The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

While part of me is sad to see that there's just one more episode left in the Psych series, another part of me is glad. The reason for that is I've been thoroughly disappointed in the eighth and final season. I started noticing the series going downhill in the seventh season, after six very strong ones. There were still some funny episodes in season 7, but there were also times when it appeared as if, due to the added romantic elements, Psych was going to become like Friends and turn into a romantic dramedy or soap opera. That element has definitely faded in season 8. However, it's been replaced by sub-par writing, extreme randomness, and a sense of, "Were the writers and actors high when making these episodes?" This season has honestly appeared to me to be one where the writers and actors weren't 100% certain if it was going to happen, and at the last minute, decided to gather all the "fun," random ideas they could, and place it on the screen - de...

I talked about this some last week, mainly regarding the TV show Psych , but have to say that in an even broader sense, I've never been one to care much for sitcom romances. I know that probably makes me a "communist" in some people's eyes, but for some strange reason, I watch sitcoms for one reason and one reason only - laughter. If I wanted to watch romance, I'd tune into a drama, a soap opera, or a local bar by the name of Gettin' Lucky Tonight . The tricky part about integrating a heavy-duty romance into a sitcom is that romances take a great deal of time to develop on screen and sitcoms only run for between 20 and 25 minutes (excluding commercials) per episode. If a romance is to be integrated, the writers and actors want to provide a somewhat believable time-table for things to progress between the two actors and like I said, this takes time. Unfortunately, this process typically dominates the show until the couple appears to be believably content and ...

I don't watch a lot of television. I've never gotten caught up in the "reality" television craze. I'm a writer. I appreciate good writing for a show. Holding a camera and waiting to see what people say and do in "real"-life settings (not really) doesn't really do it for me. The only two shows I currently watch with any regularity (excluding The Daily Show and The Colbert Report ) are Modern Family and Psych . Psych is the lesser known of the two shows, as it airs on the USA Network. It centers around a guy (Shawn) who is blessed with excellent observational skills, so much so that he is able to pretend he's a psychic and utilize these skills to help the police solve cases. This has resulted in a very consistently entertaining program. The strongest part of the show, in my opinion, is the chemistry between the two lead characters - Shawn and his sidekick Gus. They work very well together, feed off one another like long-time friends, and appear to...