TV: Psyche?

Ty compiled a list of some comments from e-mails this week. There are questions of why does TV suck so much; why is it all about crime, crime, crime; and why, on the fall schedule, are networks offering repeats?

Because TV sucks is our answer to those questions.

With basic cable and premium cable offering up TV series (a bonus compared to earlier days) and repeating episodes throughout the week, broadcast TV figures they can live a little on the cheap and turn their crime dramas into "draws" in repeat offerings. Crime shows (forensic and legal) dominate because a number of people (much smaller than the broadcasters think, we'd argue) need reassurance in chaotic times. Bully Boy can't catch Osama but you just know the stick figures, crudely drawn, of a Dick Wolf drama won't let you down.

Crime shows were popular during Vietnam as well. (So was kitsch, Nobody Loves Raymond checked out way too soon!) They're thought to give structure to chaotic times. Hospital dramas were also popular because they could 'bring home' the gore that others couldn't and use the excuse of "it's a medical procedure." (The gore then is mild compared to now.) What suffered were sitcoms.

The thinking was that funny didn't play. (Unless it was fish out of water which was the only real theme of the sixties' sitcoms.) Long before the war drew to a close, CBS would do some serious house cleaning (mainly taking the trash out to the curb) and shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family and M*A*S*H would demonstrate that Americans could laugh and would laugh. Provided with the opportunity to.

Two networks think the weekend answer revolves around repeats (of crime dramas). They'd be much wiser to use what they see as 'dead nights' for showing a little spirit and adventure in their programming choices. TV sucks. The screens didn't get smaller, just the choices.

Which is why we want to urge you to check out NBC's first hour of primetime Monday. Marshall e-mailed asking if we'd take a look at a new hour long show entitled Psyche. Psyche aired on NBC last Monday and it airs again this Monday. That's apparently it for the program already airing on the USA network. Those who recieve USA will still have the show (which is doing quite well in the ratings thus far), but those relying on broadcast TV will have to do without.

Here's what you need to know to enjoy Monday's broadcast of Psyche. The show stars
James Roday as Shawn Spencer. (Roday was born in? Texas. Once again, Water Cooler Critics, Texans are invading TV -- it's as though Bully Boy ordered a Texas-size wallop of a crackdown on primetime.) Dule Hill plays Gus, Shawn's best friend, and Corbin Bernsen plays Shawn's father Henry (plays him so well it almost erase the memories of Frozen Assets and Hello Again). There are other performers but those are the three to watch.

If TV is nothing but a huge magpie grabbing from all around us, there's some interesting things that are being picked up. Shawn works for the police as a psychic. Gus is his partner. Psyche?

He's not really a psychic. His father, now a retired police officer, trained and helped hone Shawn's observational skills. The non-psychic bounced from job to job (and didn't live up to Dad's dream of him joining the force) earning some easy cash by providing the police with crime solving tips. Footage broadcast on the evening news would allow Shawn to help take a bite out of crime and pocket a little easy cash. The gravy train came to an end when the tipster became a suspect -- if he knew so much about a crime, maybe he was involved?

To avoid potential arrest, Shawn immediately announced he was a psychic -- that's how he could provide tips. Now he fakes seizures (when the 'psychic' insight hits him) and uses stranges voices when he's supposed to be channeling. It's all a put on and often he'll almost out himself but Gus is always there to provide the cover.

Think of him as the counter to the Bully Boy. In Shawn's case, he's a pretender who can actually deliver. Students will see the 'special effects' to demonstrate Shawn's keen observation skills as the equivalent of marking up a text with a highlighter, parents will probably think of Blue's Clues. There's nothing special about the effects, this is a show shot on the cheap in Canada (standing in for Santa Barbara).

But setting the not-so-special-effects aside, the show has plenty to offer. Marshall offered that it reminds him "somewhat" of The Rockford Files. We can see that in an updated manner with regards to the father-son dynamics. But we think it's actually more like the blink and you missed it Richie Brockelman: Private Eye. Though Shawn appears to lack a vintage ride, he's got the weasal and the wimp down pat. That works because the show's being pushed by some as a comedy. (We think it falls into the caper genre.)

Last Monday's big case was a twist on the overdone Mother Does Anything To Make Her Daughter A Cheerleader. In this case, it was father does anything to make his son a spelling bee champ -- cheating, murder, you name it. The plots are wisps of whimsy. Where the show is solid is the interaction between the three main characters.

Even with really bad dialogue (such as when Henry appeared to be channeling Rosie Perez in Untamed Heart to lecture Marisa Tomei, er, Shawn about how he never finishes anything), the three actors have created something that plays real. (Hopefully, others in the cast will fill in their roughly outlined roles in the future.)

Shawn is the slacker nightmare of every parent and Roday has done been sketch comedy (and what's supposed to be more than that) for so long that he's grasped the necessity of energy to a performance. Gus never quites break free (it's written that way) so you get Shawn running circles around him and Gus chasing after (frequently this is demonstrated physically, but it's also the dynamic between the two friends).

The only thing that can pull Shawn down to earth for brief moments is Henry. In those moments you can see in Roday's eyes and body movements the desire to get back and when, at the end of the episode he does, you end up amused -- far more than you should be since the scripted moments makes no sense on any level. The performances are what make the show entertaining. Roday is so broad that if, at any moment Bernsen stopped being the anchor and attempted to match Roday, the whole thing would implode. (This as Fox struggles with its 'big' sitcom starring two performers who are all reaction.)

This isn't a well written show. (Hopefully, it can become one.) The writers seem to go to "check in" scenes whenever they run out of steam and the dialogue really needs to be worked on (all the characters are written as if they speak the same). But this is a show that really can make the audience feel good. That has nothing to do with moralizing or happy endings, it has everything to do with performers exhibiting delight in their roles. With smarter scripts, this could be the decade's Moonlighting (pre-cowing of Maddie); however, as it is, it's still worth watching and these days that's a rare thing.

In a nation that was lied into an illegal war, there's probably a bit of satisfaction at seeing Shawn put one over on the 'establishment' (the police in this case) -- a minor 'score one for the little guys' moment. In a nation still waiting for an opposition party to emerge, that may be all we can hope for right now. Tomorrow, Monday the 13th, Psyche airs one more time on NBC.