PSYCH: A NIGHTMARE ON STATE STREET (TV)
Summary
One in this comedy/mystery series about a man whose acute observational skills convince others that he has psychic powers, allowing him to run a "psychic detective agency" in Santa Barbara with his best friend from childhood. Gus suffers from constant nightmares, preventing him from sleeping and making him agitated. He is reeling from his failed relationship with Emmanuelle and indicates that he is undergoing “dream therapy.” While stopped at a gas station to get snacks, Gus has a nightmare involving musician Curt Smith and an attack by a horde of zombies. He awakens in a facility overseen by a man introducing himself as Dr. Simpson, who alternately relaxes and strikes Gus in an attempt to treat him. He tries to convince Gus that his nightmare is not about Emanuelle, but about his relationship with Shawn and his fear of being abandoned by him, although Gus dismisses this claim. In light of this, Gus starts acting more defensive around Shawn, claiming that he doesn’t need him, although his behavior indicates otherwise. They are approached by a client, Zach Eikleberry, looking to hire them to determine whether his wife is having an affair. Shawn does not want to take the case, but Gus tries to take charge of the situation and convinces Shawn to go along with him, feeling sympathy for Zach’s plight. Shawn and Gus ride along with Zach on his job as a cable repairman as he discusses his relationship with his wife, Gretchen. While briefly separated from Shawn, Gus has another nightmare where he is chased through a dilapidated house filled with various frightening objects, and awakens in the company of Dr. Simpson again. Dr. Simpson revises his diagnosis, stating that Gus subconsciously believes that working with Shawn will result in his own death. Shawn and Gus, pretending to be the gay parents of a prospective student, speak to Gretchen at her workplace, an elementary school. They also meet the coach, Derek Bagg, whom they suspect may be the one with whom Gretchen is having an affair. In Bagg’s office they learn that he was prevented from going into professional sports due to a severe injury, and Shawn notices a note in his trash can with handwriting identical to Gretchen’s, seemingly confirming their hypothesis. Gus has another nightmare where he is attacked in a boiler room by a number of assailants, including creepy schoolchildren armed with farm implements. He awakens yet again in the company of Dr. Simpson, and Shawn is present as well this time. Gus expresses his feelings of abandonment by Shawn, but Shawn tries to reassure him that he’ll always be there for him. Their conversation helps Shawn come to a realization about their current case: Gretchen is actually privately tutoring Coach Bagg, as he is functionally illiterate. However, Shawn gets a call that Bagg was beaten to death, and Zach is arrested for the crime. They complain to Lassiter and Brannigan about their treatment of the case, but Brannigan reveals that she discovered a number of threatening letters written by Zach addressed to Bagg. They do not believe them, and so Shawn and Gus inspect Bagg’s body, which has suffered a large number of bruises and lacerations. However, Shawn notices injuries to his fingers which he claimed were an old injury, but look to have been made recently and before the time of the murder. Gus falls asleep again, suffering another nightmare where the bodies in the morgue reanimate into zombies and attack. He awakens in his mother’s house and talks to her about his dreams, bursting into tears when he thinks about his uncertain future. However, he is still dreaming, and soon his mother is eaten by an alien creature and he finds himself in the midst of another zombie attack, including a zombified Shawn. Gus wakes up back at the gas station, explaining to Shawn that he’s somehow experienced their entire week in nightmare form. Shawn explains that he’s determined the true culprit behind Bagg’s murder: he deduces that he was a gambler and was killed by a bookie’s hired muscle for not paying his debts, whom they mistook for a student’s parent emerging from Bagg’s office just before they arrived. However, when they arrive to report their conclusions to the police, Lassiter reveals that Brannigan has already found and arrested the man in question. Zach is freed and thanks Shawn and Gus for their help. They visit Dr. Simpson at a book signing to thank him, but it turns out to be yet another nightmare, and Shawn comes over to keep him company. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: USA
- DATE: March 19, 2014 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:43:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 114012
- GENRE: Comedy; Drama, police/private detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Drama, police/private detective
- SERIES RUN: USA - TV series, 2007-2014
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Steve Franks … Executive Producer, Created by, Theme Music by
- Mel Damski … Executive Producer
- Kelly Kulchak … Executive Producer
- Chris Henze … Executive Producer
- Todd Harthan … Co-Executive Producer
- Andy Berman … Co-Executive Producer
- Saladin K. Patterson … Co-Executive Producer
- James Roday … Producer, Director
- Carlos Jacott … Producer, Writer
- Tim Meltreger … Producer
- Dule Hill … Producer
- Gordon Mark … Producer
- Janelle Reyes … Associate Producer
- Kell Cahoon … Consulting Producer
- Adam Cohen … Music by
- John Robert Wood … Music by
- Friendly Indians, The … Theme Music by
- James Roday … Cast, Shawn Spencer
- Dule Hill … Cast, Burton "Gus" Guster
- Timothy Omundson … Cast, Carlton Lassiter
- Maggie Lawson … Cast, Juliet O'Hara
- Kirsten Nelson … Cast, Karen Vick
- Corbin Bernsen … Cast, Harry Spencer
- Bruce Campbell … Cast, Dr. Ashford N. Simpson
- Phylicia Rashad … Cast, Winnifred Guster
- Mira Sorvino … Cast, Betsy Brannigan
- Curt Smith … Cast, Himself
- Dean Cameron … Cast, Zach Eikleberry
- Sutton Foster … Cast, Gretchen Eikleberry
- William Zabka … Cast, Coach Bagg
- Kurt Fuller … Cast, Coroner Woody Strode
- Sage Brocklebank … Cast, McNab
- Nikki Bella … Cast, Bella Twin #1
- Brie Bella … Cast, Bella Twin #2
- Jeremy Raymond … Cast, Man
- Carlos Jacott … Cast, Hell Hag
- Graham Verchere … Cast, Buduski
- Brad Kelly … Cast, Parent (Thug)
- Andre Tricoteux … Cast, Leatherface
- Noam McWilliams … Cast, Pale Boy #1
- Taya Clyne … Cast, Pale Girl #1
- Eliza Faria … Cast, Pale Girl #2
- Jack Irvine … Cast, Pale Boy #2
- Sean Quan … Cast, Pale Boy #3
- Harris Black … Cast, Pale Boy #4
- Mamie Laverock … Cast, Pale Girl #3
- Laiken Laverock … Cast, Pale Girl #4