Psych Season 3 Set Visit: James Roday and Dule Hill
by Reg Seeton

When it comes to visiting the set of any production, whether film or television, things don’t always go as planned. Given the changing dynamics of shooting a TV series, it’s just something that goes with the territory. When we were recently invited to the set of the USA Network series Psych in Vancouver, for a sneak peek at the filming of Season 3 (July 18 at 10pm), we were originally slated to see a roller-derby sequence being shot at the PNE Agridome for the upcoming season three episode "Talk Derby to Me". In this particular case, the shoot was ahead of schedule so the only thing left to do was to meet and have dinner in downtown Vancouver. Although I sat a few seats away from writer Tim Meltreger, I spent the entire dinner sitting almost directly across from rollergirl/actress Sydney Bennett, who filled me in on how she juggles a career as an actress, her time as a college student in traditional Chinese medicine, and her off time as a member of the Derby Dolls in L.A.’s premiere banked-track women’s roller derby league. What can fans expect from "Talk Derby to Me"? Well, as Sydney told me, a lot of wheels, a lot of action, and Maggie Lawson in roller gear!

The next morning it was off to an early start at North Shore Studios where the confines of a soundstage doubled as the Psych setting of Santa Barbara, California. Given the consistently wet weather of Vancouver, it’s amazing how the production is able to make the exterior shots of Psych work. As we learned, Psych ramps up shooting in the summer months to avoid the off season’s 40 days and 40 nights of rain (and then some) that Vancouver residents have to endure to enjoy their laid back, near paradise lifestyle. As the Psych cast would tell you, Vancouver’s a great city but you’re always up against mother nature when shooting anything in the Pacific Northwest.

For most of the day, we hunkered down inside the upper confines of a board room where the Psych stars individually stopped by to chat throughout the day. As we heard from everyone, the approach to season three is from a 20% bigger and 20% better mentality. In fact, that applies to everything across the board this season, including a 20% deeper exploration of the relationships and the unexplored emotional layers beyond the comedy. As Psych co-star James Roday, who plays fake psychic Shawn Spencer, explained in our first interview of the day, the emotional aspect was originally suggested by the folks at USA, which turned out to be a rewarding collaboration between the network and the production. As Roday elaborated, the network wanted to help breath more substance into the show beyond the comedic elements, stating "... we want you to sort of start adding layers, and one of those layers is the idea of sort of earning our comedy with each episode, sort of giving it an emotional spine."

After two successful seasons, James Roday looks upon the new direction as a challenge, revealing to us that 20% emotional exploration of the characters and their relationships fills am open void that exists on Psych. "One thing that Monk has had from its conception is that his wife was murdered, so they always sort of had that to go back to any time they needed to get heavy on that show. And we don’t really have that, so it’s sort of like, with each episode we’re sort of coming up with an emotional backbone that launches us into the world and helps balance some of the silly things that we do. It’s been good."

How far will the 20% bigger and better approach extend to the characters? Later in the day we caught up with Psych co-star Dule Hill, Shawn Spencer’s investigative straight man, Gus Guster, who’d like to see his character get more action of a different kind. Will Gus see any romantic action in season three? Hill leaned back in his seat with a grin, "I hope so. It’s like Gus is a lot of talk with no follow through, because I would like to see Gus get some kind of interaction. The only kiss he’s had so far has been a flashback, so that - like from college years. He came close to that same episode with Kerry Washington. So, hopefully, he’ll get a chance to have some kind of something. He dresses nice. You know what I mean? He’s a smart dude. He handles his business."

As for Dule Hill’s business, away from the show has a serious side some might not know about. Prior to season three in the off season, Dule Hill spent some time campaigning for Barack Obama, which reflects his passion for the changing times and a desire to lend a hand. Despite filming in Canada, Hill keeps a close eye on the events in the United States, which led to him trying to make his own difference in the Democratic nomination race by campaigning for Obama. How did he do it, and why? Will he be doing it again when the show wraps? Hill explained his reasoning, "... trying to get out the vote, just - I want to talk to people. But I do intend to go back out in the general. I think it’s too important of a time."

Interestingly enough, when delving deeper into the issue with Hill, I found out that his desire to lend a hand in the political world dates back to 2000 and the Al Gore campaign when Dule was just beginning his seven year run on The West Wing as presidential aid, Charlie Young. "When I first took the first step out was because Martin Sheen came knocking on my trailer saying, 'You’re coming with me. We’re going to campaign for Al Gore.' And you don’t really say no to Martin Sheen, right? And I was a big fan of him anyway. It wasn’t like he was asking me to go and campaign for the devil. [laughs]"

Politics aside, Hill’s character, Gus, will be taking new first steps in season three that puts him at odds with his career. Will there be career conflict for Gus this season? As Hill explained, Gus will be solving a few things within himself. "There is some career conflict going on this season. Yeah, you know, I’m at a place where I have to start making some choices - at least trying to do my dance a little better anyway. But the season starts off with me being in a real tight situation. But, of course, it has to work itself out. But my boss is starting to breathe down the back of my neck, which is raising the stakes a little bit - you know, allowing me to have to sneak around a little bit more."

For James Roday, career conflict transcends the series on a more practical level. For any show that enjoys longevity from season to season, cast members often have to make extra sure they don’t get too comfortable in their characters. As Roday revealed, after two successful seasons there’s a fine line to walk to keep Shawn Spencer fresh as a character. "It’s always a fine line, with this character especially. I think the longer that we go, the line will get even finer, because the older that I get the tougher it gets to [solve] this sort of puckish guy who doesn’t want to grow up. There comes a certain point, I think, where it’s just sort of sad. [laughs] So, yeah, it’s always sort of walking that line and making this guy likeable and slappable at the same time."

So what would James Roday and Dule Hill like to see for their characters in season three? Although things don’t always go as planned, it’s always fun to hope and dream, especially since there’s so much downtime on set. For Roday, he’d like to see a story line that fits well with his sports background and his days as a jock. "I think there’s mutterings of a football episode this season, which would be awesome. But that’s sort of like the foolproof set up of this show is, you know, he’s worked so many jobs and just about anything that comes up somewhere in the world, he did it. And if he didn’t, then, you know, Gus has read about it [in his] IQ. [laughs]." As for Dule Hill, since he began his career on Broadway as a dancer, he’d like to see Gus step up and dance. "I want to see a dance episode. We have to figure out a way to - organically work it in there. There’s a friend of mine named Jason Samuel Smith, who’s one of the greatest tap dancers out here who I really want to have on the show. I’ve mentioned it a few times, and we’ve talked about it. So, just when the time is right, hopefully, we can get it worked out... But I’d like to see Gus, you know, dance - do the tap in there somehow."

While season three features a new batch of guest stars, including Cybill Shepherd, Rachael Leigh Cook, Steven Weber, Gary Cole, Jeff Fahey, fans might already know that James Roday has his own favorite who he wants on the show... Billy Zane. "I just wanted to get that guy on the show. If I can keep dropping him in there once or twice a season, then maybe we can actually get him on the show. There are certain actors that I think really lend themselves to what we do. They sort of bring a cool sort of kitch back to it, and Billy Zane is definitely the guy." Given the show’s nostalgic nods to the two previous decades, Roday sees Zane as a natural choice. "We do so much fun stuff with like the late ‘80s or early ‘90s. The references we have to learn. I don’t know. To me, Billy Zane just looks like [he fits] pretty well. Plus he’s Billy Zane."

So how about Shawn Spencer’s eye for Maggie Lawson’s character Juliet of the Santa Barbara Police Department? Will there be 20% more sparks this season between the two? As Roday explained, it’s all about playing their cards right. If not, they’ll end up resorting to tactics that have stopped other once successful shows dead in the water. "Well, it’s the elasticity thing where, you know, we start to go there and then everybody gets nervous, and we don’t really want to go there, so we stretch it back out again. It’s going to happen a couple of times this season where we start to inch towards that and then we’ll probably you know, put the brakes on. It’s still - it’s only season three, you know. That’s the kind of thing that you really have to hold onto in case we do this three or four more seasons. You just can’t put those two together too soon; otherwise you’ve played that card and then what do you do? You got to bring a kid on the show. [laughs]"

Season three of Psych premieres on July 18 at 10pm on USA.

For more on our trip to the Vancouver set of Psych, check out...

Psych Season 3: Set Visit Preview
Psych Set Visit: Visuals and Costumes with Mel Damski and Simon Tuke