Psyched Up

Last night was the premiere of the new series Psych on USA. You might be thinking that TV is already saturated with crime-solving shows, and that the USA network in particular already has its quota of both them and of psychics. And that's probably all true.

Nevertheless, this show is worth your time. The first episode was funny, entertaining stuff. The gimmick of watching the main character fake being psychic works. He's an entertaining character to watch, and the actor portraying him seems perfectly cast.

The techniques in which they show you how the character's mind works are pretty clever. He's a sort of modern day Sherlock Holmes, but funnier, and possibly more neurotic. (Possibly. Maybe not. Holmes certainly had his share of addictions and compulsions.)

His "sidekick," played by Dule Hill of the recently-departed The West Wing, is very enjoyable. That actor got to play his fair share of comedy on his former series, but he really shines doing it in a show less dramatic in nature.

Granted, it's only one episode, but I think it shows great promise of a show that won't just be "good because not much really good is on in the summer," but because it's genuinely good.