Psych 3: This Is Gus - What We Know So Far
You know that's right, Psych-o's! After months of speculation in the wake of the successful Peacock-exclusive release of its second made-for-TV film, "Psych 2: Lassie Come Home," NBC/Peacock announced that a third movie will join the successful dramedy's ongoing franchise of reunion movies. "Psych 3: This is Gus," is set to fill your life with buttery goodness, posthaste.
"Psych" was a runaway hit for the USA Network in the mid-'00s. Part of a stable of successful primetime comedy/dramas launched by the network around the same time, it focused on Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez), a ne'er-do-well who presents himself as a psychic to Santa Barbara's police chief (Kristen Nelson) when he becomes involved in a murder case. When his razor-sharp memory and observational skills honed by his cop dad (Corbin Bernsen) help him solve the crime, he soon finds himself working directly with the police, including the skeptical Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) and newbie Juliet O'Hara (Maggie Lawson) as a consultant.
Partnering with his best friend Burton "Gus" Guster (Dulé Hill), Shawn and Gus open a private detective agency called "Psych" and proceed to become professionally amateur detectives. The show spawned eight seasons, a successful musical TV movie, hundreds of hidden pineapples, and two post-finale reunion movies, which have all been warmly received by its loyal fanbase.
What will "Psych 3" be about, who will be in it, and when can you expect to see it? We've got this covered.
When will Psych 3 be released?
According to Deadline, production on the movie will begin this summer in Vancouver. If all goes well, based on the lead time needed for the previous Psych film, it's likely that we'll see "Psych 3" on Peacock by either the winter of 2021 (December at the earliest) or by the summer of 2022.
The Psych cast has stayed busy between films — James Roday Rodriguez portrays Garry Mendez in the ABC drama "A Million Little Things," which was just renewed for a fourth season, according to Deadline. Dulé Hill will portray patriarch Bill Williams in a single-camera reimagining of the "The Wonder Years," which was also recently picked up by ABC for the fall season, according to Variety. Fortunately, the filming for both shows shouldn't impact the shooting of the new "Psych" sequel. Roday Rodriguez and Hill will also co-executive produce the movie.
Naturally, some delays might be credited to safety measures, which must be undertaken to preserve the safety of cast and crew during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Who will be in Psych 3?
Good news for fans of the show: According to Deadline, all of the show's regulars cast will be back, including Roday Rodriguez, Hill, Lawson, Omundson, Bernsen's Henry Spencer, and Nelson's Chief Karen Vick. Also returning to the franchise are Jazmyn Simon, who portrays Selene, Gus' fiancé and the mother of his unborn child. Simon is Hill's real-life wife and the mother of his son, Levi (via People). Series creator Steve Franks will direct, according to Collider.
There's no word if Kurt Fuller, who regularly portrayed the wonderfully bizarre coroner Woody Strode or Sage Brocklebank's delightfully dim Buzz McNab will rejoin the cast for this epic. Nor is there confirmation we'll see Carlton's wife, Marlowe (Kristy Swanson), or Jimmi Simpson's Mary Lightly, who keeps turning up in the show's film series, even though he's been very dead since the "Mr. Yin Presents..." episode from Season 4.
No further additions to the franchise's impressive list of guest stars (Psych 2 featured Joel McHale as Carlton's father and Sarah Chalke as Nurse Dolores) have been announced yet.
What's Psych 3 about?
Unsurprisingly, "Psych 3: This is Gus" is all about Gus, according to Deadline. Set to marry his fiancée, Selene, before the birth of their baby, Gus and Shawn team up to find Selene's estranged husband. As Selene revealed at the end of "Psych 2," she's still a married woman, so it's likely imperative they get the man to sign divorce papers so Gus and Selene can make things legal. Gus' attention to detail — he is described in the logline published by Deadline as "a groomzilla" — will likely complicate matters.
A mentioned subplot in that logline has Carlton Lassiter grappling with "the future of his career." In Psych 2, Lassiter was shot in the line of duty and has suffered a stroke, which partially paralyzed him and left him in a recovery clinic. His recovery will likely mirror Timothy Omundson's real-life experience with stroke survival (the actor suffered one in 2017, according to American Heart Association News, and recently celebrated the fourth anniversary of his survival on his Instagram). It will undoubtedly be an interesting plot point, because Lassiter is so take-charge and career-proud.
Will Shawn and Gus finally get to settle into domestic bless in their neighboring houses with an adjoining swimming pool and a river running through both living rooms? Will Pluto become a planet again? Before we find out, you can always catch up on the rest of the series.