Watching USA Network today, it’s hard to believe that once upon a time, its biggest claim to fame was being home to one of the longest running animated children’s shows, Calliope. Nowadays, Calliope is long forgotten and USA has gone on to be quite the success story when it comes to original scripted programming on a basic cable channel.
When season seven of Psych premieres on Feb. 27th, it will do so as the second longest running original program in USA’s history. When season eight premieres (filming starts in April), it will tie Monk, the network’s record holder for longest running show. However Psych‘s chances getting a season nine, and surpassing Monk are slim. And looking slimmer by the day.
Over the summer, there had been rumors that Dulé Hill was not interested in signing a new contract when his current one, that is good through an eighth season, ran out. Now there’s news of another major cast member who is planning their post-Psych life.
Maggie Lawson who plays the adorable and incredibly patient and understanding Juliet O’Hara has been cast in an untitled ABC pilot. Created by the Cullen brothers, Mark and Robb, who have worked together on both Las Vegas and Heist, the show has James Caan starring as an ex-baseball player and is billed as a new Modern Family. We’ll just have to wait and see if it makes it to air, but what does this mean for Psych?
Theoretically, the show could continue. USA has shown it has zero issue with moving around scheduling (seriously it’s been a year since a Psych episode last aired, ridiculous) and with season 8 getting ready to start filming, they could extend it another season or two if Dulé Hill returns? Maybe?
Okay, probably not. So what’s a Psych-o to do? Well, first take solace in the knowledge there is plenty of warning for the end of the series which should hopefully result in a satisfying wrap up. It would suck to put in eight years of time into watching a show only to get to the end and have them just be canceled with no warning and therefore a crappy last episode. Nothing chaps my ass more than when shows get surprise canceled and there is no resolution.
Secondly, let’s enjoy the time we have left. Like last season with the Hashtag Killer, the powers that be over at Psych have put together another interactive online game, “The S#cial Sector“. I know it’s probably lame, but I really enjoyed Hashtag Killer, and have already started the first week of S#cial Sector. While it’s not as good as Hashtag Killer, it’s still fun and I’ll probably play all eight weeks. If USA does nothing else right, they do have a somewhat firm grasp on how to get people involved in shows like Psych with the online and social interactive aspects. Did you know that 30 Rock has won awards for their various webseries? Probably not, because they don’t advertise that stuff whereas USA, an NBC family member does, and quite well.
All that said, I am going to need a group hug of some sort. It seems like a lot of my shows are ending in the very near future (if not already) and I’m already experiencing withdrawal symptoms. So what say you Pysch fans? What should I watch next? Go ahead and give me some suggestions down in the comments box, or simply share your favorite Psych memory. We can get through this together.
Grizzly Bomb 