Psych

JANUARY 19, 2007
I WONDER WHAT NBC UNIVERSAL WILL GET ME!

by Steve Franks

How happy are we? (please don't answer, that's a rhetorical question.)

Psych is coming back for the second half of its first season and we've already been picked up for a second year. This is very exciting as we always thought of ourselves as this quirky little detective show that people on heavy pain medication might enjoy.

We even broke some records in our first run -- not cool records, mind you, but trivial records like "most watched show with volume all the way off, ages 25-32" and "most exhaling by a guest actor." But listen, records are records, and we are going to cherish them. And some of them are legitimately cool.

Wanna know who has the highest Friday cable debut in history? Hmmm ... that would be Psych. And many of our episodes were the most downloaded shows on iTunes the week after they aired. You see why we're so happy?

Although, I have to admit, I am a generally happy person anyway. Wouldn't you be if you got to have your own TV show? Getting the opportunity to do this is reward enough.

And things are great over here at Psych -- so great that it got me to thinking. Remember a few years ago when the entire cast of "Will and Grace" were given Porsches by the brass at NBC? Wasn't that cool? I wonder if they're thinking of getting something for me.

Oh, what am I doing? I should be talking about the new episode. It's a lot of fun, originally written by our first set of outside writers, the duo of Rabkin and Goldberg, who have done a bunch of "Monk" episodes.

We made a lot of changes along the way and Jack Sakmar and Kerry Lenhart, although uncredited, did a lot of great work in the process. Doing great work is probably the reason that Will and Grace got those Porsches -- oops, there I go again. If they were going to get me a present, they probably would have done it already. Back to my blog...

We have one of our biggest guest stars yet, Kurtwood Smith, who you've probably seen in a whole bunch of different things, including "That 70's Show." He plays Henry's former Captain, suffering from early onset Alzheimer's, who has solved a crime but can't remember what it is. Shawn is the only person who has faith in him and sets out to solve the crime for him. It's a sweet episode with great performances all around.

On an unrelated note, did you know that I don't have an iPod? Isn't that crazy? Boy, it sure would be great if somebody were to get me one as a gift. But who? I'd really like one of those really nice ones, with video capability and everything.

I wonder if the studio has any connections over there with Apple? I told you about how well we did on iTunes, right? Of course, that was in the summer, when a lot of shows are in reruns. Plus, I could probably just go and buy one, I think the price has really come down from a few years ago. Sorry. Back to the blog...

The episode was directed by Mel Damski, who also did "The Spellingg Bee" and is a producer on the show. Mel is the coolest and most collected person you'll ever meet. He's a fun guy on the set and is crazy about his wife -- all things to love about him.

I wonder if the network got him anything? I should check that out. It probably wasn't a car. After all, we're on a cable network. It would have probably been some sort of food basket with crackers and stuff. And cheese. Mel likes cheese.

Where was I? Oh, yeah, we were talking about the new episode. It has one of my favorite sequences in it, where Gus and Shawn have a heated argument in a pretend Xhosa click language. We shot that sequence in an abandoned zoo in Stanley Park, one of the most amazing parks I've ever seen.

Speaking of parks, did you also know that Universal, our parent company, has a great theme park in Orlando called "Islands of Adventure?" How fun would it be to go there? All expenses paid? That would be a great gift. I could just see me, my wife, and baby, stretching out in first class (I'm tall, so it's OK to insist on the extra leg room, and our baby is an awesome traveler, so he won�t annoy all those other snobs up in first class.)

I wonder if they'll set us up in the Hard Rock Hotel or the Portofino Bay Hotel -- they're both on property and both really nice. Seven days sounds about right, I wouldn't want to stay too long. Plus, I've got a show to run, I can't take that kind of time off. Although, Mel could watch over things while I'm gone. And I'll bring my laptop so I can work by the pool (clarification: I already have a laptop, so getting that for me is totally unnecessary.)

OK...

Maybe we could stay eight days? But, that's it. Anything else would be too extravagant. I couldn't possibly accept. Although, if I stayed that long I'd probably need a rental car, too. Do you think they'd rent me a Porsche?

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