15 Trivia Tidbits About ‘Psych’

15 Trivia Tidbits About ‘Psych’

Arguably the greatest thing to show up on the USA Network not involving show dogs or the ironically-enjoyable exploits of Walker, Texas RangerPsych chronicled the mystery-solving antics of bogus psychic investigators Shawn Spencer and Gus Guster. So to honor this beloved show, we’ve assembled some trivia about the only psychic fraudster people don’t actively hate, starting with how…

Kirsten Nelson Was Five Months Pregnant When She Auditioned

Nelson, who played Chief Karen Vick, was “about four to five months pregnant” during her audition. While she tried to hide it at first, soon that became impossible; thankfully, the producers loved the idea of making Vick pregnant.

Creator Steve Franks Took Inspiration From His Cop Dad

Franks, not unlike Shawn, had a cop for a dad, an LAPD officer who similarly trained his son to register every minute detail around him. “I guess I was wired for this sort of show,” Franks has admitted.

Cybill Shepherd’s Role Was Named After Her Character in ‘Moonlighting’

Another lighthearted, banter-filled show that served as a major influence on Psych was the Bruce Willis and Shepherd-starring Moonlighting. When Shepherd guest-starred on Psych as Shawn’s mother, her character was named Madeline, while her Moonlight character was called Maddie. “That may not be an accident,” Shepherd has noted.

The Theme Song Is Performed by Steve Franks’ Band

The show’s theme song, “I Know, You Know,” was written by Franks and performed by his band.

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The Writers Basically Remade a Disappointing Episode

One of the show’s less-popular episodes was Season One’s “Cloudy… with a Chance of Murder,” which was revisited years later with the episode “Remake, aka Cloudy… With a Chance of Improvement.”

The Creators Were Too Afraid to Ask David Lynch to Cameo in the ‘Twin Peaks’ Episode

For the Twin Peaks-themed episode “Dual Spires,” the producers thought about trying to get Lynch to make a cameo, but according to James Roday Rodriguez, nobody asked because they all worried, “What if he hates it? We’re going to be devastated.”

Val Kilmer Showed Up in the Finale

In the last episode of the series, we finally see the mysterious Detective Dobson — and he’s played by Kilmer.

There Are Three Movies (And Could be More)

After the series wrapped, we got three TV movies (Psych: The Movie, Psych 2: Lassie Come Home and Psych 3: This Is Gus), and as recently as earlier this year, there have been talks of a fourth. 

James Roday Rodriguez and Dulé Hill Reunited for a Zombie Cartoon

In 2021, Rodriguez and Hill worked together again– not for a Psych project, but as voices in a straight-to-video animated remake of Night of the Living Dead, which presumably only got made due to a 1960s copyright snafu.

You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter (if it still exists by the time you’re reading this). 

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