I Know You Know. Review: Psych - “Cloudy...With a Chance of Improvement”

Season 8, Episode 3

Air Date: Wednesday, January 22, 2014, 9/8c on USA

Rating: ★★★★★

Hawaii 5-0, Knight Rider, 90210, Bionic Woman… Psych? USA Network’s long-running hit series Psych joins the list of TV shows being remade by remaking one of its own episodes. Interesting idea, but is it needed?

When USA announced that Psych was doing a remake of one of its own episodes, I was skeptical and assumed it was some kind of PR stunt. Let’s face it, for a show rumored to be in its final season, a PR gimmick isn’t totally unexpected. But just because something is a publicity stunt does not make it a bad thing.

Adding to the gimmick, the creative minds behind Psych decided to bring back several past guest stars and cast them in new roles: Ray Wise (“Dual Spires”), Alan Ruck (“Gus Walks Into A Bank”), Janet Varney (“Murder?… Anyone?… Anyone… Bueller?”), Carlos Jacott (“The Tao of Gus), Ralph Macchio (“We’d Like to Thank the Academy”), and others return to Psych playing someone else. Michael Weston, who was in the original (“Cloudy with a Chance of Murder”) returns, once again playing attorney Adam Hornstock.

“Cloudy…” as its own Episode.

Hornstock, an attorney lacking in confidence, defends Sandra Panitch (Lindsay Sloane), a woman accused of murdering a local TV weatherman. Despite it being a seemingly open and shut case, Shawn (James Roday) feels she is innocent so along with Gus (Dule Hill), they join her team as legal consultants.

“Cloudy…With a Chance of Improvement” is an enjoyable episode that takes place in 2006. The Psych office has just opened and Shawn has his eyes on the newest Santa Barbara detective, Juliet O’Hara (Maggie Lawson).

Shawn: “What are you doing for the next eight years because I am sensing that we become very much involved?”

Juliet: “You’re way off on that, Shawn.”

Dialogue like this is one of the things that make this episode so much fun because the audience knows what will happen later in the series.

I really enjoyed the courtroom antics; after all, how can you have a courtroom episode with Ralph Macchio and not take some jabs at My Cousin Vinny? That isn’t the only jab, though, as Shawn also takes a shot at the show Suits.

I would have appreciated seeing a little more interaction between Judge Leland (Ray Wise) and Shawn. Judges tend to deal in fact rather than the spirit world and seeing these two butt heads would have made for an interesting dynamic.

“Cloudy…” as a Remake.

“Cloudy…With a Chance of Improvement” is very enjoyable although it lacks some of the heart the original had, especially involving the relationship between Shawn and his father Henry (Corbin Bernsen). It is almost entirely ignored in the remake. One very powerful scene between the two was removed, which I assume is because it relates to other episodes and I think the writers wanted the remake to be able to stand on its own more.

Despite being played by the same actor in both episodes, I thought the transformation of Hornstock was much more convincing in the season one version. Weston’s appearance in the original was more disheveled, and as his confidence grew so did his appearance. Yet, in the remake, he is clean cut, making his change more verbal rather than visual.

Several bits were carried over but I felt most of the funnier ones from the original were left behind.

Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) having to confirm Shawn’s employment to the judge.
Henry showing up in the courtroom to watch Shawn.
The reason Shawn is at the courthouse to begin with and who ended up helping him get his bike back.

The idea of bringing in several previous guest stars and recasting them in different roles is clever but it did not work for me. It’s one thing for an actor to guest star on various shows but to take several guest stars and recast them all in one episode diminishes their earlier appearances on Psych.

As a remake, “Cloudy…With a Chance of Improvement” fails to live up to its counterpart, “Cloudy…With a Chance of Murder.” Other than Woody (Kurt Fuller), that is, who is so uncomfortably funny, it makes up for anything that is missing.

“Cloudy…With a Chance of Improvement” may be a remake but if you were to watch season one over and swap out the original for the remake, it does not fit into the season perfectly as some connections and emotions are missing. That said, both versions are good Psych episodes with each having its own fun moments. I am not sure that is enough to warrant going through all the trouble to do a remake. I would have rather seen an original episode instead of focusing on a gimmicky remake.

The writers are to be commended for following the original storyline throughout most of the episode. It makes you feel comfortable knowing that the conclusion will be the same…until the twist with Woody. I couldn’t help but laugh as Woody tells his version of what happened but more importantly, the twist gives the audience some separation between the two episodes.

What did you think? Was the remake an improvement? Which version did you like better? Were you happy with the remake or would you rather have seen an original episode?

Tweet me @staffaroadtrip or leave a comment below to let me know what you think about “Cloudy…With a Chance of Improvement.”

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Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.