The Pineapple returns to greatness.

If you don't already know, the greatest whodunit on television started in 2006 on USA. Psych was the perfect combination of humor, mystery, and unique characters. I have to admit I was late to the party, having blindly picked up the first season on DVD for my wife thinking it was something she might find entertaining.

I was partially right. Psych not only entertained my wife but after a few seasons, it grabbed the attention of our son who became a fanatic. It was the show the family could all agree on, and one that stopped down everything so we could watch together.

Shawn

For those that don't know the show, it's a very simple premise. The main character, Shawn has a retired police officer for a father. A father who was extremely demanding and made Shawn hypersensitive to his surroundings. And while Shawn, as an adult, rebels against his father, he can't help but notice things to solve crimes.

After being accused of being the criminal himself, Shawn pretends to be a psychic to get out of trouble.

He drags his best friend from childhood, Gus - a pharmaceutical salesman, into his scheme to make money as a police consultant. Everyone just has to back him up on his claim of being psychic.

Gus

James Roday(Shawn) and Dule Hill(Gus) have a special kind of chemistry that makes you believe they've been friends since early childhood. More importantly, the entire reoccurring cast plays very well off the carefree and silly interactions they have with Shawn as he tries to get away with as much as possible.

While it came out first buy a few years, Psych and The Mentalist have a lot in common. Both are about con men who use their life experience and observational powers to help solve crimes. The difference with Psych is how the stories and characters allow for a more light-hearted and funny experience each week. Patrick Jane, The Mentalist, is helping the police out of guilt and a desire to get revenge on his family's murderer. Shawn is more gliding through life and an opportunity has presented himself. Both are good at solving crimes, but Shawn is having fun while doing it.

That being said Psych has more than enough drama, world-building, and character growth to allow for the audience to truly become invested in not only Shawn but the whole Psych universe. Sprinkle in a growing number of guest stars and reoccurring characters and you have a very fun, and funny, hit show.

After 8 seasons, the show ended but there was enough demand that USA produced a movie to help try and tie up some open story plots. However one of the most important supporting characters, Detective Carlton Lassiter, was barely there as the actor suffered a stroke before filming. With the more serious, by the book character absent, the first movie seems to be missing one of the important elements to the Psych chemistry; a ying to Shawn's yang so to speak. It's worth the watch for completion's sake and to see how some storylines end but I was disappointed overall.

Detectives Lassiter and Juliet O'Hara

Enter the 2nd movie, just released on NBC/Universal's new streaming platform Peacocktv.com. As all the big channels are finding success with their streaming services, NBC has branched out with their own. The cool thing is the pricing tiers. Unlike CBS, HBO, Showtime, ACORN, or most of the other main brands, NBC offers a free service with ads and some limits on what can be watched. You can also pay to unlock all the shows with($4.99/m) or without adds($9.99/m). Many of the locked items are premium movies and shows from their Showtime channels.

They have included some Peacock exclusive TV shows and as mentioned the Psych 2 movie. With the actor's difficulties of dealing with his stroke written into the story, we get the return of Lassiter or Lassie as Shawn affectionately calls him. Still not presented in the typical ying/yang role, the inclusion of such a vital component of the show only helps. The 2nd movie is truly an embrace of everything that made Psych such a winning show for its 8 seasons.

While funny enough to watch with no back story, I would suggest taking some time and watching the whole series. As I mentioned you can watch it for free with adds on Peacock, or upgrade to remove the adds and get bonus programming. You can also stream the series for free on Amazon Prime and then jump over to Peacock for the movies.

Right now Peacock(and HBOMAX) are in a slight dispute with some streaming systems so you might have to look around to find the right device. There is an app on XBOX, AppleTV(4th gen+), many Android streaming smart TVs - including Vizio, LG smart, and google Chromecast(2nd gen+). You can also of course stream online your computer and through some browsers on tablets. I stream it through the Xbox One and a Vizio smart TV in the bedroom.

I was worried about commercials. Some free streamers will stop down shows and movies several times to show you the same 3 ads over and over. Peacock showed 3-5 minutes of adds before the movie and then no interruptions. Dawn and I also watched some SNL compilation stuff and there were no adds. Hopefully, they keep it like this.

FYI - There are a ton of great shows and movies to access on Peacock as well. It was well worth signing up (I mean it's free) just for Psych and the 2nd movie. However, as a fan of horror, animation, and older TV shows, there is a ton to see here.

They have all Heroes, Blind Spot, Battlestar Galactica, Downton Abby, This is us, Project Bluebook, and countless others.

They have 7 seasons of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Birds, and Psycho.

They have many Universal Horror and Hammer horror remakes as well. A few are under the pay icon, but there is still The Invisible Man, Dracula, Phantom of the Opera, Bride of Frankenstein, Curse of the Werewolf, the Evil of Frankenstein, and many more.

Curse of the Werewolf from Hammer Horror