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While the original Psych television series may have ended in 2014, the story of Shawn Spencer and his lifelong best friend Burton “Gus” Guster has continued on in a series of television movies on Peacock. The latest continuation film is Psych 3: This Is Gus, with Gus preparing to become a father and husband, leading him and Shawn to reevaluate their friendship. Series creator Steve Franks returned to direct, co-write and executive produce Psych 3, reuniting with longtime series executive producer Chris Henze as they chart a new future for the fan-favorite characters.
In an interview with CBR, Franks and Henze revealed how the movies have given them the opportunity to push the Psych story and characters into interesting, new directions. They also discussed why they took the tone in a more serious direction than they had on the series, while continuing to bring the comedically ridiculous moments.
CBR: How did you come up with the Marvel Studios-style opening logo for Psych 3?
Steve Franks: We love everything Marvel, of course, and anytime we do something, we only do it out of love and affection. We did a little something in the first movie, which was basically the [Marvel-style] flipbook and it’s just a fun nod to the other secret Marvel nods that are always present in our work. This one, we just kept upgrading it over and over again. [laughs] It started out less ambitious but became really fun. We try to make sure we’re one or two generations behind what they’re doing right now as a sort of sly nod. Those movies are awesome and it’s silly and ridiculous to see our guys to pay tribute to it in any way.
Gus was always more responsible and grown up, while Shawn was a case in arrested development. In Psych 3, he’s about to become a father and husband. How was it putting Gus and Shawn’s friendship under that lens as they reevaluate this?
Franks: It’s always been a reluctant drag into adulthood that Shawn does and he has to sort of follow Gus in his journey. What was fun about this was, when we got to the end of [Psych 2], Shawn actually got married and he feels like that’s it, he’s here and an adult and done it all but, wait, he has to evolve. When you get to be an adult, now what? That was sort of the impetus for all the characters: what happens next once you sort of think you’re at the place you’re supposed to be?
It’s fun to see Gus fearlessly trample into the next phase of his life and embrace all that and Shawn have to figure out what he has to do to keep up. It opens up a lot of real character dramatics that we aren’t necessarily hinging the franchise on. It’s been great with these movies to advance these characters, not only in terms of dramatic moments, but it’s given us our best comedy as well, as a surprise. It’s fun to see a character who’s willing to grow up but only if he absolutely, positively has to.
Chris Henze: I’ve always thought that Shawn has always known that he probably needs to be a little bit more like Gus and Gus has always known that he probably needs to be a little more like Shawn. That dynamic always works when you’re trying to figure out the direction they’re each going to go.
It’s really good to see Timothy Omundson literally back on his feet again and both Lassiter and Chief Vick go on journeys that see them examine their family lives in a way that is more serious than perhaps Psych fans are used to. How was it moving in that direction?
Franks: It was part and parcel to Tim’s own journey and it was exactly what you said. When I talked to Tim when we started this, I said that we were going to put him back on his feet. We knew that the opening scene was going to be him on the steps, since the last film ended with him getting out of the wheelchair, mirroring Tim’s own journey of relearning to walk and all that.
Tim is getting around so much better and so much of Tim’s recovery even he doesn’t notice because they’re all small steps. Everyday is a small step and sometimes he feels that maybe he plateaued and we show up and reveal that he’s made such amazing progress. That was part of it for that character: does he become the chief of police? How much does he want to put behind him? How much can he do and at what cost?
So much of Tim’s story is wrapped up in the story of his wife and what sacrifices she and the family have made when something like this happens. Sometimes you don’t realize people that have been there for you have been propping you up all along when you’re trying to do it all yourself. That came into the whole thing with Chief Vick as well — people in authority positions for the job that they chose have to sacrifice everything. It’s not a 9-to-5 job, or even a 9-to-9 job, and having that come while all these characters across the board are looking to see what comes next.
Hopefully, this springboards what happens next in the series, should we get to make the next three movies that I’m hoping to make. It’s a little heavy but it also feels consistent with what we’ve done from the beginning and it gave us some really nice moments that these actors just knocked out of the park.
Henze: We assembled the movie, when we started to watch the first cut of the movie, Steve and I turned to each other and went “Is it too serious?” [laughs] And then we were reminded we could count on our hands all of the ridiculous things in the movie and that it is ridiculous. But it is kind of what we did in the series; we just had a longer time to do it. The fact that we were able to sustain eight seasons gave us and the series the ability to dive into these characters and watch the arrested development of this seemingly one-dimensional guy turn into 4D and explore him growing up and his relationship with his dad, a soon-to-be-wife.
We had the time to do it with Lassiter, Vick and everyone and whenever we get the chance to come back to this, it’s always interesting to figure out how far do we jump forward. Do we take baby steps or big steps? Because these people are becoming middle-aged guys! [laughs] Let’s give them a life and stuff to adapt to that seems more serious. I always find that the more serious it gets, the better the comedy lands. It feels like real life. You’re watching something that has real emotions and stakes and then something ridiculously stupid happens and you don’t expect it and that makes it funnier and richer.
Directed and executive produced by Steve Franks, from a screenplay he co-wrote with James Roday Rodriguez, Psych 3: This Is Gus premieres Nov. 18 on Peacock.
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