James Roday Rodriguez Teases Epic Psych and Monk Crossover, Confirms Finale Easter Egg
There’s no doubt about it, bringing the two series together would be a mind-blowing mashup.
A wave of nostalgia swept over countless Peacock subscribers when Psych star James Roday Rodriguez teased a crossover between his beloved USA Network original and Tony Shalhoub's Monk.
Psych, the detective comedy series, is celebrated for the ridiculous antics of best friends Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez) and Burton “Gus” Guster (Dulé Hill). Spencer, a detective consultant in Santa Barbara, duped the entire police force into believing he had special psychic powers, but viewers knew the truth: he solved crimes using his photographic memory and sharp observational skills.
What if he had a run-in with another unconventional detective? One who also relied on his photographic memory and leveraged his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder to nab bad guys? Yes, we are talking about Shalhoub from Monk! Fans of both shows have long wondered what a Psych and Monk crossover would look like, and Rodriguez recently gave us all hope that it could become a reality.
During an interview in April at the annual fan event, PsychOdelphia 2025, Rodriguez teased a melding of the two worlds and confirmed that the Psych crew would be on board if such a glorious event were to happen.
“We would absolutely do a collaboration with Monk. It would be an honor and a privilege,” he stated.
While Shalhoub has not publicly discussed any collaborations, he hasn’t ruled out revisiting his famous character.
“I never say never. If another… great idea came along, who knows?” he told USA Insider in 2023.
Shawn Spencer and Adrian Monk have met before
The Psych and Monk worlds briefly collided on screen once before, but in such a subtle way that viewers may not have noticed. In the final minutes of the Psych finale, police chief Vick (Kristen Nelson) told Shawn and Gus that a new detective was currently in the kitchen “alphabetizing the pantry.” When asked about this scene at the recent fan event, Rodriguez confirmed that it was “one million percent a reference to Monk.”
“We had grand designs on maybe getting Tony to appear in that episode. It didn’t quite work out, so the next best thing was to make that reference, and hope that people got it,” he stated.
Fans have long suspected that the two shows lived in the same universe, noting crossover ads from the late 2000s, in which Shawn and Tony appeared together. In one charming promotional spot, Monk immediately saw through Shawn’s ruse, saying, “Here’s what I think. You have no psychic abilities whatsoever.”
USA Network aired the shows back-to-back from 2006 through 2009, for one tantalizing block of detective programming, and Rodriguez credited Monk for paving the way for Psych’s success.
“Monk was the show that launched us; it was our lead-in. It set the stage for what we did. They specifically programmed us to work with Monk as a one-two punch,” he revealed in the interview.
It’s worth noting, however, that nothing has been confirmed for any future Monk or Psych projects. Although the stars haven’t aligned for a crossover yet, that’s not to say a collaboration won’t happen in the future. Rodriguez’s comments have reignited the rumor mill, and enthusiastic fans are clearly here for it. It's obviously not outside the realm of possibility, both shows have found success in recent years with straight-to-streaming movies that offered up some insight into what the characters have been doing since their respective shows wrapped years ago.
You can catch all seasons of Psych and Monk on Peacock.
