After close to a two-year wait, Psych: The Musical will finally air this Sunday on USA. The two-hour event was directed by series creator Steve Franks, who also wrote the episode and co-composed the original music. The episode will also feature Rent’s Anthony Rapp, The Rocky Horror Picture Show’s Barry Bostwick, and returning guest-star Ally Sheedy, reprising her role as Mr. Yang.
It’s hard to believe that it has taken Psych seven seasons to produce a musical episode, as music has been an important component of the show since its first season. In the spirit of the landmark event, we’ve compiled a list of Psych’s best musical moments, from Gus’s great Michael Jackson impression to Joshua Malina running around only clothed in a wolves-fur—and everything in between. C’mon son, you know you want to watch!
1. Shawn and Gus Perform “Shout”
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“American Duos” is still one of Psych’s strongest episodes, and features one of the show’s best executed spoofs: reality TV singing competitions. Shawn and Gus enter American Duos to stop a killer from murdering the show’s judges, played by the hilarious Tim Curry. During the live broadcast, Shawn and Gus perform a rendition of “Shout” by Tears for Fears in which Shawn is dressed as Roland Orzabal and Gus is dressed as Michael Jackson from the “Thriller” music video—the latter of which is really out place. It still works for some odd reason.
2. Shawn and Gus Sing“Take on Me”
Shawn and Gus sing A-ha’s classic “Take On Me” for their first round audition on American Duos. Naturally, hilarity ensues. Not only are they off pitch (that’s an understatement), they are also not singing the correct lyrics and their dance moves are incredibly awkward. In need of something positive to say, guest-star calls their performance “post-post-post modern.”
3. The Cast Performs “Don’t You Forget About Me”
It’s hard to watch Psych without realizing how much the people that work on the show love John Hughes movies (see the episode entitled “Murder?...Anyone?...Anyone?...Bueller?”). So it was no surprise when the series released a promo for its sixth season in which they remade the music video for Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” the song that opened and closed The Breakfast Club. As the video unfolds, Shawn and Gus fight over who would play the role of Jim Kerr, Simple Minds’ lead singer. The promo functioned as both a tribute to the ‘80s and as away of imploring the fans to not forget about the show as it had been off the air for close to a year.
4. James Roday and Dulé Hill Tackle “Ebony and Ivory”
A cover of Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney’s duet “Ebony and Ivory” seems quite fitting for the stars of this USA comedy. In this promo for the fourth season, Roday and Hill recreated the music video and showcased the amazing comedic chemistry between them. The dynamic duo delivers a campy performance that encapsulates everything there is to love about this show.
5. Kirsten Nelson’s Rendition of TLC’s “No Scrubs”
Every Psych episode ends with a “Psych-out,” or an outtake from that episode. Most of them awesomely feature some sort of musical performance. Nelson, who plays Chief Karen Vick, the tough Chief SBPD, surprised many with her flow in this video as she recites part of Left Eye’s verse before going into the final chorus.
6. The Cast Performs “Maneater”
What’s funnier than Roday, Hill, and Timothy Omundson performing Hall & Oates’ “Maneater”? The cast performing it as The West Wing’s Joshua Malina runs around them clothed only in wolves-fur. Verdict’s still out on how this performance stands up to Allison Janney’s lip-synched performance of Ronny Jordan’s “The Jackal” on The West Wing (and most recently on The Arsenio Hall Talk Show).
7. The Cast Does “Oh Sheila”
In this “Psych-Out,” the cast is joined by Jaleel White from Family Matters and SNL’s Kenan Thompson for a rendition of what appears to be Ready for The World’s “Oh Sheila.” In standard Psych fashion, however, they mix up the lyrics as the song’s chorus is actually: “Oh Sheila, let me love you until the morning comes.”
8. Curt Smith from Tears For Fears on Psych
If there’s one thing Psych does really well, it’s recruiting guest-stars. Curt Smith of Tears for Fears played himself in the fifth season episode “Shawn 2.0.” He was hired on retainer by a rich criminal profiler played by Lost’s Nestor Carbonell. Shawn, who considered Smith one of his heroes while growing up, lost it when he met Smith in the episode. Following his appearance in this episode, Smith performed a rendition of “Shout” with James Roday and Dulé Hill at San Diego Comic-Con in 2010.
9. “Come on Eileen”
There’s nothing more entertaining than watching Roday and Hill having fun together. At the end of the second season episode “Black and Tan: A Crime of Fashion,” they performed this brief cover of Dexys Midnight Runner’s “Come on Eileen” in which Shawn handled the chorus and Gus the background “hah’s.” At the end of the video, Roday notes that Gus’ “hah’s” were hot. We definitely agree.
11. The Cast Sings“Deck The Halls” and “Jingle Bells”
In 2007, Psych released a series clips promoting their Christmas episode “Gus’ Dad May Have Killed An Old Guy.” In the first clip, Maggie Lawson, who plays Detective Juliet O’Hara, tries to get the rest of the cast to sing “Deck the Halls,” but the cast can’t seems to get it right and keeps singing the Charlie Brown version. In the second clip, a camera follows the cast around as they sing an a capella hip-hop remix of “Jingle Bells.” Again, there’s nothing better than watching these people have fun together.
12. Gus and Lassiter Tap Dance
Maybe you haven’t heard, but Dulé Hill is great tap dancer. Really. For some reason, Psych waited five seasons to show off Hill’s amazing talent. Thankfully, it was well worth the wait because we not only got to see Hill tap, we also saw Timothy Omundson tapping. Thinking “how hard can tap dancing be,” Detective Lassiter joins Gus’s advanced tap class and falls behind the rest of the class within the first few seconds the tap routine.
13. The Cast Sings “Eternal Flame”
In last season’s episode “Lassie Jerky,” Shawn, Gus, Lassiter, and two Bigfoot hunters sit around a campfire and sing a touching cover of The Bangles’ “Eternal Flame.” Kate (Kate Rogal), one of Bigfoot hunters, starts singing the first verse, and is joined by Shawn in the second voice, who harmonize with her. By time the second chorus comes around, the whole groups sings at the top their lungs, until Juliet comes back to tell them to keep it down so that they don’t draw any attention to themselves.
