PSYCH with Sam Slaughter
At a time when dark, gritty dramas were all the rage, a show about a fake psychic-detective and his best friend brought the world some much-needed joy. Author and Food & Drink Editor Sam Slaughter joins us to discuss how PSYCH's irreverence and heart captured his attention.
Transcript
Taylor D Adams: [00:00:00] Hey folks, before we get into today's episode, just wanted to let you know that there is some language not suitable for all listeners. So if you've got kids within listening distance, maybe put some headphones on or something. Okay, here we go. Hey, psychos. Welcome to the Film Nuts Podcast. I'm your host, Taylor D.
Adams, and I'm really excited about this week's episode. From the mid 2000s to the early teens, dark, gritty dramas had the fascination of fans and critics everywhere. Shows like The Wire, Breaking Bad, and The Shield were tense programs featuring complex character development, shocking twists, and gruesome events that were engrossing.
To millions of viewers, but one cable network was going in a different direction with their dramas and without sacrificing quality, USA network was putting their own spin on similar procedural programs by creating shows about unique characters that were fun, lighthearted, and just plain enjoyable to watch.
And in the summer of 2006, a show about a fake psychic detective and his best friend captured the eyes and hearts of those looking to escape harsher realities. Psych is USA's longest running original series, and still lives on today on streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video. I'm joined today by Sam Slaughter, author and food and drink editor for The Manual.
And for Sam, Psych was a show that demonstrated the power of friendship and caring for one another, that maybe in some sense, He was searching for at the time of this interview Sam's house was under construction after a drunk driver Unfortunately ran into it. So he was eager for a distraction from all these stress and noise So here's Sam slaughter talking about psych on the film nuts podcast
Sam Slaughter: So when the guy hit my house, the front wall went concave.
Taylor D Adams: Oh yeah, I forgot about that.
Sam Slaughter: Uh, so like he hit the stone and then it sort of moved everything. So, uh, they've been working on the outside and now they're [00:02:00] finally working on the inside. Uh, cause there were cracks kind of all along the front wall.
Taylor D Adams: Mhm. Damn. That's crazy. I forgot that that happened, man.
That's, that's wild
Sam Slaughter: it's weird thinking that just a few short months ago, the worst problem I had was a drunk driver hit my house. Fuckin' 2020,
Taylor D Adams: 2020 has been nuts, man. Um, so to kind of escape all this, have you been watching any psych recently?
Sam Slaughter: I watched the, uh, twin peaks episode this morning. Uh, that's probably one of my favorite ones just because of the sheer amount of.
Cameos that they do, that they're able to squeeze in.
Taylor D Adams: Yeah. And Psych, it's one of these shows that kind of, it, it got bigger, the more it went on, which a lot of shows do. Um, but it got big to the point where just very niche guest stars just started appearing. So you have the, you have the Twin Peaks episode where pretty much everyone from the original season one or two of Twin Peaks ends up on the [00:03:00] episode in some manner, um, you've got people like, uh, um, William Shatner ended up later on the episode or later on the season.
You got, um,
Sam Slaughter: Kevin Sorbo was there at one point.
Taylor D Adams: Yeah, like a bunch of
Sam Slaughter: John Cena.
Taylor D Adams: Yeah, John Cena. I feel that was more of a network integration because it was a USA.
Sam Slaughter: Oh, that's right. WWE. Okay, that makes a lot more sense. I haven't watched wrestling since I was a child. So
Taylor D Adams: I was a, I was a WCW kid in my elementary to middle school years.
Sam Slaughter: WCW NWO revenge on N64 was my jam.
Taylor D Adams: That was a great game. So when were you someone who started watching Psych from the beginning or did you kind of jump on it a little bit later?
Sam Slaughter: I got in probably around season, the end of season two. Um, I had seen just one random episode. Um, I even forget which one it is, but it, I think it was free on iTunes.
They used to do this thing where you could download [00:04:00] shows and they would have like one free one a week. Uh, it's how I started watching Chuck as well, cause they just had an episode and I downloaded it cause I needed something to watch and then it sort of just hooked me from there. And so I went back, uh, this was before.
You know, Netflix and all of that. And so I found the DVD at target of season one and bought it and kind of powered through, I think in a weekend, just season one, all done. And then started following it from there.
Taylor D Adams: So like, what was it about the show that you kind of, I guess, if you want, if you want to say connected, you can use that word, but a lot of times it's just like, Oh, I find this entertaining because I just want to escape from, from the real world or whatever.
Like, what, what did you like about it?
Sam Slaughter: I. Outside of just the fact that they're, you know, the cameos that are there, uh, are really well integrated, I think, and the references that they do. I like the amount of the 80s and 90s kind of pop culture that they throw in there from time to [00:05:00] time. Um, but the, the chemistry between Dulé Hill and James Roday, was, you know, it was good in season one, but it just got so much better.
Um, as the series went on. And so you, you want to be best friends with them. Um, and you know, just gallivanting around as they kind of makes shit up along.
Taylor D Adams: Was that unique to the show you thought, like, was there something you saw in that chemistry that was unique to any other shows that you're watching or had seen before?
Sam Slaughter: I, I think the closest that it. The reason I think it appealed to me was I was a huge Scrubs fan in college and, you know, when it was out and I, you know, I bawled my eyes out on that last episode of the real end of the show. The, the chemistry between them reminded me a lot of how JD and Turk and Scrubs acted around each other and it's that sort of buddy comedy kind of thing.
Um, wholesome probably isn't the right word but like. [00:06:00] Again, you want to be their friend and want to be part of that. You want to have that sort of connection with someone. Where you can have these inside jokes or these phrases that only the two of you use and you can just have fun with it And know that at the end of the day, they've still got your back no matter what maybe I was searching for a friend
Taylor D Adams: I mean maybe so I mean a lot of people It's a lot of people just look to TV characters to a relate to, and be maybe they want to be relatable to them.
Like they want to get to know these people. Um, and do you think, uh, since you've recently watched some episodes, do you still think that the show kind of holds up like the end of it, the end of the show, or it ran from like 2006 to like 2014. So it didn't end that long ago. Um, but a lot, a lot, a lot can change in five or six years.
Sam Slaughter: Yeah, I think. The, the last season was probably one of my least favorites, um, not only because it was ending, but like some of the things seemed [00:07:00] rushed, um, like the way that they, they did a lot of, if I remember correctly, they did sort of a lot of those kind of themed episodes. Uh, they did the recut, I believe was one of them where they did Cloudy with a chance of murder.
Taylor D Adams: Yeah.
Sam Slaughter: And they did it completely differently. I thought that was interesting, but the, the storyline didn't really progress in a way, but I, I mean, there was the inevitable was, you know, Shawn and Juliet and then trying to figure all that out. And so to stretch that out over a season, I get why they sort of stepped out of the timeline more or less and didn't really push things forward.
Taylor D Adams: Yeah, that, uh, that revamp or remake or whatever you want to call it. Um, Was my least favorite episode ever. Uh, I'm pretty sure I was mad at it when I started watching it because I was like, I have seen this exact episode before and I know that that's the point. And I can't quite figure out if they [00:08:00] were.
Trying to be, I couldn't figure out if it was supposed to be like tongue in cheek sneaky about it at all or like exactly what they were trying to do with it, but
Sam Slaughter: I don't know,
Taylor D Adams: I remember just not, not digging it.
Sam Slaughter: Yeah, I think though, a lot of the other episodes, I've been re watching it just because, you know, while we're recording during quarantine and all that, like, you need something very light hearted, but also a feel good. I watched yesterday, the episode, uh, where Sean finally kisses Juliette, uh, so it's the second, uh, episode with Carrie Elwes when they're up in British Columbia.
And he, like, kisses her on the, on the, like, the overlook, uh, after sort of trying to work up the courage to say that he loves her and all that stuff. And so, it's just, that part is heartwarming. And, you know, when all of that plays out, I think they did a really good job with, uh, When [00:09:00] she finds out that he is not actually psychic, like that tension for season was an eight, seven, whatever it was, whatever the season was before the last one, um, that tension was really good.
They played that out really well. I feel because you felt like just a heart wrenching, just anxiety the entire time. Like part of your brain knows that they are going to stay together. But, you know, you can't, I don't think, this is not Game of Thrones, you can't end a series and just rip that apart like that after spending so many seasons slow building it, um, but at the same time, you're like, oh shit, what is, what is going to happen here?
Um, are these characters that I've invested in actually not going to end up together?
Taylor D Adams: Rewind a little bit. So I think like a year after I graduated college, so back in like 2010, um, psych was doing a college tour and they were basically going around and [00:10:00] airing the. second half of the season premiere, um, at colleges across the United States.
And, um, they came to, uh, NC state and I was like, Oh, I gotta go. So end up and went and it was really cool to actually watch that episode in a packed theater, like to hear, um, to hear the applause from so many people like myself who really were rooting for these characters to get together and also just enjoyed the general.
Psychness of it, right? Just enjoyed the whole vibe and it was really kind of cool.
, at each kind of tour stop, they had a different writer or writer's assistant, like hosting the, the, the gig. Um, and so they had one of the writer's assistants there and he was talking about how like they would make a show and we also did like some trivia for the crowd and stuff like that.
So it was, it was a lot of fun. So yeah, going back to what you said about the way the show handled Juliet, finding out that Sean was not in fact psychic, I thought it was a really. Cool and fun episode, because you knew like [00:11:00] that he couldn't get away with this forever. Like some, he had to be found out by someone, um, and Juliet is probably the worst and the best person that could find out.
. Like it makes total sense that she would be the first one to find out, um, outside of obviously, uh, uh, Gus and Henry, but just having her find out in the way that she handled it and the way that he handled that reaction, I thought was portrayed really well. And like, probably in the, in the third season, we got to see a little bit more of James Roday's kind of dramatic ish acting.
I think we got the best example of, or the first example of it in, um, the first of the. The Yin Yang Killer, um, episodes.
Sam Slaughter: Yeah. That, those episodes are intense and, uh, having, I'm blanking on her name. Breakfast Club woman, um, be Ally Sheedy. Yeah. Having Ally Sheedy be this like completely insane person and being able to bring her back.
Um, and, you know, having, [00:12:00] uh, You know, Shawn's mom being involved in all of that. Those are very, very tense episodes. And you don't get to see it too often because he's usually The center of all the jokes, but I think to one of the other episodes where it really shows or instead of two episodes Rather is when Henry gets shot and Yeah, comes upon it.
And so that's the end of the season then the start of the next season is Shawn going on basically the war path to Kind of a make sure his dad is okay, but also like find who shot him and avenge him In his, sort of, typical way. He did a really good job kind of translating that emotion of while he doesn't always get along with his father, there is a deep love and a deep connection there that has kept them working together for so long. You know, whether it's professionally, when Henry comes on as a, the [00:13:00] uh, Consultant.
Consultant. Mm hmm. Or just Shawn coming to Henry's house, which I want that house. Yes. For real. Because it's beautiful. I know. And it's right on the beach. Yeah. Um, one of my favorite scenes is, it's in the, the episode where he makes Shawn build the dog house. Mm hmm. And so at the very end, Sean comes up with the little lab puppy and you, you, they sort of pan out and it's, Just the, the puppy with the dog house and it's just a beautiful house.
And then the, the, you know, the beach as you're coming away, like I want that house. Yeah. It's somewhere in Vancouver because I know they taped in British Columbia.
Taylor D Adams: I think the, uh, the scenes that where you can see coastline are, it's like, just like 30 minutes to the, uh, to the west of Vancouver. I can't remember what exactly the town is called.
Uh, but, and I, this is, we'll dive into like fun facts. I guess the only real. I guess blatant evidence you see that the show is filmed [00:14:00] in, uh, British Columbia is I think in the first season, there's a bus with a giant Union Jack flag. On the back of it. And I can't remember the episode, but that was the moment where before I like knew where the show was filmed or knew anything about how making a television show actually happened.
Um, I remember looking at that and I'm like, that's weird. Like, why would, like, what, why would a union Jack? Be on the back of a bus and then it was like, Oh, show is filmed in British Columbia. So I guess that kind of makes sense. Um, going back and we were talking about kind of, uh, Juliet finding out that Sean is not in fact psychic, uh, looking at that season, it's season seven.
And the episode is deez nups, which the episode titles alone, I feel like are worthy.
Sam Slaughter: They did a really good job. And I mean, that also gets at so many of the references that they do and the homages like. The homages themselves, uh, whether it's [00:15:00] the, you know, Friday the 13th, or Twin Peaks, or Close Encounters of the Third Kind, like, any major 80s and early 90s, I would say, thing that happened in pop culture on, like, TV or movies, Was touched at some point, you know, one of my favorite jokes is in the dinosaur episode we can get to uh What you were talking about but like in the dinosaur episode when they find the dinosaur They're trying to dig through everything and they make a joke about holes which Dule with sam the onion man in and it's just so quick
. And if you
don't have, if you haven't seen holes, it means nothing but. You know, they, they throw those things in all the time. And Corbin Bernson, who plays Henry, he was in L. A. Law. He makes a joke about L.
A. Law at some point, being like a crappy show or something. And you just sit there and go. I'm glad that they threw that, throw that in.
Taylor D Adams: Yeah, I do. Yeah. I remember the LA law reference in it. I haven't, I haven't seen holes, but I knew that Dulé was in it. So I understood that joke. I thought it was pretty funny.
[00:16:00] And there's actually like the episode where, um, Shawn infiltrates the. Whatever Lodge, like
Sam Slaughter: the, uh, the like the Masonic Lodge. Yeah.
Taylor D Adams: Whenever he infiltrates that and his dad, he finds out his dad is a member because his dad has a picture hanging on the wall. It's a picture of him from L. A. Law. Yeah, it's a painting, which I think is kind of clever.
This this show is kind of like. It's it's so it's so interesting to me because I don't think it's like. It's, it's probably one of my favorite shows, but I wouldn't say it's like one of the best shows out there after like just watching it. Cause I think like you can almost always see who the killer is like at some point you can kind of like anticipate how they're going to solve some of the crimes.
Um,
Sam Slaughter: I mean, is that, I don't think that was ever the point though, to be obscure about it.
Taylor D Adams: No, no. And that's when I, that's, that's, that's what I'm saying is like, I don't think they were trying to do that. I think they were trying to make a fun. hour long [00:17:00] detective show that really U. S. A. started delving into these more like light hearted.
I guess you'd call it a dramedy. Lighthearted material that's an hour long, like before this, they did monk and then psych was kind of the next adventure into it. And then they had like burn notice was loyal pains, burn notice, white collar, like these hour long shows that were technically dramas because nobody makes like an hour long comedy, but they were so lighthearted and fun that they were easily digestible and they were the characters were so easy to relate to and connect with.
But one of the things that I really. Uh, enjoy about the show and has a special place in my heart for it was the F it was the first show that I watched that made me want to work in television because it was apparent from episode one that everybody behind the production of the show in front of the camera, behind the camera, whatever, like they were having fun.
And that's what made me like super interested in this and just to see a complete ensemble from, like I said, [00:18:00] in front of and behind the camera, having fun, making something was like, Oh, this, this is a job like I can do this, like, this is great. Like, I want to, I want to get involved in stuff like this.
Sam Slaughter: Well, I love that Steve Franks, the creator of it.
He's the one that does the theme song. Like it's his band that does the theme song. The Friendly Indians. Yep. Yeah, and so you you find that out and then even on the theme song when they do certain special episodes like the the one with Kenan Thompson when you you see that Gus is in was in an acapella band.
They have boys to men do it They do, uh, you know, they do it in Spanish when Shawn stars on the telenovela They have and Twin Peaks one, obviously all the Christmas ones kind of have a jingle to them You know, they all have, they have these special kind of little things that just enhance that episode even more.
It's such a small addition, but at the same time, it, it sets you up for the next, you know, 40 minutes of [00:19:00] just enjoying yourself.
Taylor D Adams: And kind of the TV world we live in right now, you know, the TV theme song is becoming extinct. So when you have something super catchy and fun that like this, and then you can have.
Like you said, doing the different iterations of it. I think Kurt Smith did a cover of it one time to, um, just being so obvious that this entire adventure is supposed, this entire endeavor is supposed to be fun is it's, it's just nice to see.
Sam Slaughter: Yeah, I think the, I was trying to think of other shows and I, I don't want, I watched TV obviously, but the only one that I came up with that did Something like that.
I think it was, um, Weeds. They had an entire season where people did little boxes. Uh, and it was just a different artist every time. But that was one season of it, not across the entirety of the series.
Taylor D Adams: I do remember that. Um, Community has Go ahead.
Sam Slaughter: I was gonna say, like, I [00:20:00] know Regina Spector did a cover of Little Boxes.
And then, I wouldn't say Rise Against It, but that That I might be conflating that with when they did the, uh, Nightmare Before Christmas song.
Taylor D Adams: Anyway. I gotcha. Um, yeah, Community does something similar too. Like, they have their, their theme song and it's I I could be wrong on this. I don't know. Maybe I'll fact check myself later.
But I don't know if the song, I don't think the song was written for community. I think it's a song that community found, but they do different versions of it. Like when they do the Dungeons and Dragons episode, it's like an Epic score of the song. Um, they, when they did Abed's uncontrollable Christmas, it's basically the song, but Abed's singing different lyrics.
Um, um, It's just stuff like that. Just like, yeah, there's not a lot of. Can you, can you think of a show like right now, like it's currently airing that still has like a memorable theme song?
Sam Slaughter: Um, I think there's no, no lyrics in them, but Bob's Burgers has a very distinct. And I [00:21:00] mean, I know that y'all like Bob's Burgers.
I like Bob's Burgers, but like that, uh, that theme song is very distinct. Um, I think. Also, Superstore has a fairly distinct jingle, again, no words, but like, in the, in the way that we kind of live in, uh, and watch and consume media, you have, you know, it's on Hulu, it's like you have that NBC tone, and then it immediately goes into, you know, the, the Superstore thing, or you have the Fox jingle, and then it goes into the Bob's Burgers thing, and so you're kind of, Mind is trained at that point to know sort of what's gonna come after that jingle or the NBC sound Yeah
Taylor D Adams: Yeah.
And if they, yeah. And if TV shows are still coming out with like jingles and theme songs, I feel like they are getting shorter and shorter. Um, cause I know the at superstore jingle, what must be like four seconds long. Uh, it's just, yeah, the Bob's burgers theme, they [00:22:00] have a full song length. Like, I guess if you want to say 90 seconds as a full song, you can, um, I have the, I have the Bob's burgers LP, uh, collection.
Sam Slaughter: I just ordered the Bob's burgers cookbook. So I'm very excited for that.
Taylor D Adams: Is it? Oh, is it just, yeah, the burger book. Yeah, we ordered, uh, we, I had that and, um, that's a lot of fun. We haven't gone through all the recipes yet, but, um, I think we've done, we've done four or five and they've been really good and we just keep rotating them.
Sam Slaughter: I used to have, used to have it. Um, and so we would work through burgers, probably at least once a month, uh, and just pick out random ones, which was good, but back to psych.
Taylor D Adams: Yeah, but back to psych. Um, what do you, uh, what's your favorite episode? I always like to ask this question. Do you have a favorite episode, and do you have an episode that you think is the best?
Because I do think there is a difference.
Sam Slaughter: I think my favorite episode is the one where they reenact the hangover. So it's Lassie, Woody, [00:23:00] and Shawn wake up sort of in the office, and they have to figure out what happened the night before.
Like, I, I love Woody. He, the addition of him as the coroner, uh, like I like him in other stuff, obviously. But the addition of him as the coroner and having just such a weird personality, adding that into the mix of things where, you know, the comments that he makes are the ones that stop a conversation dead because you're like, what the hell did he just say?
Um, and then when you add that with the sort of analytical mind of Lasseter, who is very, he gets very concerned in that episode that he like, you know, I think, is that the one where he, did he kill a guy? Is that what they're trying to figure out?
Taylor D Adams: They're trying to figure out if he killed a guy or not.
Yeah.
Sam Slaughter: And so, you know, the very analytical mind, then Shawn doing his thing. And then Henry just kind of there, uh, offering his sage advice, like the mixture of those four things coming together. is just so wonderful and so funny. There's a [00:24:00] mix of, you know, the slapstick comedy and just the there again, the dynamic between the actors, you can tell they're having fun.
Like you said, they're enjoying being together and like sort of going through this journey together. Um, I think that is my favorite episode. Uh, I think best one that's tough. Um, the dinosaur one is good. I, I think honestly, like the, the, uh, ying, ying, yang killer, uh, triptych of episodes are the best because there's three total, right?
Taylor D Adams: Yeah, there is three total there. Uh, it's, it's, they're all finales too. So I think it's season three, four and five finales. Yeah.
Sam Slaughter: I think those three as a, just a, a unit are the best episodes because you get so much stuff in them. Um, Not only the humor, but you get to see, you know, all of [00:25:00] the, the, the tension and the, the acting ability of everyone.
Um, you know, and not just the, the guest stars.
Taylor D Adams: Yeah, I would say that first one for me, um, that first finale, I should say, um,
Sam Slaughter: And the first one's the movie theater one, right?
Taylor D Adams: Yes, An Evening with Mr. Yang. Um, that's, uh, yeah, it's, it's tough for me to do the distinction between, uh, favorite and best because there's so many different reasons for me to pick a favorite.
And then when it comes to a best though, like I really have to take into account, like all just kind of, uh, All the different skill sets, I guess, uh, that go into making an episode from the writing, directing, acting, whatever, um, I do think, I think one of my favorite episodes is probably, um, high top fade out.
And that's the one with Kenan Thompson and Julia White. Um, just because that's a ton of fun. And it really focuses a lot on, uh, Gus's emotions from a non [00:26:00] comedic standpoint. Um, because it deals with him. Um, being heartbroken in college and Um, being heartbroken at the time and then also continually being heartbroken that he's not friends with the people that he once called friends.
I think it's really impactful. Um, and then the episodes that are That where James Roday has a hand in the writing or directing or a lot of my favorites to like Tuesday, the 17th is one of my, is one of my favorites. The Friday, the 13th homage. Um, and then I always come for some reason. I always come back to this one.
Whenever someone says like, what's your favorite? I always immediately say, uh, American duos. The Season 2 premiere.
Sam Slaughter: Oh, Season 2 premiere, yeah. Yeah. The, not only because Tim Curry's in it. Yeah. But like, that, yeah, that is a, a solid one. I think I literally, you know, paid the 3 or whatever it was to download that specific episode on iTunes so that I [00:27:00] had it and could watch it just over and over again.
Mm hmm. Um, or maybe that was the one that I got for free. Hehe. I don't remember that was in college. It was a while ago. Um, but yeah, that is the, the, the talent on display in that one is great.
Taylor D Adams: Yeah, I, uh, and I think too, I think that's the first time I really distinctly remember, um, Juliet having a personality outside of being the love interest and, um, detective.
Um, I think it was the first time where we got a little bit of kind of her background story in a very small, like kind of kernel information. Um, that led to like her being a pretty endearing character throughout the, uh, throughout the whole episode, throughout the whole season, series, I should
Sam Slaughter: say. And you mentioned the, the sort of the word on, or you mentioned the word ensemble before, and we've talked about Julia and Gus.
Like I think they did a really good job of having episodes that highlight [00:28:00] Every other character that is not Sean, you know, Gus obviously gets it a little more than others, but like Henry has an episode. Lasseter has an episode. Uh, Chief Vic has an episode. I think Woody has an episode. Obviously Juliet has an episode.
They all, and then Buzz is in there as well, which Buzz being this like lovable doofus who gets to help save the day, but also is always going to be there for you. Like they all get these episodes where you get to see inside. All of that, and, you know, with Lassiter, his, you have his relationship, or his, his divorce, and then you finally get to sort of see the emotional, uh, trouble that he has gone through, that he is very much hiding down, and then you have, you know, obviously the banter between Sean and Lassie going back and forth, but then you also see, you know, Sean legitimately cares about him.
They can yell at each other all they want, but at the end of the [00:29:00] day, they definitely care about each other. And that is a very heartwarming thing to see, but it's also, it was really well rendered. You know, it took five seasons to finally get to that point, or whenever it was. Five, six, whatever. Um, but, you know, again, all that build up.
Um, I think, you know, led to just such a, a beautiful moment of, of friendship, uh, that then, you know, led through to the rest and, you know, him becoming chief and all that. And yeah. Yeah.
Taylor D Adams: That, uh, that series finale with basically Sean leaving a message to everyone, uh, about like what, what the truth is and putting truths through, excuse me, I'm putting truth in air quotes.
Um, And Lasseter starting to listen to it and then just breaking, physically breaking the CD or the DVD or whatever.
I don't think as in right now on May 1st, uh, there isn't too many details about when [00:30:00] the premiere date of psych to Lassie come home is supposed to be. Um, but I am excited about it because of unfortunately, um, Timothy Amundsen having. The, the stroke that he had, um, where he could not be, uh, in the first psych movie.
Yeah. Well, he was in there for a very limited capacity, but you can tell he was recovering from it. And it felt like, I think everyone new to involved with the movie were like, we got to do another one, at least to have him in there because he's such a big part of this family that we need to do and almost a movie entirely about him.
Yeah, I guess. Cool.
Sam Slaughter: I mean, when he first came on in that movie, I was bawling, uh, because they, I mean, they had to rewrite the script, uh, of the first movie so that they could incorporate him and still have him in the movie. And so I think they did it in a really just beautiful way to still have him involved, um, in some sort of respect.
Taylor D Adams: Yeah. And [00:31:00] even like it, you know. It's unfortunate that they had to do that. But yeah, like you said, the way they did it, the way it was just ended up just basically being a FaceTime call. It was actually kind of the best that they could do, but also it had so much impact because I think everyone who had any interest in seeing the movie knew the behind the scenes that was going on.
Cause that's the thing is like this can be a casual show that you just happen to pop on and enjoy. But the people that are really into the show, like no, like. Probably way too much about everybody on the show. And I wouldn't even say that's a bad thing. Like way too much as in like, maybe the people that are participating in the show, the actors directors aren't entirely aware possibly about how much fans care about everybody that's involved with the show.
Sam Slaughter: Oh, for sure. Um, you know, it just, again, it's been off the air for six years now, but, and I've been watching it the past week since we first started talking about this, but like, you know, I, I don't remember a lot. [00:32:00] Uh, and I can still recall, you know, most of the episodes and still, you know, I have just such a fondness for, it gives a, a warming feeling on the inside just to sort of boot up an old episode and, and see that, or even like go back and see, so, uh, Wayne from Letter Kenny was in one of the episodes.
He plays, uh, it's the one with, uh, the sort of, like, the school for men or whatever. He plays the one guy who's getting coached by
Taylor D Adams: Oh, the etiquette coach. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay.
Sam Slaughter: But he's in it. Um, and so you see him now, obviously Letterkenny has exploded now that Hulu has it and not just Crave TV. But you go back and you're like, this was way before he was, he, you know, Wayne from Letterkenny.
But you get to see him and he's still funny. Um, and you get to see him before he was famous or known or whatever you want to call it. [00:33:00]
Taylor D Adams: Yeah. Um, guest star wise, I guess at that point, like he like was kind of coming up, so you didn't really like possibly know too much about it. But going back to talking about guest stars, um, can you think of one off the top of your head that might be your favorite guest star?
Ooh,
Sam Slaughter: that's tough. Um, I think that Keenan Thompson, Jaleel White episode probably takes it for me. Like, they're, they do a really good job of not only that sort of emotional, uh, growing up from college and kind of trying to get over it, but, I mean, Keenan Thompson, he's been, he's what, the longest tenured SNL person now?
Yep. Uh, he's been kicking it for so long and he's come, you know, I remember him on all that.
Taylor D Adams: Yeah, he's been doing his thing. He's been doing his thing for a while. And I think he, I think I read an article that he just got penned finally to do hit, to have his own show on NBC, I think coming up in the next, in the fall or whatever, like that
Sam Slaughter: only taken him [00:34:00] like
20 years.
Taylor D Adams: I know. I'm happy. I'm like, but everything he's in though, I watch and I love it's great in that even when they did kind of the, the sequel to high top fade out where they couldn't get Julia white, but they had McKay Pfeiffer. I still thought that was a pretty fun episode. Um,
Sam Slaughter: I think that one, I'm sorry.
And then my second would be anytime Ray wise is on so the Twin Peaks episode.
Taylor D Adams: Um, I think it was in season seven where they do kind of the Blair Witch homage. Um, I think that's an underappreciated episode because I mean, I couldn't, I couldn't tell you like why certain people don't like it, but for me, I really liked the Blair Witch Project. So I was really into their kind of homage to it, but also.
Poking fun of the fact that you can't really envision Sean and Gus surviving in the wilderness and they really point that out and there's just a bunch of like slapstick comical moments like there's a moment where a hawk drops out of the sky and steals a video camera and I just [00:35:00] die laughing every time because it's the last thing I ever expected to happen in the show and for some reason it just kills me every time.
Um, and then with, uh, Michael Anthony Hall. Uh, as a trout, um, the bad guy that he really was kind of a, just there to be a villain. Um, which I don't think we get a lot of nowadays. Like nowadays, if there's a villain, like we have to kind of like humanize them and justify them, but sometimes it's just easier just to have an enemy that everybody can rally around.
Um, and I think for this particular show, it worked because it threatened. Everything about the show, like it was eliminating chief Vic and we knew the show was kind of winding down. So we weren't exactly sure what was going to end up happening. So I just thought it was kind of, uh, It's kind of effective.
Um. Yeah, for, for sure. Uh, it's Anthony Michael Hall, not Michael Anthony Hall.
I don't know why I was... Confusing.
Sam Slaughter: How dare you?
Taylor D Adams: I know, how dare I?
Sam Slaughter: I'm going to tag him in this on Twitter. [00:36:00] And then he will be non plus because he probably won't listen. But if you're listening, hello and I loved you in all of your movies. And everything in that movie. Also James Roday and Dule Hill if you're listening.
And the entire cast, really. If anyone's listening, hello.
Taylor D Adams: Yeah, for sure. Um. . Yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited to, uh. Um, I'm excited whenever the psych to Lassie comes home, comes out, uh, I'm excited to delve into that. Um, Oh, and there's one more kind of Lassie thing. This is kind of a funny story. Um, I don't know if, uh, my girlfriend, Nicole is going to like me sharing the story, but it's, it's, it's a good story.
Uh, one of the best Lassie episodes is here's Lassie, which is the shining homage. Um, there's a moment where I believe I can't remember if it's Lassiter or Gus is down in the laundry room, kind of hunting a suspect and they, we end up kind of seeing and finding a dead body in the dryer and it's one of those sideloading dryers with the [00:37:00] glass door, um, that you can see in and for some reason, uh, my girlfriend saw that and like jumped and kind of like just screamed just a little bit and then started and then started laughing That, that scared her and then started crying and couldn't stop and I was like, what is happening?
She's like, I don't know, but it was like, but having me having started watching this show when it first aired and then kind of like, and then when I started, uh, dating Nicole, introducing her to it and then catching her up at the moment. And then we watched like the last two seasons together. Um, it was cool just to like get that moment where.
Yeah. We collectively could enjoy how the show ended and how it's still living on with the movies that they're doing. Um, I think that's one of the things too, is I tell a ton of people to watch the show because it's so fun. And even when it first came out, I was like super into it. I remember kind of like this and [00:38:00] I think this came out like Two years, maybe a year after Lost and Lost was the first TV show that I got really into.
And then this was the second one. Like, I was just super into this one. Like, it came out on Fridays and even in college, like it came out on Fridays at nine. I would not go out and party with my friends until I watched Psych. Like, I would watch Psych and then I'd be like, okay, let's go do whatever.
Sam Slaughter: Um. Back when we had cable.
Taylor D Adams: Back when we had, yeah, back when we had cable. And we couldn't. Couldn't be like, Oh, I'm just going to watch it whenever I want to know. We had to wait.
Sam Slaughter: Remember, remember when cable was a thing?
Taylor D Adams: I don't remember when commercials came on and they last.
Sam Slaughter: Remember when going outside and seeing people was a thing too?
Man. Actual. Those early 2000s were crazy.
Taylor D Adams: Actual human interaction is, uh, is, is rare right now. Um.
Sam Slaughter: I guess I have a question for you. So yeah, I mean, obviously the, the show, they did the movie. What are your thoughts on that sort of thing? Like I know communities tagline was always six seasons in a movie and [00:39:00] they, you know, for psych they did the eight seasons and then the movie about, you know, psych Francisco, how do you feel that, do you think it was a successful, successful transition?
Uh, and like a, a nice, Obviously now it's not like an end cap because they're doing another one, but do you feel it was a nice way to Continue the kind of that world
Taylor D Adams: Um, I think so because it's all about for me as I ended up being all about the characters and like just to have another hour and a half to spend with the characters that you spent eight years with is, is really all that you need.
And like, and the way that they're rolling out these movies too, like they're rolling them out. Um, well, the first psych movie was on USA. Um, the second psych movie will be on Peacock NBC universal streaming platform. Um, I think it's successful enough. I think they're doing it. Because, I mean, backers are doing it because they're getting paid, uh, but [00:40:00] they also must enjoy doing it because they wouldn't keep doing it because this is not a, I guess you, right at this point, you can call it a franchise.
This is not a franchise that You Is going to make a ton of money. It's going to perform for the niche market that is already in love with psych. And then hopefully with these like, now that psych lives on streaming platforms like Amazon prime, like hopefully more people will get into it. And then maybe that'll carry over toward these movies, but.
I think it's, I think it's, I think it's good and good from the standpoint of it's good to have it. Like, I'm sure, and like, if, if it sucked, if it sucked, I would, if, come on. I'm trying here. You're just trying to slip in all these, all these, all these liners.
Sam Slaughter: All of them. Yeah. I've got like six more, so they're going to come rapid fire right now.
What?
Taylor D Adams: It's just kind of good to have it like it doesn't it doesn't need to be a fantastic piece of artwork it needs to be true to the characters are [00:41:00] and it needs to be fun and it needs to be entertaining and authentic I guess is the best way for me to put like even with now that we pretty much have like a Breaking Bad franchise like there's Breaking Bad there's Better Call Saul there's the El Camino movie which I watched it and I enjoyed it did I think we need did I think we need it No, but I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed watching it. It was, it was cool to be back in that world for a little bit to hang out with Jesse Pinkman. Um, but yeah, I think the, what they're doing right now and if they keep doing psych movies, like I'd be okay with that. Cause at this point, like it becomes kind of just a fun thing. You don't have to stress too much about missing.
If you do miss it, if that makes sense, um, cause they did the first one they're coming out with psych to Lassie come home if, and it'll be. It's coming out this year. Like I said, don't know when, but it'll be, I think, three years since we did the first Psych movie. Um, and if they did... Three years already?
Yeah. Holy shit. Well, it's December of 2017. So, it's kind of like two and a half. [00:42:00] Um...
Sam Slaughter: Where the hell is time gone, Taylor?
Taylor D Adams: Uh, that's a great question. But if they did another one in two or three years, I'll be there to watch it. Do
Sam Slaughter: you think it's Psych 2, the movie, or Psych 3, the movie, that Sean and Juliet have a kid?
Ooh, yeah, that could be, that could also be the setup for the third movie.
Taylor D Adams: That could be the setup for the third movie. I, I would like to see actually, I need, I would like to see Gus. I want to see Gus get married. I want to see Gus have personal, uh, personal success. He's got career success. He's got friend success.
He needs to. Well, a little love success would be warranted for, for his character. Um, yeah, cause the, the voicemail on his play a phone is full. Um, but I mean, yeah, that's all I got, man. Is there anything else you kind of want to touch on and talk about?
Sam Slaughter: Uh, have you heard about Pluto? It's messed up, right?[00:43:00]
Taylor D Adams: Okay. I think that's a good segment to end on. Uh, Hey man, thanks for talking to me, I really appreciate it.
Sam Slaughter: Oh, this has been great. This is so much fun.
Taylor D Adams: Psych is one of my favorite shows of all time. It would become another brick in USA's early foundation of original programming that would ground the network in making shows about people who relied on their loved ones.
And I feel that, especially in this time, Connecting with our loved ones is something we can take for granted. So while our world is at a standstill, let's be sure to reach out to the ones we care about, and maybe watch a little Psyche to brighten our days. So that's it for this week. If you like what you heard, be sure to subscribe to keep up with all of our episodes, and please rate us and leave us a review so we can know how we're doing.
So, until next time, wait for it.