James Roday

For months, since the season finale aired in February, fans of the hit television series Psych have been waiting impatiently to find out just what in the world is up with that? For two whole seasons, as far as we know, Shawn and Henry Spencer were the only two members of the Spencer family we needed to be concerned about...and then one word comes along and shakes up our whole world. At least until next season. Networks like USA are good at crafting cliffhangers like these just to leave us hanging on a hook until we can know...because we have to know. Of course by the time we find out, they've already reeled us in.

When ACED caught up with Psych's James Roday (Shawn Spencer) and Dule Hill (Gus), thinking we could put the squeeze on the two actors, it turned out they were just as clueless as we are; though quite fun to chat with. Or was their talk of bonding through 80s-baby nostalgia a clever way to distract us? We did manage to catch a few tidbits of info on the "Spencer mom", casting, and the fate of Police Chief Karen Vick (Kirsten Nelson) - just in time for the season three air date this coming July.

James Roday is a friendly guy, and pretty much an open book. He seems just as excitable as we hoped he'd be about getting back into the swing of things with a brand new season of the critically acclaimed series centering on his character, Shawn, a young police consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose ‘heightened observational skills' and impressive detective instincts allow him to convince people that he is a psychic.

Having to play a P.I. with mad skills who pretends he has psychic abilities to keep from going to jail must be seriously fun for Roday. Throw in a little father/son tension and it strikes as the perfect blend of comedy and drama, juicy enough for any actor to savor. We can tell that he's just as ready as we are to do just that after such a long break.

"We've been off for about six months. It's fair to say that we're all pretty juiced and ready to get back to it. It's a pretty great schedule on that show. Right about the time you start wishing you were working again, we go back."

Though the writer's strike earlier in the year didn't affect his series as Psych was already on hiatus when it escalated and ended, he seems relieved and happy that he's finally going back to work. His passion manifests itself in his dedication to keep the show fresh and creative in order to reward the fans for their overwhelming support.

"I just want everything to be bigger, better, badder and funnier, you know? The challenge is to not become complacent, and to keep coming up with inventive ways to make people laugh."

James Roday

"My understanding is that we're going to pick up season three about ten seconds after season two ends. No idea what's going on with that. We're going to meet her for the first time and find out some back-story ; where she's been and what she's been up to. Pretty exciting."

Viewers are anxious to see what sort of interesting dynamic the writers can give the two characters, especially if the actress cast can keep up with Roday. When we spoke to the actor, he had no idea who would be playing his mom. But he - sort of - managed to narrow the choices for us with some unbeatable logic.

"It hasn't been cast yet. If you can imagine, the list is from here to Oklahoma somewhere. I can say with a reasonable degree of confidence that it probably won't be one of the Pointer Sisters. And it probably won't be somebody who's passed away. But other than that, it's wide open."

While we aren't pretending that imagining the circumstances of a Corbin Bernson/Pointer Sister union isn't the most fun we've had since the season finale, we'll agree that's a bit of a stretch. And here we are one month until Season 3 airs, and still in the dark. Damn these execs are good. Perhaps getting Roday's official take on the casting would help...

"I would love to get somebody that sort of falls into the niche of what we do, which is: everybody that works on the show or has anything to do with the show has either grown up during the eighties or was a teenager in the eighties. I think if we can find somebody who was relevant during that time that would be fun. But mostly, I just want it to be a good actress."

Hmm, it seems the ability to have fun while possessing a brain ripe for the picking of useless 80s pop culture trivia is up there with acting skills as far as Roday is concerned. Everyone bonded on set by singing songs from the eighties and recalling the good old days of neon colors, scrunchies and white Adidas, which made for some pretty good times while filming, and served to set up an instant camaraderie with fellow actors.

Dule Hill

"Yeah. The first time we met we clicked. Singing old eighties songs. We're different, but we have similar vibes."

Hill, who spent his time vacationing with family in Jamaica and campaigning for Barack Obama during the strike, is just as excited about returning to the series as Roday is. Especially after the initial hit of the series one premiere and their renewal for the second and third go-rounds. You'd think he'd be used to success after coming from a winning series such as The West Wing, but Hill remains very humble and gracious about the opportunity to work on Psych, which is a change of pace for him, compared to the straight-forward drama of The West Wing.

"I was very excited about the second season, and am even more about the third. Hopefully, if it's God's will, we'll make it to a fourth. We've been blessed. I love working with Roday and all the cast. We've got really good people working on the show. There's not a lot of butting heads. We come to work to have a good time. We sing a lot of songs..."

Hill's character Gus is the straight man to Roday's Spencer. While starting out initially as a reluctant best friend who goes along with Shawn's schemes in order to keep him out of trouble, both actors agree that it's nice to finally see Hill's character take a more laid-back approach in the past season. Although, like Roday, he isn't quite sure what's in store for Gus, Hill isn't worried about it though; easily demonstrating a trust in the writers to make it good.

"I know we're going to have a meeting and talk to the writers to see what's going on with the characters. But, I don't really think about it. When I get back to L.A., I'll watch the last couple of episodes and get my head back in it."

We wanted to know, based on that type of trust with the creators of a series you're proud to present to the world, what it was specifically he thought made viewers embrace this quirky dramatic comedy and keep coming back for more.

"I think everyone remembers having their lifelong friends. And having a childhood dream that you get a chance to live out. It's like being a kid in a candy store. That's what I think. But really I have no idea. There are shows out there that are great with no viewer ship and there are shows that are not so great that get good ratings."

If being on set is that much fun, the actors certainly do seem like kids in a candy store; and it comes across in their work. Psych is fun, and funny... And since P.I. work is USA's forte, the well-written storylines get people hooked, like we said, until we just have to know. One thing we're dying to know? The last time we saw her, Police Chief Karen Vick (Kirsten Nelson) was seriously considering taking the Mayor up on his sweet offer to keep her position. Will she stick around? Roday has no problems with this one.

"Yes. I can tell you that. We're not getting rid of the Chief. The Chief stays."

So we don't have to worry about them giving the Chief the boot, and they don't have to worry about ratings. Psych is a hit, and we have a feeling, that come premiere time for season three on July 18th, viewers will show USA just how hooked they are.

In the mean time, for your fix and trix, you can catch re-runs of the hit show Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Catch up with Psych's animated series The Big Adventures of Little Shawn and Little Gus on usanetwork.com.

Comments

Add New Search RSS

Tina   |2008-06-06 08:25:53 I love this show! Roday is adorable. [smiley=happy][smiley=tongue][smiley=tongue] Reply 0   0

Write comment
Name:
Email:	do not notifynotify
Title:
	Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

Powered by !JoomlaComment 3.26

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

---