Psych Set Visit: Visuals and Costumes with Mel Damski and Simon Tuke
by Reg Seeton

What goes on behind the scenes of the hit USA Network series Psych? Beyond its quirky blend of investigative drama, Hardy Boys type mystery, and buddy-cop style comedy, how does Psych achieve its own unique visual atmosphere? Ever wonder where Psych gets its fashion sense from and who dresses James Roday, Dule Hill, and Maggie Lawson? Last week The Deadbolt was among a select few outlets invited to the set of Psych at Vancouver’s North Shore Studios to get an inside glimpse at how the series is put together, how it feels to walk the halls of the Santa Barbara police station, and what fans can expect from season three, which premieres on July 18. Although we had a lot of face time with Psych stars James Roday, Dule Hill, Maggie Lawson, Tim Omundson, Kristen Nelson, and Corbin Bernsen, which you’ll be reading about in the coming days, it was Emmy award winning co-executive producer/director Mel Damski and costume designer Simon Tuke who took us behind the scenes to solve a number Psych related production mysteries, namely how the series will be 20% bigger in almost every capacity.

The funny thing about North Shore Studios is that you could easily drive past it, thinking it’s just another gated condo community. That’s exactly what I did on my first North Shore trip a few years ago on the set of Final Destination. The last time I roamed the lot was to get an early sneak peek at the now-defunct Blade series, which was the fastest set visit I’ve ever been on - in and out in approximately 90 minutes. And that included interviews with the entire cast and crew plus a set tour. Ask any journalist, and they’ll tell you that type of TV set efficiency rarely happens. But speed and efficiency doesn’t always give you what you need. Needless to say, given the fact that I can barely pry myself away from the computer to get sleep, I was looking forward to spending an entire day on Psych. As I mentioned in our set visit preview, the Universal family is setting the trend for TV set visits. Our trip to Psych was nothing but well-organized, expansively comprehensive, highly accessible and wisely efficient fun. But one day on the set is nothing compared to Psych’s hectic shooting schedule, which consists of a seven day production schedule that produces 42 minutes of finished film.

Shortly after we arrived at 8am, with a quick but necessary stop at the coffee table, we made our way through a series of fake city streets to building #3 where the day’s intimate interviews took place inside an upstairs boardroom. About 90 minutes into our day, and two more coffees later, veteran TV director Mel Damski, who serves primarily as the show’s executive producer, made his way through the door and took a seat in front of us. A soft-spoken, calm and collected guy who exudes an essence of laid back cool (after all, he did direct Yellowbeard), Damski looked a lot like a high school gym teacher without a whistle. As far as TV directors go, Damski has done it all, having worked on everything from Lou Grant and The Bionic Woman< in the 1970s to Picket Fences, Sisters, Ally McBeal, The Practice, and Boston legal to name only a few before signing on to Psych. However, as Damski explained, his role on the show can be compared to that of a video game tester in charge of quality assurance, "They needed someone to be up here all the time and basically maintain the quality control because we have a different director every week, or every seven days. So how do we maintain the consistency? How do we maintain the look and feel of the show? That’s my job."

So, after two successful seasons, are there hard and fast parameters that Damski and the directors work within to preserve the show’s unique visual identity within the Psych world? As Mel Damski revealed, it takes him back to his early days as a journalist at Newsday. "We had a style sheet and Newsday had a style and New York Times has a style. We thought about that on this show and we decided we’re not going to do a style sheet per se because every episode takes you to a different world. Again, if it’s always Boston Legal and you’re always in the law firm and you’re always in the courtroom, they have a proscribed way of shooting it. We are doing episodes that are at a roller derby and we’re having long lenses in slow motion, [it's] is really a good idea for story telling."

Although it was the character driven buddy comedy aspect of Psych that attracted him to the project, it’s the fine line of balancing drama with humor that presents one of the biggest challenges for Damski on a weekly basis. "It’s a constant issue. And again, because on the set, where the actors are always trying to get the crew to laugh, because that’s their immediate audience. You at home, you’re not there. So they tend to get schtickier sometimes and schtickier and broader and broader. And at what point is it over the top?" Damski asked as he leaned forward, arms slightly outstretched. "We deal with that every week. We get phone calls from LA saying, 'That is too much.' And it’s very hard for me. I just directed an episode," he adds, "There were a couple of very broad scenes in it. It’s tough, one of them they love, and one of them they thought was too much. And unless Steve Franks is here, and he’s the ultimate arbiter of whether it’s too broad or not, or just funny, it’s difficult. The other thing is the thing we talked about before is the conflict between telling the procedural story and the comedy. I always have a rule, if it’s funny it’s funny."

But how does the approach to the show’s visuals differ from ensuring the actors and characters are dressed for success and the wardrobe is consistent with the Psych world? About an hour later, following our chat with Dule Hill that you’ll see here in the coming days, costume designer Simon Tuke popped by the boardroom for a quick chat about Psych fashion. In stark contrast to the laid back demeanor of Damski, Tuke looked like he just rolled in from a Sex Pistols reunion gig. Given the show’s unique brand of comedy, he fit right in. Having spent nine years on Everybody Loves Raymond, Tuke knows a thing or two about designing wardrobe for comedy. Unlike, Mel Damski’s approach, however, Tuke does work within a stricter set of parameters, "Well, it has to be decent and the actors have to be happy and comfortable to go on camera and so apart from that - I mean, I know the guidelines I have to work within, having worked on the show for a couple of years with the producers and the network and everybody. I mean, there are definitely limitations of where we can go. But we don't try and push it too far. I mean, it's not that kind of show really."

Season three sees a parade of guest stars dropping by the set of Psych, including Rachael Leigh Cook, Steven Weber, Gary Cole, Jeff Fahey, Barry Corbin, and TV vet Cybill Shepherd, who steps into the role of Madeline, Shawn Spencer’s mother and Henry’s former love in the upcoming premiere "Ghosts". Although Tuke revealed that he worked with Shepherd’s Los Angeles stylist remotely from Vancouver, which led to Cybill arriving with a suitcase full of clothes for her character, it was Tuke’s keen eye for clothes that helped set the tone for Madeline’s personality. "Well, she was playing a shrink, who had come back from Europe and we wanted her to be a little intimidating... So we kind of dressed her up a little bit in kind of pants and suit jackets and blouses and things that were just a little bit intimidating."

But, after years apart, what about Madeline’s relationship with Henry and Tuke’s approach to Corbin Bersen’s character? The answer certainly speaks to the production’s approach to making everything 20% bigger, including the dramatic and emotional tones, as Tuke explained. "We also made it so that Henry reacted to being back with her, and dressed a little nicer in that episode and kind of put a suit on and we changed some - he usually wears those Hawaiian shirts and [Tommy Bahamas] and we kind of found another variation of that, which was less graphic and still had the same silhouette and made it look like he'd made a bit of an effort to tidy up."

So what’s it like to work on a third season of Psych with the 20% approach to the show? As Simon Tuke filled us in, no day is the same in the fast paced world of television. "[It’s] A lot of fun and a lot of work. I mean, every week we enter a different environment. Especially this season, we're doing roller derby this week and next week we're on an oilrig with the Coast Guard. Before that we had Evil Knievel characters in jumpsuits that had to then convert into wings and fly. So a lot of fun and also a little bit of a headache, trying to figure it all out in a very short space of time." As for the show’s running pineapple theme, Mel Damski added that fans can expect something different this season, which will make Psych a 20% better experience in mysterious goodness. "We’re hiding the pineapple, yes, so we’re going to have a contest... it’s not going to be easy to find these pineapples especially if you get wrapped up in the story. You know, if you’re watching afterward in slow motion it might be easy to find it, but hopefully you’re paying attention to the story."

Psych returns for a third season on July 18 at 10pm on USA Network

Check back in the coming days for more from our trip to the set of Psych that will include...

Set tour and set interiors

-- Reg Seeton

       

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