TV Review: Psych The Musical on USA

By Nathan Young on December 19, 2013

Psych is a very popular crime comedy-drama show on USA that is different from the other crime dramas. This show stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose “heightened observational skills” and impressive detective instincts allow him to convince people that he solves cases with psychic abilities. The program also stars Dulé Hill as Shawn’s best friend and reluctant partner Burton “Gus” Guster. This crime drama usually features plenty of geeky/nerdy references laced throughout the show. For example, each episode features a pineapple placed somewhere as a running gag, that is funny!

Last Sunday, Psych aired their special musical episode and I thought the special was very good! For the 110th episode, Psych still comes up with some fresh and unique things! I can’t believe this episode was many years in the making, it should have been made sooner! At the beginning, they were dancing along a waterfront which was pretty good. But there was one aspect that I wished was replaced. As you know, Psych is based in Santa Barbara, CA. But the show is shot in British Columbia. They put up a fake Santa Barbara pier sign and you saw a railroad crossing sign. In America, you see the words “railroad crossing.” But in Canada, it’s a blank sign with a red border. At least you could replace that sign so the viewers actually think this is California, right?

The plot revolves around a former playwright who escapes the loony bin and seemingly goes on a killing spree. The special included some songs in parts of the episode where you never expected you would see them. I enjoyed the song in the morgue the most! Also, Santa Barbara Skies is a song I am still humming in my head right now! I can’t believe they enjoy being in the murder capital of the world. I cannot say enough about the talent of this cast. The cast can sing, dance, act, and do it together as if they’d been practicing for years. I guess the experience from doing Psych and the past 100+ episodes really brought out the talent in this special!

The producers said the entire musical is basically a Psych-out. And the entire special was shot in only 14 days. All of the music in the special was recorded with the help of a 50-piece orchestra. The guest stars and the cast did a great job with the dance and song routines and I enjoyed the scenery because most of this special was shot outdoors. Some people have not liked this special because they are comparing it to other musicals like Grease. Grease was its own unique musical. Now the geeks and nerds will have their own unique musical called Psych The Musical. I give two thumbs up to Steve Franks for producing this musical! I liked how the special was narrated like a fairy tale book. Even though the book would not cooperate and tape had to be used!

I give props to the folks at Psych for doing a musical! I enjoyed it and it will go down in TV history in my opinion. And season 8 is just around the corner starting on Wednesday January 8th! I have heard that season 8 could be the last season of Psych and that would be a shame. Because Psych has brought us some great lessons in geek/nerd terminology and it will just allow USA to bring in more of those regular crime drama shows. Just like those reality shows, there are way too many crime drama shows on TV!

Psych The Musical is now available on DVD. Learn more about the show at: http://www.usanetwork.com/psych Follow Psych on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/psych and on Twitter @Psych_USA.