TVSquad

Do you think when Neil Simon created the character of Felix Unger in The Odd Couple he knew that he was spawning a generation or two (maybe more) of Felix Unger wannabes? Today, over 40 years since Felix became part of our movie/TV collective conscience, there are lots of people and characters that bring to mind Tony Randall's alter ego.

It's Tony's Felix that I think is etched in our minds. He made Felix all he could be, and week in and week out -- opposite Jack Klugman's Oscar Madison -- he typified the ultimate neat freak, persnickety, hypochondriacally, impossible-to-live-with, supercilious know-it-all that made us cackle with laughter.

So, as I was watching TV -- an occupational requirement -- recently, it occurred to me that there are quite a few Felix Ungers on screen right now. Most are fictional, like Two and a Half Men's Alan Harper and, most obviously, Adrian Monk. But there are a couple of Felixes in real life on TV, too, like MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and ESPN's Mike Greenberg.

By my count, there are seven "Felix Ungers" currently on TV.

One thing that gets me about the USA Network's "seasons" is that they barely begin, and then they are over. I am not even sure we got eight episodes of Psych, and now it is gone again, just as I was getting comfortable with my weekly dose of hokey. Hokey, says I? Then why do I miss it?

1. Corbin Bernsen -- You know you loved him in L.A. Law, heck, you even loved him in Major League II. But Psych uses Bernsen's talents to the fullest, in creating one of TV's most obnoxious dads with a true tender side (from bubble baths to believing in his son, even though it is usually somewhat veiled). So, so glad they use him more each season.

2. The mysteries -- Yes, a grand part of the hoke, and sometimes painfully predictable. But I love a mystery, even of the lamest kind, and for me, a show that has some secrets not revealed until the end carries some clout.

(S01E06) Secretary: There's a Lieutenant Crunch here to see you.

Gus: Lieutenant Crunch?

Shawn: Actually, I've been promoted. It's Captain Crunch now.

At first I thought this wasn't going to be a good episode of Psych. There was a big focus on Detective Lassiter at the beginning of the show and it looked like it was going to be one of those team-ups where Lassiter learns a little from Shawn and Gus, and vice-versa. But, that was not the case at all. Once again, it was pretty much Shawn and Gus the whole way. Not only that, but it was one of the best episodes of the series so far.

(S01E04) Let me just get this first little item out of the way and we can move on. There was a scene early in this week's show where Shawn Spencer and his friend/business partner Gus are talking outside of their detective agency, which is at the beach. Behind Shawn we see the continuation of the beach and a seemingly large evergreen forest looming just above the water.

I'm pretty sure that there aren't any large evergreen forests near the beach in Santa Barbara, where the show is supposed to take place.You would find that type of stuff in the Pacific Northwest, including Vancouver, British Columbia where, by coincidence, Psych is filmed. I only ask that the producers try to limit the amount of outside shots to avoid breaking the illusion that the show is based in Southern California.

There, I feel better now. So, let's get on with the review.

(S01E03) Shawn almost slipped up. Twice. Both times while talking to the chief of police. Luckily, Gus was there to move him back in the right direction; lying about his psychic abilities to everyone, including the police.

I believe that this is the way Psych will run for the time being. Shawn will slip up here and there with the people that he admires . . . people that Shawn believes (deep down) know that he's really not what he says. For others, including Detective Lassiter, he'll keep on pretending that his psychic seizures are real.