Exclusive interview: James Roday on the return of 'Psych'

"Psych" returns to USA on January 27.

USA

"Psych" has been a favorite of fans and critics alike through three and a half seasons, and much of the reasoning behind that has been James Roday's turn as off-the-wall lead character Shawn Spencer. James talked with me on Tuesday about the January 27 return of the USA show, his favorite moments, and keeping the metaphorical "poop" firm.

Matt: How do you feel about 'Psych' moving to Wednesdays?

James: It's not too different. I'm hoping we've established ourselves enough so that our core audience will be able to find us. If anything, I think we're just curious as to what it might mean to not be on Friday night when nobody's home. Hopefully it'll be good. Hopefully it will be good for the show. If nothing else, hopefully we'll be able to maintain what we've already had. Friday nights at 10 [Eastern] when you're trying to target some sort of younger demograhic is tough. Hopefully Wendesday will be even better.

Matt: What originally made you interested in the project?

James: I really liked the pilot script. I'd actually sworn off television, to be honest--not forever, but for a little while. I'd taken several television jobs all for different reasons thinking that each one would be good and they all sort of failed to meet exectations for one reason or another...there's no magical sort of formula for how to be on a TV show and I was just a little burnt out quite frankly. My plan was to go to New York and do some theatre and then I got the script for "Psych." I was like "ahh--just as I thought I was out you pulled me back in!" I had a great meeting with the show creator and we laid out the arameters to make the show work: what I would do, what he would let me do. I had never gone about it like that before, so it seemed worth it for me to go back and give it a shot. I knew making the pilot would be fun if nothing else. The rest is history, man; you never know when the planets are going to align like that. They kind of did and it's great to be on a show where not only do you believe what you're doing but people are watching as well.

Matt: Now that you're over 60 episodes in, is it tough coming up with new situations?

James: It's certainly a challenge, but we all feel really strongly that we don't want to become that show that hung on for too long, where people are like 'those guys are just on autopilot.' We push ourselves pretty hard to keep things feeling as fresh as possible. For my money, I think that our season four was pound for pound better than our season three. If we can keep doing that, I think we're great. Otherwise, we should shut it down. That way, we can walk out feelng good; we can walk out like John Elway.

Matt: Okay, now we get to the serious questions: can fans expect more pineapples in the next seven episodes?

James: Yeah, I think so! It's sort of woven its way into the fabric of the show. I think the onus is on us to keep it challenging with it...not get lazy with pineapple placement.

Matt: Who came up with the idea to give you and Gus random nicknames?

James: It started in the pilot when I called him 'Sillypants Jackson.' It was improv in the moment and people got a kick out of it. Then I came back, started shooting the series, and I had remembered that. Then I did it again to start the series and it worked again. It just became the runner that wouldn't die...it was just me for a while, but then the writers were like 'if we're going to do this every week, then we want to take a crack at some of those.' And then everyone got in on it.

Matt: So it's now a group thing.

James: Absolutely. And every time you hear one, know that there were 12 others that didn't make the cut.

Matt: Let's talk now about some of the relationships between Shawn and the other characters. Will Shawn and Lassiter ever get along?

James: No, and I think that's good for the show. They present two different approaches to solving crimes, they're different types of people; I think that Shawn's mere existence is enough to keep Lassiter up at night. I don't think the two of them are ever going to play together in the sandbox, but at the end of the day they tolerate what they do. They're both good at their jobs and get a lot of bad guys behind bars. I don't think at any moment between now and the end of the series that these days are going to sit down and drink hot cocoa together.

Matt: What about with Juliet? Do you see the two of them continue to have this "relationship" that doesn't happen?

James: You know, it's derivative of a lot of other shows who have done that..."Moonlighting" and "Cheers." I know Steve [Franks] is a big fan of "Moonlighting." It has been proven that it can be done effectively; it can also be done poorly. All I care about since that's the direction we went is that whatever we end up doing is good. I think we're getting pretty close to having to do something. It's time to--for lack of a better term--poop or get off the pot. I think we're going to have to poop soon; hopefully it's firm, solid poop--what can I say?

Matt: We can only hope. In terms of guest stars, you've have John Cena coming up. You've also had Rachel Leigh Cook and Gary Cole. Is there anyone that you would love to have on the show?

James: My answer to that question since the beginning of the show has been David Bowie, and until we get him it will be David Bowie. Not only is he 80s, he's iconic, he's one of my favorite recording artists of all time, and he does such bizarre, out-of-left-field stuff that he would fit in perfectly with us. So we're going to keep trying--and he may keep telling us no--but we'll keep trying.

Matt: That's the spirit! It would be awesome to see him on.

James: It would be awesome.

Matt: You directed the slasher episode in season three--do you have plans to do any more of that in the future?

James: As a matter of fact, I directed the season finale that will be coming up in March...I don't know the date exactly. We come back with seven episodes and it's the seventh one. It's the sequel to last year's finale ['An Evening with Mr. Yang'] with Ally Sheedy as a serial killer.

Matt: That's great. The first one was a favorite of just about everyone...

James: We took it to the next level, Matt!

Matt: Was the season three finale one of your favorites or do you have another one that stands out in your mind?

James: I was proud of 'Mr. Yang' because if you go back and watch the pilot...the fact that we were able to grow enough to do something like 'Mr. Yang' is a testament to what the show has become and the true hybrid it has become =...to do episodes that are so light and ridiculous that blow away the second the credits roll, and then do something like 'Mr. Yang' that stays with you. It was a 'look how far we've come' moment.

As an actor I don't know if I'll ever to 'Lights, Camera, Homicidio.' You know, Shawn infiltrates a Spanish soap opera set and gets himelf onto the show to stop a crime. I found myself being able to improvise and make jokes in two languages. That was the most fun I've had in four years.

Matt: It worked in between the Spanish theme song and the overall episode. I'm guessing since you're from San Antonio that you knew a little bit of Spanish.

James: I knew enough to get by, and I knew enough that I was able to squeeze in a few jokes when nobody else knew what I was saying

There was another episode called 'High Top Fade Out' that I'm also very proud of. I teamed up with one of our writers named Saladin Patterson to show that 'Psych' could do so many things and still be 'Psych.' It definitely had a more urban sort of feel to the episode, it was very Gus-driven, a fantastic guest cast made up primarily of black actors. It was one of those 'we could do this too--check this out.' And we even had Boyz II Men do the theme song.

Matt: Is there anything you'd like to see Shawn and Gus do--any place that they can go--that they haven't already?

James: I think it's inevitable that at some point we'll have to in each other's dreams...I don't know what that means, but I think we could probably pull it off.

Matt: I don't know either. Well is there anything else you'd like to promote outside of the show?

James: Sure! I did a play in Los Angeles called 'Extinction' that closed right before the holidays but was a shocking smash...sort of exceeded all our expectations. Because of that it got some attention from New York producers and we're moving the show off Broadway. It will re-open on February 13--that's when it starts previews--and it opens on the 17th and it will go through the middle of March at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City, where Dule [Hill] actually did a show a few years ago. Dule's actually producing the play as well. It's a family project, but it's been very fulfilling and it's great to be on stage. So if anyone is up in New York, or wants to hop a plane to New York, come and see the show!

Matt: We'll put it out there and see what happens. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me today, James.

James: Thanks a lot Matt; Happy New Year, brother!

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Are you excited for the return of "Psych?" Let me know your thoughts with a comment below. I'll close out with a brief programming note: the page has now gone national! While Dallas is near and dear to my heart, TV is really something that is universal and is not limited to any given city or state. You can still expect the same coverage as always, just under a new name.

To follow "Psych" on Twitter, just go to this link.

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