Shawn Spencer

Infobox character
name = Shawn Spencer
series = "Psych"


caption = James Roday as Shawn Spencer
first = Pilot
last =
cause =
alias = Byron Bojengles III, Black, William Zane, Levon Tostig, "T-Bone" Turner, Maniac Maniac 19, Shawn Spenstar
species =
nickname = "Goose" (mother) ["Psych", Episode 3.01: "Ghosts." Original airdate: July 18, 2008.]
gender = Male
age = Late 20s-Early 30s
occupation = Psychic Detective
title =
family = Henry Spencer (father)
Madeleine Spencer (mother)
children =
relatives = Jack Spencer (uncle) ["Psych", Episode 3.04: "The Greatest Adventure in the History of Basic Cable." Original airdate: August 8, 2008.]
portrayer = James Roday
Josh Hayden (Young Shawn)
Liam James (Young Shawn)
creator = Steve Franks and Andy Berman

Shawn Spencer is a fictional character on the American television dramedy "Psych" played by American actor James Roday. He poses as a psychic and works as a private detective who often consults with the Santa Barbara Police Department.

Creation and development

Actor James Roday says that he thinks the character of Shawn Spencer may have been written with Matthew Perry in mind in terms of a prototype. Roday himself had sworn off television at the time the pilot was being cast, and was planning to go back to New York to do some theater productions, but was convinced by his agents to read the script. He was the first person cast for the series, and was subsequently involved in the casting process of every other character. [Norton, Al (August 23, 2007). [http://www.411mania.com/movies/columns/58744 411 Movies Interview: James Roday of PSYCH] . "411mania.com". Retrieved on 2007-12-23.] In preparing for the role, Roday visited a number of psychics and asked them to describe what their visions entailed, "so that when someone asks if I was pulling all this out of my ass, I could say that I met with a few psychics and they say that sometimes their temperature rises and they convulse."Donnelly, G.J. (February 9, 2007). [http://www.tvguide.com/News-Views/Interviews-Features/Article/default.aspx?posting=%7B3043721B-06F1-489B-B456-DEDCC14BE8F5%7D Meet the Faker: James Roday Takes Our Psych Exam] . "TV Guide". Retrieved on 2007-12-23.]

Fictional biography

Born in 1977, Shawn hails from a family of police officers. His parents separated in 1992, and later divorced; his mother, Madeleine (a psychologist), eventually returned and explained that she left to pursue a job opportunity. ["Psych", Episode 3.01: "Ghosts." Original airdate: July 18, 2008.] His father, Henry Spencer, fully expected him to carry the torch, and schooled Shawn in detective work from as early as age 7, aiding the development of his extraordinary powers of observation and deduction. At the age of 15, he achieved a perfect score of 100 on the detective's exam. ["Psych", Episode 2.11: "There's Something About Mira." Original airdate: January 11, 2008.] In college, he majored in psychology. ["Psych", Episode 2.03: "Psy vs. Psy" Original airdate: July 27, 2007.] This is drawn loosely from the childhood of series creator Steve Franks, who was also born into a family of police officers and whose father "was training [Franks] in his own way to follow his footsteps." Franks' father would ask him how many people were wearing hats in a restaurant, a tactic employed in the show's pilot episode by Shawn's father. [Goldman, Eric (June 30, 2006). [http://au.tv.ign.com/articles/716/716250p1.html Reading Minds with the Stars of PSYCH] . "IGN". Retrieved on 2007-12-23.]

Despite his obvious talent, Shawn has no interest in entering the police force, and after graduating from Leland Bosseigh High School in Santa Barbara, California, in 1995 ["Psych", Episode 3.02: "Murder? ... Anyone? ... Anyone? ... Bueller?" Original airdate: July 25, 2008.] , takes up a string of random jobs selected strictly for his own enjoyment. In his spare time, he entertains himself by calling in tips to the police hotline based on observations he has made on crime scenes shown in television news footage. After one such tip, the Santa Barbara police become suspicious of Shawn, whose information is so good that they believe it could only have come from an inside source. Desperate to avoid jail time, Shawn lies, explaining that he obtained the information in a psychic vision. Although skeptical, the department is impressed, and hires Shawn as a consultant. Enlisting the assistance of his reluctant best friend, Burton Guster, Shawn opens his own psychic detective agency, "Psych".It has been recently revealed he inherited his eidetic memory from his mother.

Characterization

Although Shawn and Gus often have disagreements, they have been friends since early childhood and actor James Roday describes the pair's bond as "unbreakable. It's one of those friendships that make people who don't have one ask, 'Why does Gus put up with Shawn?' It's not about putting up with one another. It's about knowing each other so well that things that might annoy someone from the outside don't annoy you anymore." Shawn knows exactly how to manipulate Gus, and often frustrates his friend with his antics, but has come to rely on him more in their case work as the series has progressed. Roday believes that Shawn has "evolved a lot" as a partner, moving away from "dragging Gus around by the collar against his will from case to case to case" towards a more equal partnership. [Roday, James. [http://video.usanetwork.com/player/?id=131043 Video Interview: Shawn's Evolution] . "USA Network". Retrieved on 2007-12-23.] He states that under Gus's influence, Shawn has "wisened up a little bit" and is learning to display a little more discretion at times. [Roday, James. [http://video.usanetwork.com/player/?id=131041 Video Interview: Grown Up?] . "USA Network". Retrieved on 2007-12-23.]

Shawn's seemingly random stream of consciousness often betrays the far-reaching logical connections that his observational skills allow him to make. He explains the multiple-personality-afflicted Robert Dunn's condition to Gus by referencing "The Flying Nun", which starred Sally Field, who played the similarly-affected title character in "Sybil". He also hybridizes movie quotes voiced by James Earl Jones in two separate films ("The Lion King" and "") when addressing a mountain lion: "Simba, I am your father." Running jokes on the show center around Shawn's love of pineapples (even though he has an "distaste" for pointy objects), which he will often bring as gifts to people he is meeting for the first time; his inability to turn his phone on vibrate, even when spying or infiltrating the homes of suspects; his fondness of Val Kilmer; his owning a motorcycle even though he is almost never seen riding it; and his comments on other people’s hair.

References