One of my favorite programs if for no other reason than that they keep snarking on “The Mentalist” for being a rip-off (which it is). I happened to stumble over the information that Dule Hill is an accomplished tap dancer. They should totally work that into an episode next season.
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I like Psych a lot and I remember Dule Hill from his role as Charlie on The West Wing. He plays such a different character on Psych that it is hard to see him as the serious young presidential aide and boyfriend of the president’s daughter. A guest shot by Elizabeth Moss on Psych could lend itself to all kinds of “breaking the fourth wall” comments that would be hilarious.
I also enjoy the periodic LA Law riffs, too.
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Shawn: “Anybody with me on the Harry Hamlin thing?”
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Gus “Literally no one is with you on the Harry Hamlin thing”
Am I the only one hoping for a Psych and Eureka crossover…lol
OMG yes. Though I’m not sure I could handle that much fabulousness!
Have they had Amanda Pays on “Psych” yet?
I’d love to see her and John Wesley Shipp appear as a sort of “Flash” back. 🙂
She was in an episode of one of the early seasons as a man-eating date of Charlie’s dad.
I remember reading an interview with Hill years ago where he mentioned his tap background. Apparently (if I recall the interview correctly) they considered including a little soft shoe in a West Wing episode but Hill thought the image of a black man tapping for a white president might not work so well.
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IMHO, it could work perfectly in the more irreverent atmosphere of Psych
I’m not a big fan of PSYCH: While the mysteries can be interesting, Shaun’s fake psychic antics are just annoying.
Of course, this show is just the latest in the popular series of eccentric characters who aren’t police officers, but use their rogue talents to help the law. MONK, THE MENTALIST, WHITE COLLAR, HUMAN TARGET…
MONK is actually the only one of that list to predate PSYCH, just to pick a nit…
I don’t know that Human Target quite fits that mold.
I watched the first season of Psych on DVD and enjoyed it. I’ll probably watch more. My daughter and I refer to it though as “Remedial Monk” because of the lighting effect which highlights the important clues whereas Monk leaves it up to you to notice them or not and then reviews them later when the solution is presented.
The difference there is that, due to Psych’s premise, they can’t really have a Monk-style wrapup where Shawn explains to the police how he figured out the solution, since that would give the game away; therefore they have to be highlighted for the audience so his suggestions don’t seem completely random. (Psych also uses the deductions more to move the plot along, while Monk is more about building up to the big picture at the end.)
The closest they came to Dule Hill’s tap dancing was the episode where you discovered he was part of an R&B vocal group in high school (sort of like Boys2Men). I don’t remember if he danced in the ep. Maybe in an 80’s music video flashback.
No real dancing in that episode, IIRC.
This is just an off topic comment, I’m sorry.
I just found this link on wikipedia while reading about the relationship between Shatterstar and Rictor.
(Sorry for my English grammatical errors, I’m Italian)
Here in Italy we don’t have the #45 issue yet but I found some spoilers on the net.
I was so glad when I read it. The comics are full of het characters and there are also gay characters but no gay relationships (or if there are I still have to read them). I really hope this Shatterstar-Rictor kiss will develop into something similar to a relationship.
It was also a surprise to come into this blog and discover you are the author of Knight Life! I still have to read the series (because it’s difficult to buy English books in Italy) but I’m an Arthurian fan since… forever and I have always loved story about reincarnations and Arthurian AU. I can’t wait to buy it and read it <3
Sorry for the incoherence of this comment.
About Psych: All of my friends keep saying that I have to watch it but between university and Doctor Who I'll hardly find the time.
Lucrezia
You need to get out of the house more and go to Broadway. I recall he was in Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk and I think Black and Blue and maybe something else. Great dancer. Too bad there aren’t many roles for young black males with tremendous dance talent on Broadway.
Yes, so I discovered. I actually wouldn’t have minded the Funk, but I didn’t want to deal with the Noise. In any event, even if I had seen them, I wasn’t aware of Hill as an individual until “West Wing.” None of which changes the fact that they should feature it on “Psych.”
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The only thing that bugs me about the show is when Shawn does his clue-spotting schtick in a situation where it’s clearly physically impossible for him to be seeing the clue from where he’s standing (reading the label on a file folder that’s on the other side of the room, making out the designer emblem on a woman’s sunglasses from across the street, etc.). Or was there an episode which established that Shawn has telescopic vision like Superman?
I can’t remember. Has Henry had the opportunity to display his baseball prowess yet?
And yeah, Dule Hill displaying his tap would be great. Especially if it happened in a situation designed for him to outshine Shawn in front of Lassie and Jules.
I enjoy the Mentalists riffs too. They did some commercials during the last season of Monk with Sean and Gus going thru his apartment. He does some snide comment about Monk and Simon Baker being on his level. (I can’t recall how he worded it).
I enjoy the in-jokes. Sean had even made a comment about having to tape “Leverage” which comes on as the same time as their show.
If The Mentalist is a rip-off of Psych is Grey’s Anatomy a rip-off of Scrubs?
Nah, Grey’s Anatomy is a rip-off of ER. *House* is the rip-off of Scrubs. :]
In one episode of “Scrubs” Elliot said to J.D., “I just want to go home, put my feet up, and watch “Grey’s Anatomy.” To which J.D. responded, “I love Grey’s Anatomy. It’s like someone’s watching our lives and putting it on TV.”
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And “House” is a rip-off of “Sherlock Holmes.”
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That is not a reasonable analogy. The medical field is a very common setting for a show. Think about how many you can name off the top of your head.
Now think about how many shows with a fake psych detective you can name….
I can only think of one show with a fake psychic, and that is Psych. The Mentalist has a character who used to be a fake psychic. But all psychics are fake anyway.
If you want a better analogy how about this. Is Mr. Fantastic a rip-off of Plastic Man? Is Quicksilver a rip-off of the Flash? Is Captain Marvel a rip-off of Superman? Is the Fantastic Four a rip-off of Challengers of the Unknown? Is X-Men a rip-off of Doom Patrol? Is Powers a rip-off of Top 10?
All of the above examples were accused of being rip-offs but other than superficial similarities they are different characters or books. I think it all comes down to jealously. Some new show/book/character is getting attention and somebody doesn’t like it. One of the producers of The Simpsons said that the TV show Dinosaurs had ripped them off. And there was a line in Scrubs where JD said, “It’s like there are making a show about our lives.”
Look at the characters, one is a man who used to be a psychic, lost his family as a result of it, and is trying to make up for it/get revenge by working with law enforcement. The other is a man who has never grown up and pretends to be a psychic to make money/ridicule the cops/mistreat his friends. One is a sympathetic character and the other I wonder why he has any friends at all.