Psych. The Single Best Show on TV or What?

[Proper Dave]

I've mentioned this elsewhere, having finally found the Season 4 box set in the local CEX, after it somehow managed to bypass the chaos that is HMV and Smiths.

It is, precisely, what it is - and what it is bleeds joy. It's a callback to the sheer dumb fun of movies and shows we remember from the 70's and 80's, when they were good, and is the only current show I can think of that genuinely celebrates male friendship without undercutting it with irony and hidden condemnation. It's a couple of guys arseing around and cracking each other up, and if you have a problem with the occasional Boob Joke, to the point where you can't forgive it, then you're dead to me.

The box sets are worth the price simply for the commentaries. There are lots of em, and everybody involved piles in to contribute and keep on cracking each other up. They love what they're doing, have the time of their lives doing it (freezing their arses off in Toronto notwithstanding) and just want to share the fun.

Psych is, simply, the most value and fun you can have for the ten quid or whatever you spend on a box set. It's fortunate that they're so cheap - but positively criminal that the show seems to be so underrated. Shawn should investigate that, along with his trusty sidekick, Ghee Buttersnaps.

[Roger Godpleton]

I'm going to say ... no.

[Proper Dave]

What's better, then? :p

[Roger Godpleton]

If we're talking comedies, I currently enjoy Archer and Always Sunny the mostest. My favourite dramas would be Breaking Bad, Mad Men and Justified.

[Van Dom]

I'm with you Dave. Well, it's my favourite show anyway. Great cast, great characters, great fun and just the right amount of self-awareness and piss-takery. There's very rarely a dud episode. Shawn and Gus are a great team and the banter between them is always hilarious. You're only up to season 4 though?? I think its on 6 at the moment - and its still as good as ever, I'm happy to report!

[Mike Carroll]

I wholeheartedly endorse Dave's endorsement of Psych - it really is absolutely top-drawer stuff. One of those rare shows that you can watch over and over and still find something new. It's packed with daft jokes, thoroughly endearing characters and some of the best dialogue every written...

Shawn: Gus, note to self. Remember 1600 Joshua Lane.

Gus: You can't give me your note to self. It's a note to yourself.

Shawn: Fair enough. At that moment Shawn found himself alone, unable to face the journey ahead.

Gus: You can't do your own omniscient narration either.

Shawn: Let's see what's at 1313 Mockingbird Lane.

Gus: That's the Munsters' house. It was 1600 Joshua Lane.

Shawn: Thanks, note to self.

It's just a shame that it seems to have been almost completely ignored on this side of the Atlantic, to the point where, when you try and tell people about it, they go, "Oh, so it's like The Mentalist." Luckily, the writers of Psych have an answer for that, too:

Shawn: You've seen "The Mentalist", right?

Cop: Yes!

Shawn: It's like that.

Gus: Except that guy's a fake.

Shawn: Right. If I was a fake psychic, it would be eerily similar.

Gus: Exactly the same.

Shawn: A virtual carbon copy.

-- Mike

[Tiplodocus]

Hang on? "The Mentalist" is a fake?

[TordelBack]

I have no idea what you people are talking about, but I like the reverent tones you're using.  To the internet!

[Proper Dave]

The single favourite episode I've seen so far is season 4's Let's Get Hairy - which is a bit unfortunate cos it's not indicative of the show as a whole and is playing around with it. So it's not the one to jump in on if you don't know and love the show already.

It contains a number of bum jokes which, I can vaguely imagine, might offend some. Then again, it has the triumphant payoff of Joshua Malina's punchline to those jokes, and what is simply the best self-aware movie reference sequence that I've ever seen.

[Van Dom]

The Hitchcock homage episode is my favourite. Think its the last ep of season 4? Its one of the Ying-yang killer episodes. All those Hitchcock movies referenced and paid tribute to in one single episode. Bliss.
Also, the Twin Peaks episode.

Another thing I really love about it - its a small thing but it makes a difference - is how they regularly change the opening theme to tie in with whatever theme the episode is playing on. The Twin Peaks one I mentioned had the Psych theme re-tooled with the Twin Peaks music and even had Julee Cruise sing it. To mention just one of many examples.

[JOE SOAP]

If we're talking comedies, I currently enjoy Archer and Always Sunny the mostest. My favourite dramas would be Breaking Bad, Mad Men and Justified.

I figured you more for a Desperate Scousewives man.

[Roger Godpleton]

My favourite song is Jar of Hearts.

[JOE SOAP]

Bryan Cranston loves it too.

[Devons Daddy]

seen this bouncing around, i shall put a few minutes of download and $$ against it as you chaps have yet to lead me astray.

got to love the internet must say.

[MIKE COLLINS]

Psych is a thing of joy and wonder. It's success has meant the 80s Brat Pack referencing of the early eps has lead to loads of 70s/80s stars making appearances- most surreal recently was the One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest with Brad Dourif ..and Molly Ringwall, tho no 16 Candles jokes for her... Ralph Machio being asked what he was 'waxing on' about was an earlier joy...and William Shatner was great as Jules dad.

And are you spotting the pineapple refs in each episode? Why they're there, I don't know but it's become a trope.

Several episodes are directed by  'War Games' John Badham, the whole thing has a big goofy grin running through it. Shawn is equal measures Sherlock Holmes/Ron Burgundy/a 10 yr old boy; Gus is a brilliantly crafted sidekick and Kurt Fuller as Woody the Coroner steals ever episode he appears in.

I love it.