American Duos

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“American Duos”

Psych episode

Image:Psych201.jpg

Episode no.

Season 2
Episode 1

Written by

Directed by

John Landis

Guest stars

Gina Gershon
Tim Curry
Cristián de la Fuente
Scott Nicholas Perrie
Liam James
Peter Benson
Ben Cotton
Sage Brocklebank
Alison Mackay
Vicente Lohvinenko
Beck Ardut
Minh Ly
Kenyan Lewis
Jovanna Huguet
Shay Kuebler
Vicente

Production no.

2001

Original airdate

13 July 2007

Episode chronology
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"Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast"	"65 Million Years Off"

List of episodes

American Duos is the 16th episode and second season premiere of the USA Network television drama Psych.

1 Plot synopsis
2 Production
3 Pop culture references
4 Reception
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Plot synopsis

Shawn gives his protection to a talent-show judge after multiple failed attempts to kill him.

When the latest incarnation of American Idol shows sets up shop in Santa Barbara, the requisite cruel British judge Nigel St. Nigel (Tim Curry) finds himself in a panic after a series of near-miss attempts on his life and hires Santa Barbara's most reliable psychic detective to protect him. Nigel believes that the police are in on the conspiracy, so to protect him Shawn and Gus go undercover on American Duos. While exiting his trailer, Nigel is stopped by Shawn before he walks in an electrified puddle when Shawn notices a live wire in the puddle. Shawn then stops Nigel from eating a specially ordered sandwich when he notices that the toothpicks aren't the ones the hotel uses. When the toxicology report comes back from the police, it turns out the sandwich was poisoned with Emilina's prescription drugs.

The culprit turns out to be repeat contestant Bevin Rennie Llywellen (Perrie), who would flop on purpose for the sake of being able to audition in another city should his attempt on Nigel's life fail in the current city. The plan was orchestrated by Zapato (de la Fuente), one of the other judges. Zapato was a Latin pop star and singer of "Mírame," whose comeback was ruined by Nigel, who would never let him speak during the judging -- Nigel actually believed Zapato could not talk or think at all. Zapato was so overshadowed by Nigel he even received fan mail addressed to other Latin artists such as Ricky Martin. After this revelation, Nigel is not shocked, and becomes an even bigger jerk, calling Zapato the "worst murderer ever."

[edit] Production

Star James Roday, who plays Shawn Spencer, co-wrote this episode. It is a send up of American Idol, and Tim Curry plays the Simon Cowell-esque British judge Nigel St. Nigel. Gina Gershon plays Emilina Saffron, who is a caricature of Paula Abdul. According to Roday, "American Duos" has the highest production values of any Psych episode.^[1]

[edit] Pop culture references

As of this episode, Psych is the show with the most pop culture references. "American Duos" included references to Prince, Michael Jackson, a-ha, Daft Punk, Tears for Fears, Hall & Oates, David Lee Roth's song Yankee Rose and many others.^[2]

[edit] Reception

Richard Keller of TVSquad.com felt that the first half of "American Duos" was stronger and produced more laughs than the second. Keller also thought that the case was weak, and took a backseat to the other events in the episode.^[2] Sheldon A. Wiebe of Eclipse Magazine gave the episode a B+. He felt that part of the mystery was easy for viewers to solve, but that determining both killers was difficult.^[3] Brian Tallerico of Under Ground Online felt that spoofing American Idol was old three years ago. He said that the two stars kept the "show moving at all times," but that "American Duos" poor writing made Psych's Friday night partner Monk look like Seinfeld.^[4]