I know that you know

As the fall television season starts in earnest, I find myself thinking the summer series on cable are better than the prime time network shows. Part the fun fare on USA Network, I am an unabashed fan of the simple silliness which is Psych. Comic timing and an abundance of my-generation pop throwaway jokes make me feel warm inside, and nostalgic for the completely unrealistic buddy detective shows of the early 80s—to which this is an overt homage. (Next week, Hart to Hart meet Simon & Simon, meet Remmington Steele!)

The good folks at Psych know they're just having fun with it and I think that that lack of taking itself seriously is one of the reasons it is so popular. The theme song, written by the show's creator and his garage band, is catchy silliness too. And they've started playing with that too, spinning it with the theme of special episodes.

Here's the basic opening credits (season 3):



Here's the full version of the theme song, recorded by the show's creator Steve Franks and his band The Friendly Indians (credit sequence is fan-created):



The Bollywood Murder episode was hilarious, especially now that I am all Shilpacated in Bollywood and biriani. The Bollywood episode got its own opening remix, which Shilpa says is right on old-school Bollywood goodness. We lost it.



Of course, the delicate white boy who has to have raita to survive dinner chez Shilpa thought this bit was genius:



Last week's episode reunited Gus (Dulé Hill) with his college a capella group (Blackapella). The theme song was re-envisioned by Boyz II Men:



Nice.

For other episodes the theme has also been redone in Spanish, and in holiday cheer. While rooting around, I also found fan-made music videos of Psych for Footloose and Beat It. It's nice to know that my fandom, even as it is, falls on the mild side.

In between the lines there's a lot of obscurity.
I'm not inclined to resign to maturity.
If it's all right, then you're all wrong.
Why dance around to the same damn song?
You'd rather run when you can't crawl.

I know that you know that I'm not telling the truth.
I know that you know they just don't have any proof.
Embrace the deception. Lean how to bend.
Your worst inhibitions tend to psych you out in the end.

Update: GRRR. For some reason, there are thousands of Psych clips on YouTube, but moments after I uploaded the opening credits, YouTube blocked embedding mine for a content claim by NBC Universal. I'll work on it.