Psych: The Musical Review

Last Sunday, Psych: The Musical premiered for the first time on television (it had previously premiered at Comic Con). From many interviews he's done, the creator Steve Franks has said that he'd always had a musical in mind from the beginning and that the cast and creative team had always been on board.  No doubt, this two hour special was a long time in the making.

This was their dream episode, and they pulled it off pretty well.  The story deals with the escape of an institutionalized playwright seeking revenge on the people performing and taking credit for his work. It was a pretty fun case, one that easily would have fit into the usual format but was enhanced with the musical integration. The first song, "Santa Barbara Skies" presented the fake psychic premise recap for new viewers with lyrics like "A man who sees clues, as if they were alighting. Gets accused to confess, because his hair is so exciting." and "A cop I am not, I'm just good at observation.  But with short cuts and cons, and the proper presentation."

With all original music, the songs were tailored to fit the show, tone, the characters, and their relationships. Lassie as the cynic, Jules as the optimist, Shawn and Gus as ridiculous, Yin and Woody as hilariously crazy. My favorite songs were probably "Z's Lament" and "The Breakdown" because they were a bit darker with a Sweeney Todd-esque feel to them. The funniest song was probably Woody's "Often It's the Opposite" and the funniest dance number was Shawn and Lassiter's tango.

This special definitely showed that the Psych team knows musicals and they know television and they know their own show.  They integrated fan service, call backs, and running gags very well.  For instance, Ally Sheedy returned as Yang, an old big bad whose arc ran for three seasons. They also utilized "Suck it," "I've heard it both ways," "Did you hear about Pluto?" "I can't do this with you right now," a plethora of Gus nicknames, the pineapple, and allusions to many musicals such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Miss Saigon.

My only real complaint is that it concluded the Yang storyline pretty conclusively, and that might have been a very interesting, emotional moment within a regular episode.  However, this framing did allow for a reappearance of another favorite guest star, Jimmi Simpson, and his scene was odd and perfect just like his character.

Even as someone who is not the biggest fan of musicals, it's hard not to appreciate all the work that was put into this, including the original songs and choreography within a television production schedule.  While I don't think it quite measured up to the epitome of television musicals, Buffy The Vampire Slayer's iconic "Once More, with Feeling," it is also one of the few tv musicals that even deserves the comparison.

Anyway, definitely recommending this for fans of Psych, musicals, and comedy.