ''Psyche'' would be competing against ''

In Plain Sight ''In Plain Sight'' is an American drama television series that premiered on the USA Network on June 1, 2008. The series revolves around Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack), a Deputy United States Marshal attached to the Albuquerque, New Mexico, office ...

'', written by David Maples, and ''

Underfunded ''Underfunded'' is a comedy-drama made-for-TV movie that aired the United States cable television channel USA Network on November 8, 2006 at 10 PM EDT.

'', written by David Breckman, for air time and broadcasting slots. Later in January, the network confirmed that the pilot episode for the show would air later that year. They also announced that the show's name had changed to ''Psych''. On February 21, 2006, USA Network announced that it had ordered eleven one-hour episode scripts for ''Psych''. They confirmed that the show would take '' Monk's'' Friday night time slot, and that the pilot episode, planned to be two hours in length, would be broadcast on July 7.

Broadcast

''Psych's'' first season commenced broadcasting in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on July 7, 2006, and ended with the airing of "Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast" on March 2, 2007. The season's first eight episodes aired during July and August 2006, while the remaining seven were broadcast from January through March of the next year. For the entire first season, ''Psych'' aired at a 10:00 P.M. ET/ PT time slot on Fridays. Every episode in the season, save the premiere, ran for an hour, including commercials. Twelve of the season's fifteen episodes were 43 minutes in length, while "Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Piece" and "Woman Seeking Dead Husband: Smokers Okay, No Pets" ran for one minute less, and "Pilot" was a special extended episode. The episode "Pilot" ran for 66 minutes, in an hour-and-a-half time slot with commercials. The international version of the episode ran for an extended 90 minutes. USA Network's sister broadcast network

aired episodes from season 1 on August 7 and 14, 2016. The show's time slot had previously been occupied by the first season of USA Network's revival of ''

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular ''Cannon'' series, it ...

'', which lasted for ten episodes in mid-2005 before being cancelled. After ''Kojak's'' cancellation, the slot was replaced by hit series ''Monk''. The show was entering its fifth season, and received very high ratings in the Friday timeslot. Hoping that ''Psych'' would share in ''Monk's'' successful ratings, USA Network executives moved the fifth season to a 9:00 P.M. slot on the same day, airing directly before ''Psych''. The pairing was well-received, being called a "well-written comedy-mystery block that comprises some of the best two hours on television".

Crew

Tagline Productions and

produced the first season of ''Psych''; series creator and

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

Steve Franks was the executive producer, along with Kelly Kulchak and Tagline executive Chris Henze. Jack Sakmar, Kerry Lenhart, and

Mel Damski Melvin Damski (born July 21, 1946 in New York, New York) is an American director and producer of film and television. Life and career Mel Damski (born in New York, New York) is an American film director and film producer. Damski has Northern Eu ...

were co-executive producers, while Paulo De Olviera and Wendy Belt Wallace produced, and Tracey Jeffery was the consulting producer. Erin Smith was the production manager and Michael McMurray was the director of photography, while Allan Lee and Anupam Nigam acted as the season's script editors. David Crabtree, James Ilecic,

Allan Lee Allan Lee (born in Hamilton, Scotland) is a film editor who lives in Vancouver, Canada and works regularly in Europe, UK and Canada. Selected filmography *1993 – ''Highlander'' *1995 – ''Magic in the Water'' *1997 – ''Bliss'' *1997 ...

, and Gordon Rempel were the script editors. Music for the first season was written and composed by Adam Cohen, John Wood, and Brandon Christie.

Michael Engler Michael Engler is an American theater director, and a Directors Guild of America and Emmy nominated television director and producer. Theater His Broadway credits include '' Eastern Standard'', starring Dylan Baker, Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Con ...

directed the pilot episode, which was written by Steve Franks. The following three episodes were developed by Franks, who returned to write the season's tenth episode, "From the Earth to the Starbucks", as well as co-authoring the season finale with James Roday. Andy Berman, who would often present scripts which were a few dozen pages too long, wrote the third, eleventh, and twelfth episodes for the season. Executive producers Kerry Lenhart and John J. Sakmar collaborated to write the seventh and fourteenth episodes, with assistance from Douglas Steinberg on the latter. Script editor Anupam Nigam also wrote two episodes.

William Rabkin William Rabkin is an American television producer, television writer and author. Early life He did his undergraduate work at the University of Washington in Seattle, then attended UCLA, where he did his MFA in screenwriting and was a part of t ...

, who would later write a series of novels for the series, collaborated with

Lee Goldberg Lee Goldberg is an American author, screenwriter, publisher and producer known for his bestselling novels ''Lost Hills'' and ''True Fiction'' and his work on a wide variety of TV crime series, including '' Diagnosis: Murder'', ''A Nero Wolfe M ...

to write the ninth episode. Executive producer

, who had been nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama for his work on the series ''

Lou Grant Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), a half-hour light-hearted situation comedy in which the character ...

'', directed the second and ninth episodes of the season.

Michael Zinberg Michael Allan Zinberg (born March 22, 1944), is an American television director, producer and writer. Early life and education Zinberg was born in Bexar County, Texas to Dorothy Zinberg (née Rissien) and William Zinberg. Zinberg graduated fro ...

, who was working as a director on ''Monk'', was the only other person who directed more than a single episode; he directed two, the third and tenth episodes. The people who directed a single episode were ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...

'' director

Jeff Melman Jeffrey L. Melman (born May 18, 1947) is an American television director and producer. Melman has directed for several present-day network television series. More recently Melman has directed episodes of ABC's ''Grey's Anatomy'', ''Private Pract ...

, ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and developed by McElhenney and Glenn Howerton that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later FXX beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars Charlie ...

'' producer

Matt Shakman Matt Shakman is an American film, television, and theatre director, and former child actor. He produced and directed ''WandaVision'' and has directed episodes of ''The Great'', ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', '' Fargo'' and ''Game of Thro ...

, occasional '' Rescue Me'' director

John Fortenberry John Fortenberry is an American film and television director.

frequent ''

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...

'' director

Michael Lange Michael Lange (born March 1, 1950) is an American television director and record producer. Biography Early life Born and raised just outside New York City,

, frequent ''

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...

'' director John T. Kretchmer,

Tim Matheson Tim Matheson (born Timothy Lewis Matthieson; December 31, 1947) is an American actor and director. Some of his best-known acting roles include the title character of the 1960s animated ''Jonny Quest'' TV series, Eric "Otter" Stratton in the 197 ...

, who played

John Hoynes The television series ''The West Wing'' is a political drama series which was originally broadcast on NBC. During its seven seasons the ensemble cast of stars, recurring stars, and guest stars earned 157 acting nominations (often competing in t ...

on ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...

'', infrequent '' Weeds'' director Lev L. Spiro, long-time ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadcast ...

'' executive producer and director James L. Conway, ''

Growing Pains ''Growing Pains'' is an American television sitcom created by Neal Marlens that aired on ABC from September 24, 1985, to April 25, 1992. The show ran for seven seasons, consisting of 166 episodes. The series followed the misadventures of the Se ...

'' actress and experienced director

Joanna Kerns Joanna Kerns (born February 12, 1953) is an American actress and director best known for her role as Maggie Seaver on the family situation comedy ''Growing Pains'' from 1985 to 1992. Early life Kerns was born Joanna Crussie DeVarona in San Franc ...

, and movie writer, director, and actor

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal ...

Casting

Two actors received star billing for the first season, while three additional actors were considered part of the main cast.

portrayed

, a life-long slacker who uses his hyperobservant ability to claim he is a psychic. Dulé Hill plays Burton "Gus" Guster, a pharmaceutical salesman who is Shawn's best friend.

portrays detective

, the level-headed lead detective for the

Santa Barbara Police Department The Santa Barbara Police Department is a local law enforcement agency in the city of Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it ...

, and

represents

, the department's naive junior detective. Shawn's father,

, a former police officer, is played by

Corbin Bernsen Corbin Dean Bernsen (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor and film director. He appeared as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series '' L.A. Law'',

and

, the pregnant interim police chief is portrayed by

. By August 30,

and

had been cast to play the show's main characters. The network also revealed that

Corbin Bernsen Corbin Dean Bernsen (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor and film director. He appeared as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series '' L.A. Law'',

had been cast as another of the show's major characters. On April 27, USA Network announced that

and

would have starring roles in the episode.

Writing

All fifteen episodes of ''Psychs first season were written with a stand-alone plot, meaning that no episode built off of a previous one. However, the installments were noted that even though they were stand-alone, episodes often built on each other for character development and would occasionally reference each other, creating a feel of continuity. To save production time, nearly all the pilot episode was adapted from the original pitch to USA Network; the pitch focused on a man who would call in tips to the police department until he finally got mixed up in a situation with the police. The rest of the writing for the episode was added late in pre-production. Corbin Bernsen requested and was granted the addition of two scenes in the installment. Both involved his character confronting Shawn. The episode included multiple flashbacks, which in subsequent episodes were used as an opening scene. In the pilot, flashbacks were also included in the middle of the episode. The majority of alteration to the script occurred with the arrest of the episode's antagonist, a scene which the writers felt was never perfectly right. While in early development for the series, Franks and the show's writing team consulted several outside sources to help make the show seem more realistic. Franks regularly consulted with his family, especially his father, when writing the police-related aspects of the show. Some scenes from episodes were actually taken directly from the teachings of Franks' father. The opening scene for the pilot episode, where Henry Spencer asks Shawn how many hats are in the room, was a test that the elder Franks would challenge his son with. The show's writers and actors also met with actual psychics before writing and editing portions of episodes. James Roday met with two psychics before his performance in the pilot, and adjusted his performance to make it seem more realistic.

Filming

Franks wanted to set ''Psych'' in a city that reflected the show's personality; he knew that he did not want the show to be set in a big city atmosphere. While developing ''Psych'', Franks visited Santa Barbara during his honeymoon. He felt that Santa Barbara was the perfect place to set the show, but that they would be unable to film the show there. Executive producer

commented the filming of the show, that "We wanted to set and film it in Santa Barbara, but the area doesn’t really have enough crewmembers". After the show was approved, Franks began looking for places to film, settling for

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. He felt that Vancouver was "the next best location" to Santa Barbara. Although he chose to film the show in Vancouver, most of the show is actually filmed in the surrounding communities. About half of each episode is filmed in the Vancouver suburb of White Rock, including most scenes focusing on coastal areas. Portions of the episodes are also filmed in the mountain ranges surrounding Vancouver, and occasionally in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

around the city. The episode "Pilot" was filmed entirely on location in and around Vancouver. Due to uncertainty about the show succeeding, producers decided to film the episode at actual locations in the community, instead of on a

sound stage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a soundproof, large structure, building, or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or ...

. The decision led to several issues while filming. On multiple occasions the film crew had to alter several scenes and repeatedly re-shoot a scene. For the episode's opening, the film crew had only a few feet of space to operate and maneuver the camera. The multiple scenes involving the police station were filmed in a former children's hospital and army barracks and a supposedly "haunted" former

insane asylum The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...

. The decision to shoot outside also created multiple issues with weather. Filmed in November and December, the temperature while filming was usually between 1° C and 4 °C (33.8° F–39.2 °F). Rain also affected filming, forcing the crew to purchase and use multiple tarps and additional sound equipment. Artificial palm tree Warsaw 2010 cropped

Artificial palm tree Warsaw 2010 cropped

Following the success of the pilot episode and the troubles of filming it, the entire rest of the season was filmed on several sound stages. Aside from an occasional scene in the mountains or city, the majority of each episode is filmed on one of several stages at

North Shore Studios North Shore Studios is a film company located in the North Vancouver, British Columbia. Acquired by Bosa Developments in 2006, it was previously part of Lions Gate Entertainment and was then known as Lionsgate Studios. There are 8 stages tota ...

. Each episode is allotted a two-week window for filming. The first week is dedicated entirely to construct and alter the sets for that week's episode. In order to make the show seem more convincing, the set designers purchased and imported eight artificial palm trees,

surf board A surfboard is a narrow plank used in surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding an ocean wave. They were invented in ancient Hawaii, where they were known as ''papa he' ...

s, and large quantities of both real and fake newspapers. Several of the props, including the palm trees, had to be moved between sets while filming. The second week is devoted entirely to filming, which often requires several takes for each scene. The majority of the sets for the show are located within two warehouses on the North Shore Studios property. The police station occupies nearly an entire warehouse, while assorted other sets, like the Psych office, take up the other one. Henry Spencer's house was originally filmed at actual houses, moving from the one used in the pilot to one closer to the ocean before filming the rest of the season. Most of the sets were constructed shortly after filming for the pilot episode concluded. However, the design team disliked how some of the sets turned out, so several were altered before filming for the next episodes began. Before the filming for "Spellingg Bee" began, the Psych office was significantly expanded, becoming the second largest stage for the show and the office for the police chief was rearranged and repainted to brighten it. Although most episodes were filmed almost entirely on main stages and a few surrounding areas, a few installments required special sets and filming areas. Several parts of "Spellingg Bee" were filmed in a set designed to look like Santa Barbara's Arlington Theater, while other portions were filmed in a basement on the North Shore facility. For "9 Lives", the crew created a large, complex set for a fake suicide hotline company. A few scenes in the episode were filmed in a large apartment complex, portions of which they rented out for other episodes, like "Poker? I Barely Know Her". It was one of several episodes where the seven-day time restraint affected numerous shots. The majority of the episode "Weekend Warriors" was filmed outdoors, which led to many problems. The episode's filming was the most troublesome of any for the first season. Numerous logistical errors caused long delays and re-shoots for the installment. The episode nearly caused a delay in the entire show, but production on it was replaced by work on "9 Lives", and was continued after that episode was finished. It was one of several episodes which were filmed out of running order.

Music

The show's theme song, which functions as the main title music, was composed by the group The Friendly Indians. The song, titled "I Know, You Know" was written and performed by the band, which both Steve Franks and writer Tim Meltreger are members of, as the lead guitarist and vocalist, respectively. The group formed in 1991, and the song was their first original performance. The group went on hiatus due to the series, not performing from 2006 until 2010. A shortened portion of the song is actually used for the show. Other music for the show was composed by a team of musicians Adam Cohen, John Wood, and Brandon Christie. Music was generally used on the show sparingly, usually as a background during a scene. One of the few important instances of music was the short performance of a song called "Dazzle and Stretch". The song was an improvisation by Roday, which the crew loved. Just before the episode was given to the network, the music team composed and added an original piece to the scene. Most other instances of music were the playing of a radio, which was most apparent in "9 Lives".

Reception

Critical reception

Critical reception to ''Psychs first season has been generally positive. At the media

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the first season currently holds a 50% approval rating from critics, giving it an overall "rotten" rating. The score is based on reviews from twelve critics who gave the season an average rating of 4.9/10. Among the site's top critics, it holds a 38% approval rating with an average score of 5.4/10. The site's consensus states "Its premise is sure to draw comparisons to Monk, and Psych's lead character that is an acquired taste at best 'sic''.html"_;"title="sic.html"_;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html"_;"title="'sic">'sic''._At_review_aggregator_Metacritic.html" ;"title="sic">'sic''.html" ;"title="sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''. At review aggregator Metacritic">sic">'sic''.html" ;"title="sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''. At review aggregator Metacritic the season currently holds a rating of 58 (out of 100) from mainstream critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". The rating is based on twenty critical opinions, consisting of nine positive, eight mixed, and three negative reviews. Initial reception to the show was mixed. Linda Stasi, writing for the ''New York Post'' gave the show a highly positive review, saying that "it's not only laugh-out-loud-until-soda-squirts-out-of-your-nose funny, but it's also perfectly cast" and "'Psych' is just terrific". Writing for the ''

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'', television critic Maureen Ryan presented a positive review of the show, stating that the writers "manage to send up the trend in their clever new 'psychic detective' show while also charming the socks off the viewer" and that "if you like ''Monk'', you'll probably love this show, which may actually be even more enjoyable". ''

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'' television critic Melanie McFarland gave the show a generally favorable review, calling it "one of those happy collisions of an intelligent script and an appealing cast" as well as "more than adequate, thankfully for us". In his review of the show for ''

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'', critic Robert Bianco gave the pilot episode three out of four stars and called it "an auspicious debut" and stating that " he show'sgimmick allows for some clever comic jibes while creating some useful dramatic tension". Presenting a more mixed review, ''

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s Brian Lowry said that while "the 90-minute premiere does at least establish a premise with potential legs", "'Psych' isn’t nearly as much fun as it ought to be, offering a breezy but not particularly captivating twist on a very well-worn buddy formula". Amy Finnerty of ''

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'' also presented a mixed opinion of the show, saying that "the premise is promising", but also that Shawn and Gus' relationship "is a tired formula, and the pair's supposedly spontaneous banter feels forced". Tom Gliatto of ''

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'' gave the show a highly negative review, stating that it's "not in the same league. Or astral plane" with ''Monk'' and that "it's also like watching someone test Christmas lights for faulty bulbs". He gave the series an overall rating of one-and-a-half stars. The rest of the first season received very little mainstream critical attention. Reviews for the first few episodes were polarized; while one critic described several episodes as "unintentionally lackluster", "mildly boring", "a mediocre adventure in detective comedy television", and "drop

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in posthaste behind ''Monk''", another critic used terms like "pretty unique", "will only get stronger from here", and containing "manic personality". As the season progressed, critics from both

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and

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agreed that the episode quality continuously improved. IGN's Colin Moriarty stated that "Weekend Warriors" was, when "taken at face-value, ..both laugh-out-loud funny and more clever than we've given it credit for". Richard Keller of TV Squad praised the character development and acting quality of the same episode. The installment "Forget Me Not" was the first of the season to receive a rating of 9 out of 10 from IGN, which on their scale translates to "Amazing". Five of the following six episodes also received the same rating, with one episode given an 8.5 rating. Several episodes from the first season have retrospectively considered some of the show's best. Four installments, "Pilot", "Spellingg Bee", "From the Earth to the Starbucks", and "Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast", are part of two special DVD releases for the show. The first, titled ''Psych: Twelve Episodes That Will Make You Happy'' consisted of Steve Franks' favorite episodes. The second was made up of James Roday and Dulé Hill's favorite episodes, and is titled ''Psych: James and Dule's Top 20''. Writing for ''

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'', editor Amanda Lee named "Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast", "Shawn vs. the Red Phantom", and "Spellingg Bee" to her list of the show's best installments, and gave "9 Lives" an honorable mention.

Accolades

''Psychs first season received a total of five award nominations, winning one of them. Three of the nominations were for acting on the show. For his performance in portraying Burton "Gus" Guster in the episode "Spellingg Bee",

was nominated to win the award for "Best Actor–Comedy" at the 13th Annual NAMIC Vision Awards. The awards are organized by the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC), and are given for "outstanding achievements in original, multi-ethnic cable programming". Other nominees for the award were

Carlos Mencia Ned Arnel "Carlos" Mencía (born October 22, 1967) is a Honduran-American comedian, writer, and actor. His style of comedy is often political and involves issues of race relations, Latin American culture, criminal justice, and social class. He i ...

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, and

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. Hill lost the award to Mencia. The

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recognized James Roday's portrayal of Shawn Spencer by nominating him as the best actor in a comedy or musical series at the 11th Satellite Awards. Other nominees for the award were

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott (The Office), Michael Scott in ''The Office (American TV series), The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the The Office (B ...

James Spader James Todd Spader (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor. He has portrayed eccentric characters in films such as the drama ''Sex, Lies, and Videotape'' (1989) for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, the action scien ...

Ted Danson Edward Bridge "Ted" Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'', for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. He ...

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, and

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. Spader received the award for his work.

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, who appeared as a guest star in the episode "Shawn vs. The Red Phantom" and in the second season episode "If You're So Smart, Then Why Are You Dead", was nominated for Best Performance in a TV Series - Recurring Young Actor at the 29th Young Artist Awards. Presented by the Young Artist Association, the awards honor the best performances by young performers in television. Ten other actors were also nominated, with the award going to

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for his work on '' The Dead Zone''. In addition to the award nominations for acting, the season also received two nominations for other purposes. The pilot episode received a nomination for Best Comedy Pilot Casting at the 2007 Artios Awards. The Artios Awards are annually presented by the Casting Society of America and recognize the "originality, creativity and the contribution of casting to the overall quality of a project". The awards honor members of the Casting Society, and have been awarded yearly since 1985. Casting for theatrical, film, and television performances are all eligible. Liz Marx was listed as the nominee for the casting; she did not receive the award. The season's only win came at the IIG Awards. The awards are presented yearly by the

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and recognize "movies, television shows, and people in the entertainment field for promoting scientific knowledge and values". The awards were first presented in 2007, honoring the best and worst representations of science in the media. The show was honored with an Iggie Award at the inaugural ceremony, which was accepted by staff writer Daniel Hsia.

DVD release

The entire first season was officially released on DVD in Region 1 on June 26, 2007, becoming available in both the

and

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. The release came nearly a year after the pilot premiered. The

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is simply titled "Psych, the Complete First Season" and is marked with a green color scheme. The release set consists of episodes with

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5.1 surround sound and

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format, enhanced for television with a 16:9 aspect ratio, although not in high definition (HD). It received no rating from the

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. The set is distributed by

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, USA Network's parent company. The same set was released in Region 4 on April 30, 2008, being made available first in

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. It was first released in Region 2 on January 9, 2008, shortly before the start of season 3, with first availability being made in the

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. The entire season and each individual episode are available on the

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store. The box set includes all fifteen original episodes that aired on USA Network, which are divided into four separate discs. Subtitles are available in English for people who have impaired hearing, and the only available language for episodes is English. The first disc only contains a single episode, the pilot; however, several special features are also on the disc. Both an audio commentary with Steve Franks, Kelly Kulchak, and Chris Henze and a blooper reel are available for the episode. Also included are character profiles, the extended international version of the pilot, James Roday's audition tape, and two behind-the-scenes featurettes, ''Psych'' Revealed and ''Inside the Writer's Room''. The remainind discs have four or five episodes on each and contain a few special features. Included are audio commentaries for the episodes "Spellingg Bee", "9 Lives", "Weekend Warriors", "From the Earth to the Starbucks", and "Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast" with Franks, Kulchak, and occasionally Dulé Hill, James Roday, Henze, or the episode's respective writer. Deleted scenes are also included for the majority of episodes. The box set's materials combine for a total of eleven hours and nine minutes of footage. Currently ranked as number 4,713 in the Movies and Television category on

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and number 8,287 in the DVD and

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category at

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, the DVD release has received generally positive reviews from television critics. Scott Harris of ''UGO.com'' gave the box set a positive review, stating that the show translated "pretty well" to DVD. He praised the ability to "sit down and view an episode here or there whenever you want without making a giant production out of it". Harris also liked the set's special features, stating that they allowed viewers to "

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each episode into a giant production" and praised the inclusion of the special features on the discs alongside their respective episodes, instead of placing them on another disc. He summed up his review by stating that "it's a pretty neat little package when taken on an episode-by-episode basis" and that fans of the show would enjoy the release. Harris rated three aspects of the release; he gave the look a B−, the sound a B, and the extras an A−. In his review for ''MovieFreak.com'', critic Richard Scott presented a mixed-to-generally positive review of the set. Scott was positive about the audio and video, but presented a mixed view towards the extras. He enjoyed the commentaries, saying that they are "more chatty than informative, but everyone is relaxed, and the result is entertaining and fun", but was not favorable about the international pilot. Scott was generally mixed towards the deleted scenes and character profiles, but liked the blooper reel and called it "better than most". He gave the video and audio an eight of ten, and the extras a seven. Scott presented an overall rating of "Recommended" to the release. Reviewing the show and release for ''WF DVD Report'', Zach Demeter presented a generally positive review. He praised the set's audio and video, calling them "absolutely awesome" and being better than the show's original broadcast. He stated that the set has "cool packaging" but that it is "just a bit on the strange side". Demeter also praised the set's special features, but was disappointed by the short length of the blooper reel and other things like the full screen release of the features. He liked the commentaries and deleted scenes, but was mixed in his opinion on the international pilot. Overall, Demeter stated that it "comes with a high level of re-play value even after already knowing how the stories end" and gave the box set a rating of "Highly Recommended".

Notes

References

{{Psych Psych 2006 American television seasons 2007 American television seasons