Fan-Favorite Crime Comedy Series Twists Sherlock Holmes Into New Take, Where To Stream
It’s easy to find a show with similarities to the famous fictional character Sherlock. Pretty much any detective movie or TV series has ties to Sherlock Holmes, especially if they focus on one very smart detective with a friend or companion who often travels with them. While Psych doesn’t directly compare itself to the famous detective, it’s easy to see how similar they are if you care to stream it.
Fake Psychic Doesn’t Play By The Rules
Psych is a story about a man named Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez), who isn’t a detective but who is very good at drawing conclusions and seeing details. After catching several criminals, police grow suspicious that he might be the criminal behind the crimes.
Since he’s not able to explain his situation, Shawn takes an extreme path in Psych, immediately setting it up as one of the best streaming series out there. He claims to be a psychic, often getting away with miscalculations by providing a stream of nonsensical words and statements.
Formulaic But Fun
The police chief (Kirsten Nelson) hires him as a consultant on difficult cases. Unfortunately, since he isn’t actually a psychic, he has to do some fairly illegal activities to get the information so that he can then pretend he pulled it out of thin air. He brings along his pharmaceutical rep friend, Burton Guster (Dulé Hill), also known as Gus, on all of his adventures.
After binging Psych as your latest streaming marathon, you’ll appreciate how talented Hill is as a performer.
A Gifted Supporting Cast
Right off the bat, Psych is a hilarious streaming choice. It’s not meant to be a show you take seriously but one that drags you along for a fun ride. Gus and Shawn, while fairly smart, rely on child-like humor to get through their day. The cops they work with, Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) and Juliet O’Hara (Maggie Lawson), are frequently frustrated with their antics but have no choice but to rely on them for help on several cases.
A Silly Show That Takes A Lot From Sherlock Holmes
On the surface, it’s just a silly little detective show. However, if you start to pay attention, Psych has a lot of similarities to the original Sherlock and its streaming brethren, Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Shawn is a man who is good at forcing his stream of thoughts into something that can provide useful answers other people wouldn’t necessarily be able to figure out.
He even has a companion. Unlike other shows that adapt Sherlock Holmes, such as House, Gus doesn’t immediately come off as a John Watson-type character. He doesn’t have a similar name or do any journaling. However, he does help out Shawn often when he’s collecting information and he works near medicine, though instead of a doctor, he is a pharmaceutical rep.
Psych Is Very Self-Aware
Together, the two solve crimes, with Gus being there to back up Shawn whenever he’s faced with something he doesn’t understand. Where most detectives or doctors playing a version of Sherlock are overly serious and rude, such as in BBC’s Sherlock, Shawn and Gus opt for more humorous roles and get similar results.
Psych is funny and worth streaming. Even if you don’t compare it to Sherlock, the hints of romance, drama, mystery, and comedy pull you in.
Streaming On Amazon Prime
REVIEW SCORE
Psych is greatly enjoyed by fans and critics alike if the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are anything to go by. Critics give the show an 89 percent, while audience members are more generous with a 94 percent. Pretty much every season, from the beginning to the end, has a rating somewhere around 7.5 or higher on IMDb, which means you can settle down and stream this series through its entirety without worrying much about a decline in quality.
If you want to watch Psych, all eight seasons are available to stream on Amazon Prime for free. Watch a couple of episodes for yourself and see what you think.
