CAT Scratchings: Talking Psych with Psych People -- How Awesome is That?

Tonight I was blessed to be among the press on the red carpet for "An Evening with Psych" at the Paley Center for Media. I have watched this show from the day it started because I'm a big fan of buddy shows.

For me the adventure started earlier than that, because I arrived earlier than the 5:30 pm time I had been given.

It turned out press check-in wasn't going to be until 5:45 pm so I was asked to wait outside with other press who had arrived early and with fans who had arrived early to get a good place in line. That paid off for them because Dulé Hill also arrived early. Some lucky fans got to take photos with him and get autographs before Paley Center security whisked him away. I just stood back and took photos.

Once inside the room where the red carpet was, the photographers were lined up first, then the press. Online press was last, but I think there was only two of us, Libya Eramin from Whedonopolis.com and me from Suite101.com.

I tried to take a photo of romantic couple Maggie Lawson and James Roday arriving together, but from my position in line, it didn't turn out that well.

The first person I got to talk to was Timothy Omundson who plays Detective Lassiter and who was looking very dapper and handsome in his suit. I had met Tim on the WGA picket line on Xena day. We were introduced by my pal, former Hercules writer, Andy Dettmann, who also happens to be Tim's neighbor. Tim played Eli on the Xena, Warrior Princess series -- our stand in for Jesus. I think I may have his picture from that event in a blog entry from that time period. We chatted a bit about that meeting before getting down to questions about Lassiter.

We also talked about what he had been doing on his hiatus, part of which was doing a small part for co-worker Corbin Bernsen in the film "25 Hill" Corbin is writing and directing. Other than that: "I worked on the house, hung out with my kids. Got a dog... Lucy, who will be coming to Vancouver with me, so at least, I'll have some companionship even if Lassiter doesn't. That's about it. Too short."

The latter was in response to a conversation started about how Lassiter needed a lady in his life and if he couldn't have a lady, he should at least have a dog, as Tim felt Lassiter was in need of companionship. As a cat person, I asked, how about a cat for Lassiter. "He's probaby allergic. I know I am so it couldn't be a cat."

Next up was Maggie Lawson who is as charming as she is beautiful. Among what we talked about was how great it was that her character, Detective Juliet O'Hara and Shawn had become good friends and that they hadn't gone the typical leading man and leading lady love story route. How her character had been developed as a detective and what a great role model that was.

Then I was talking to the delightful Kirsten Nelson who plays Chief Vick. We talked mostly about how wonderful it was to see a woman playing a believable police captain over a bunch of men. This is important to me, because I find that most of the actresses who attempt to play leaders of men overplay the forcefulness and don't come across as authoritative or capable of leading the kind of cowboy-like men we see as cops on TV. My favorite woman leader, who has been believable in her role as lieutenant from day 1 is S. Epatha Merkerson from Law & Order. Kirsten brought up Kyra Sedgwick from The Closer, which I totally agree with.

James Roday and Dulé Hill did the red carpet together. It was fun to see the two actors answering the same questions together, as if they are as bonded as their characters Shawn and Gus. I didn't really get a picture of them on the red carpet, but you can see from the above picture how close they were to Kirsten. By the time, I was free from talking to her, the boys were talking to the Whedonopolis people and I wasn't sure if my flash would spoil their recording, so I didn't take any photos. Alas it was only me, so I could only handle the video during questioning... and not stills as well.

Because there were so many guests, time was running out for interviews. By the time the boys got to me, they were pretty rushed. They were still gracious enough to stay and answer my questions, but I didn't get as much time with them as I did with the others.

Unfortunately, time ran out before Whedonopolis or I could interview Steve Franks, the creator and showrunner. He had to go introduce the blooper reel and episode. Here, though, is where the publicists became awesome allies. Terry Ebright of the Paley Center and Lynn Weiss of NBCUniversal offered to ask Steve Franks if he'd be willing to come back after the intros to finish up, if we were willing to forgo seeing the blooper reel and the episode in the big theater. The episode was a repeat, which we had all seen already, and the bloopers we could watch on the room monitor, so we both eagerly said yes. Thank you, ladies.

Have to say, Steve Franks was a trooper. He very generously came back to talk to Whedonopolis first and then me. He's like an eager little boy with his favorite toy when he talks about his show and it was a delightful fun experience to talk to him about it.

We also talked about Kevin Sorbo's guest appearance on the show, since I worked with Kevin on Hercules. Steve told me that reports from Vancouver were that Kevin was a very nice guy and that he had fun up there. Steve was also very disappointed that he didn't get to meet Kevin because work obligations kept him here in LA while that episode was shooting.

The panel discussion was great fun. I have covered it in my articles. I was way in the back so I didn't get good photos. However, the cast and crew stuck around afterwards and talked to people, so I took some photos there. Sorry that they are not closer, but after having my time on the red carpet, I didn't want to interfere with fans getting theirs.