In the days when Steve Franks was pitching his idea for “Psych,” USA Network’s new comedy about a fake psychic detective, he always began by talking about his dad.
His father was a Los Angeles Police Department cop who liked to call himself “a trained observer” and wanted to groom his only son to follow in his footsteps. Whenever they went to a restaurant, he would test young Steve by telling him to close his eyes and recall: How many people have hats on? Where is the exit? What’s the name on the hostess’ nametag? Anyone who saw – and can recall – the July 7 pilot will recognize this childhood memory in the opening scene: a little boy being peppered by questions while having lunch with his demanding dad – a uniformed police officer.
The show flashes back and forth between that past and the present, where Shawn (James Roday) is a footloose 20-something living in Santa Barbara who clearly has not fulfilled his father’s dream. But his powers of observation are so acute, he helps the police solve crimes by pretending to be psychic.
“I guess I was wired for this sort of show,” said Franks.
USA will air eight episodes on Fridays this summer (8 and 11 p.m.) and four more in January. According to Nielsen Media Research, “Psych” has drawn an average 3.3 million viewers in its first three weeks, a respectable showing for cable. In an effort to draw broadcast viewers to USA, sister network NBC re-aired the first episode of “Psych” on Monday, and will air the second on Aug. 14 (7 p.m.).
“Psych” could be seen as a meditation on the authoritarian father/unambitious son syndrome – the son knows whatever he does will never be good enough, so he avoids responsibility altogether. But mostly “Psych” is about “the search for fun, what place fun has in your life, and how much is too much fun,” Franks said. “I’m trying to bring fun back to TV. You don’t see it that much.”
Some critics have complained there’s too much silliness in the show. “‘Psych’ is, for the most part, merely jokey,” wrote Nancy Franklin in The New Yorker. Dule Hill (“The West Wing”) contributes to the comedy as Shawn’s reluctant assistant and best friend; he played one scene with dollops of shaving cream on his head.
USA president Bonnie Hammer said she prefers to characterize the humor as “irreverent.” Along with “Monk,” she called “Psych” a perfect fit with the network, which is aiming to send Friday night viewers off to sleep with a chuckle. Its current motto: “Characters Welcome.”
After graduating from the University of California, Irvine, Franks sold a script for the Adam Sandler film “Big Daddy” (1999) to Columbia, and then pitched about half a dozen TV shows with little success. Long before psychic shows such as “Medium” became hot, Franks said, he came up with the idea of a psychic detective who wasn’t really psychic. What it lacked, he said, was a way into the main character.
As it turned out, it was Franks’ mother, not his father, who provided the key, he said. She was also an acute observer and could pick out the culprit on TV crime shows in minutes. Shawn displays that same skill in scene two of the pilot.
The flashbacks of Shawn’s childhood worked so well in the pilot that they are now a staple of each episode.
“It’s become my favorite part of writing the show,” Franks said.
“Now I realize I can tie it thematically, or tonally, or take a specific incident and re-create something in the past and see how it plays out in the future. Something I was using as a pitch is now a frame,” he said.
Besides, he added, “It’s a chance to see Corbin Bernsen in a wig, which is always fun.”
