USA’s Psych goes into its eight season next year, giving us more antics from pseudo-psychich Shawn (James Roday) and his best friend Gus (Dule Hill) as they assist the Santa Barbara Police Department with solving crimes. Shawn possesses a very specific set of skills, allowing him to notice and recall tiny details of what he’s seen, letting him solve crimes without going through the hassle of actually becoming a police officer.
Psych’s creator, Steve Franks, has been known to write episodes that are influenced/parodies of various pop culture items, and his newest adventure involved writing a two hour musical episode. The musical is set to premiere in December of 2013, and during press interviews at San Diego Comic Con, we couldn’t help but ask about the unique episode, and here is what we learned.
The Cast Didn’t Have to Take Special Lessons or Training
Kirsten Nelson (Chief Vick) said, “We’re all singers already, so we didn’t do anything different [training], just warm-ups and lots of water.” She also explained how the crew was completely surprised when they heard the cast sing: “They were like ‘Damn, is that really you guys?’” Yes it is! Every actor sang their own part, we didn’t use any kind of stand in.
You Won’t Hear a Lot of Singing from Henry
Corbin Bernsen (Henry) reports: “I say about four words. It’s just the way it all played out. I guess Henry isn’t much of a singer.”
It Was No Surprise to the Cast
According to Kirsten Nelson, the musical episode is something Steve Franks has been planning since the pilot, but couldn’t find the time to write it. “They’ve just been trying to just figure out when to fit it in and to actually write the music to make it happen. We’ve been on board from the beginning…anxiously awaiting.”
It Won’t Feel Like a Fish Out of Water
Some musical episodes just feel weird for some shows, but Nelson assured us that is not the case withPsych. “It’s not like Buffy where it’s like ‘oh there must be a curse on us’ or something. It [breaking out into song] made sense in the scheme of our world.”
Lassie and Shawn Get Physical
The musical episode has Detective Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) and Shawn (James Roday) doing the tango together. If you’ve seen the show, you know the relationship between these two is complicated at best, making the tango a real surprise. According to the two actors this was something they’ve wanted for a long time. When asked about the dance, Omundson joked, “I did not realize how satisfying it would be to tango with that man. It just felt right.” Roday echoed the same sentiment, “Tim and I have wanted to be that close together for a very long time. The fact that Steve finally gave us an outlet for all that suppressed homoeroticism, it just flowed together.”
James Roday and Dule Hill’s Favorite Moments
We’ll have to see the episode to truly understand what’s happening here, but Roday said that there was a moment with Yang that was truly touching. “I think it was oddly poignant and very well executed. That to me was a surprising moment when I watched it.” And Hill was blown away by the opening sequence. “It really wasPsych the musical. Shawn was singing, me coming along, and dancers were dancing behind us.”
After hearing all this, and know how excited the Psych fans were after seeing the episode at SDCC, I can’t wait to see these guys in action, singing and dancing. Dule Hill is a trained tap dancer so he gets to put those skills to use in this episode. Plus, I’m curious to hear those beautiful singing voices. The episode’s plot revolves around a musical show in Santa Barbara. Guest stars for the episode include Anthony Raap as the musical’s playwright, Brooke Lyons as the playwright’s muse and original member of the cast, Barry Bostwick as the womanizing businessman and owner of the Santa Barbara Theater, and Ally Sheedy reprising her role as Mr. Yang.
Watch Psych Wednesdays at 10PM ET/PT, 9PM CST on USA channel.
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Originally posted on Fan TV.
