Psych - Season 1 (2006)

The first season of Psych originally aired in the United States on the USA Network television network between July 7, 2006 and March 2, 2007. Produced by Universal Cable Productions and Tagline Television, the series was created by Steve Franks, who served as executive producer with Kelly Kulchak and Chris Henze. The comedy-drama series focuses on Shawn Spencer, a police consultant who pretends to be psychic, and his assistant Burton "Gus" Guster, a pharmaceuticals salesman. The season consisted of fifteen 43-minute episodes, which aired at 10:00 p.m. on Fridays. Franks conceived the idea for the show when producers at Columbia Pictures requested he pitch them ideas for a TV program while he was working on the film Big Daddy. Initially rejected, the concept was shelved for several years until Franks collaborated with Kulchak to create an hour-long TV show. USA Network picked up the program, initially ordering an eleven-episode season. Overall, the first season has received generally positive reviews from critics. Initially, the show was met with mixed to negative reviews, with episodes later in the season receiving generally positive reception. Many critics compared the series to its lead-in program, Monk, leading to negative opinions on the program's originality. The premiere episode was watched by approximately 6.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated scripted series premiere for a cable network. However, ratings decreased for the following episodes, with the next highest-rated episode achieving just 4.76 million viewers, according to the Nielsen ratings. The season finale, "Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast", received the best reviews of the season and saw an increase in viewership.