Burton Guster

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Burton 'Gus' Guster
First appearance	Pilot
Information
Gender	Male
Age	31
Occupation	Pharmaceutical Rep, Detective
Portrayed by	Dulé Hill
Created by	Steve Franks & Andy Berman

Burton 'Gus' Guster is a character on the USA Network television dramedy Psych played by American actor Dulé Hill. Gus is Shawn Spencer's best friend, and co-owns the detective agency "Psych" with him. Gus tends to be straight-laced and more cautious, although he has been friends with Shawn for long enough that he understands that Shawn cannot be stopped once his mind has been made. He functions as the straight man for Shawn's antics, and provides sobering advice and steady support.

As children, he and Shawn both had crushes on Meredith Baxter Birney (Elyse Keaton on Family Ties). Gus also had a babysitter named Mrs. Pilderman who was a 37-year-old nurse; Shawn seems to think that Gus and Mrs. Pilderman went skinny dipping, but Gus denies it. Gus initially insists on helping Raylene Wilcroft because she reminds him of Mrs. Pilderman, though Shawn claim that Gus has a weakness for damsels in distress.

Gus seems to have an affinity for "dangerous women," including (according to Shawn) rocker Joan Jett, actress Penny Marshall (who played Laverne DeFazio on Laverne & Shirley), supermodel Grace Jones (who played May Day in A View to a Kill), Happy Days character Pinky Tuscadero (played by Roz Kelly), suspected axe-murderer Lizzie Borden, and actress Kathy Bates (who played notorious psychopaths Annie Wilkes in Misery and the titular suspected killer in Dolores Claiborne).

In 1989, Gus lost an eighth grade spelling bee by accepting covert advice from Shawn on the spelling of "aggiornomento." Gus never shook his obsession with spelling, however, and follows the American Spelling Bee meticulously; he tapes the yearly championship, knows at a glance the winner and winning word from any previous competition, and has a working knowledge of the notable stars from the current field of spellers.

According to Shawn, Gus has an imaginary cat named "Missus Pickles"; Shawn has called Gus's job claiming that "Mrs. Pickles" is at the vet in order to get Gus out of work. Shawn told Gus that his next ruse to get Gus out of the office will be an announcement that "Mrs. Pickles" is apparently pregnant. Gus appears to dislike cats; he had no interest in even holding Mortimer Tilden's cat when Shawn took the animal (both to keep it from going to an animal shelter, and to create an excuse to continue the investigation), and even seemed to display some genuine jealousy at Shawn's preferential treatment of the cat.

Gus also mentioned that he is lactose intolerant and taking medication for the condition, although at the end of one episode he is seen eating cereal with milk.

Early on Gus seemed reluctant about being dragged along on Shawn's adventures, but, he always seems to be able provide Shawn with the additional knowledge he needs to solve the case. Gus also seems to suffer at Shawn's sense of humor, but takes it (mostly) with a grain of salt as Shawn means well. Gus once believed that he heard an "Indian ghost" in the wall of his bedroom, but it turns out that this was just Shawn speaking through a walkie-talkie planted there while Gus's father was reinstalling the insulation. He has one grandmother who is dead and another who currently resides in Jamaica

[edit] Special interests/talents

Gus always seems to have a convenient knowledge and/or passion for whatever each case centers around:

Pharmaceuticals: effects, side effects
Physicians: knows those practicing in Santa Barbara
Spelling Bees: Knows previous current star spellers, records all televised events, knows all previous winning words, and is familiar with official rules.
Safes and Safecracking: Familiar with all current models, and aware of models coming soon; subscribes to a trade magazine on the subject
Extreme olfactory skill: Refers to his nose as the "Super Smeller"
Ghosts : Ignited due to a practical joke by Shawn when they were kids.
The American Civil War: Familiar with Civil War weaponry and history from frequent viewing of The History Channel.
Comic Books: Knows a great deal about comic books and superheroes when they visit a Comic Book Convention.
Astronomy Basic knowledge of stars and constellations (Mostly to date a woman who worked at a planetarium.}
Law took Pre-Pre Law in sixth grade.
Tennis knowledge of local tennis ranking.
Poker Avid online poker player with online bank of 7 Million Virtual Dollars Known as BigKitty75
Paleontology according to his MySpace character page.