The Psych roundtable-style press conference started with executive producers Chris Henze and Kelly Kulchak discussing how much they are looking forward to season seven.

“We’re having fun. There’s a bunch of episodes we didn’t get to do last year that immediately burst into the room this year. We were going to do this Clue-inspired episode and it didn’t happen last season so we’ve done it,” Henze announced. “It’s in the can. It was shot as our 100th episode and it will air as our 100th episode!”

The producers were not only talking about a board game inspired episode but a direct tie-in to the 1985 film as Lesley Ann Warren, Martin Mull and Christopher Lloyd will be appearing as Psych guest stars. “It’s really a lot of fun and the guys did an amazing job,” Henze proudly reported.

Kirsten Nelson, who plays Chief Karen Vick, and Corbin Bernsen, who plays Henry Spencer, joined us next.  Bernsen wore a t-shirt with a question mark on both the front and back to invite questions as to whether his character lives or dies in the show.

The Psych cast is excited about their Cirque du Soleil and Clue-inspired episodes.

So, does Henry live or not?  Bernsen facetiously guaranteed us one of four options: “I am a dream. I die, which should also make me a ghost. I’m a dream, kind of flashback, or I live as an invalid.”

Echoes of the question ‘Really?’ immediately followed while I remained perplexed. Henry was shot at close range last season and isn’t that extremely problematic for a character in any show to survive?  We’ll have to wait to figure out what happens to him unless…someone else offers something revealing during this press conference.

(Hint:  continue reading.)

As a fun-filled conversation about Henry continued, the discussion soon turned to how passionate the Psych audience is about the show and how blessed the cast feels about the camaraderie among them.

“I’ve been very blessed, very lucky, to be in two shows in which we really got along,” Bernsen shared.

Nelson reminisced about a cast BBQ between season one and season two at (Timothy) Omundson’s house during which they discussed the dynamics of their ensemble. “Corbin was the one that brought it up,” she said as she stared at Bernsen. “You said, ‘you guys don’t understand, this is not normal…’ especially for him, twice – two fantastic times – and we’re like…I guess we can’t take this for granted!”

Producers Chris Henze, Kelly Kulchak and Steve Franks with actors Corbin Bernsen, Kirsten Nelson, James Roday and Maggie Lawson.

Time kept on ticking and that meant the actors had to move on to talk to other reporters. However, before that happened, the extremely polite Bernsen noticed I had been interrupted as I was about to pop a question.  He insisted I ask it before leaving, so I did:  “In your storylines for next season, is there something you are excited for the fans to see or is there something that you are dreading?”

“Living!” he joked as he left and I remain grateful for his attentiveness.

Jake Bussy and Katie Mixon are two other actors we can expect as guest stars in season seven, which will also include the return of Kristy Swanson as Carlton Lassiter’s (Omundson) imprisoned girlfriend and Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development), who will play Juliet’s (Maggie Lawson) stepdad. Henze said Tambor will get Henry “mixed up in an adventure.”  Wait a minute; doesn’t that make it sound like Henry Spencer may stay alive after all? Fingers crossed!

Lawson told us she was delighted to have Tambor playing her stepdad. “I don’t know how I got so lucky. I prayed for it every day for a long time,” Lawson kidded around. “After running with Tim (Omundson), you don’t need much else but yeah, to have a family that consists of William Shatner and Jeffrey Tambor and George Cena…best family ever!”

Tim Omundson and Maggie Lawson say romance is at the heart of season seven.

Omundson and Lawson also shared an important scoop:  love is in the air next season, big time.

“My lady gets out of the joint,” Omundson explains. “We meet one of Lassiter’s ex-lovers, played by the lovely Katie Mixon who is Marlowe’s (Swanson) parole officer and my ex-lover.”

That sure sounds like a complicated situation but Marlowe and Lassiter won’t be alone in experiencing challenges. “Shawn (James Roday) and Juliet are attempting to take their relationship to another level and some things may get in the way,” Lawson revealed.

“And Marlowe and Lassiter are involved, as weird as it sounds,” Omundson added. We’ve been warned, folks!

There is one more name that was revealed as a guest star, which left me extremely excited:  Parminder Nagra. Most people are familiar with Nagra from ER and more recently from Alcatraz but I’ve been following her career since her fantastic portrayal of Jesminder ‘Jess’ Bhamra in Bend it Like Beckham.  She is set to play Gus’ (Dulé Hill) new love interest.  I guess the whole ‘romance-is-in-the-air’ theme this upcoming season wasn’t a joke!

Gus (Dulé Hill) will have a new love interest that is far different from his usual ‘beautiful-girl-of-the week’ type.

“She’s delightful and sexy,” Henze said about Nagra. “It’s different for Gus because we’ve seen him date so many types of girls but they’re all a bit of the beautiful girl of the week and Parminder brought something we’ve never really toyed with before. She comes from a different background than he, obviously, and has that refined accent. It was really fun and interesting.”

Then, Henze threw in the real juicy stuff: “She’s not perfect but she’s got a secret and he’s going to have to figure that out or not.”  Uh-oh, you better watch out, Gus!

Henze and Kulchak could not say enough about how supportive the USA Network has been to the show. According to Kulchak, “They are not our network, they are our partners.”

After hearing the producers rave about USA Network’s marketing and track record, we discussed how proactive the network has been with digital and social media. Henze said the network came to them and said, “‘We want to integrate this stuff into the show as much as possible,’ and we said, fantastic, let’s do it!”

According to Henze, everyone in the team quickly embraced it. “We put some of our writers on it, we put our support staff – who are aspiring writers – and they took the ball and ran with it. Everybody did an amazing job and it turned out to be a great success.   We’re going to be doing more of that stuff.”

Before the conference wrapped up, I had to ask the producing team about the creative process they follow to keep their storylines fresh season after season.

“We really start with the world. Where do we want to put these guys that is going to be the most fun?” Kulchak replied. “Like we’re doing a Cirque du Soleil episode and seeing those guys in the circus, it’s just perfect. So, you start with that world and then you go, how are we going to create a crime around that? If you watch, our show is not a dramedy it’s comedra, that’s where everything comes from.”

Henze quickly added: “When you create a real mystery that really plays like a real drama on TV – you have to make it believable. Then, you put our goofballs in a real situation and they react in a very strange and funny way.”

Remember it people:  Psych isn’t a dramedy; it’s a comedra, which is where goofballs have fun with real-life situations.  This format has resulted in a winning combination for both the show and USA Network, and it appears season seven will be jammed packed with plenty of laughs, romance and drama.

For more on the show, visit: http://www.usanetwork.com/series/psych/

On Twitter, follow the show via @Psych_USA, as well as the rest of the cast: @nelsonKirsten, @corbinbernsen, @maggielawson,@Omundson and @DuleHill.

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