NBC UNIVERSAL
Moderator: Akiva Griffith
November 19, 2010
11:00 am CT
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by.
Welcome to the USA Network’s Psych conference call.
During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode.
We will be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you have a
question, please press the 1 followed by the 4 on your telephone. If at
any time during the conference you need to reach an operator, please
press star 0. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded Friday,
November 19, 2010.
I would now like to turn the conference over to Brad Bernstein. Please
go ahead. Please go ahead.
Brad Bernstein: Thank you, everyone, for being on today’s
call and thank you to both James and James and Sheryl Lee for taking the
time as well. On Wednesday, December 1 at 10/9 Central on USA Network,
Psych will present a very special super sized episode inspired by the
legendary TV series Twin Peaks called Dual Spires.
The episode was co-written by James Roday and guest stars an impressive
list of Twin Peaks alum, including Sheryl Lee.
I’ll now turn the call over to James Roday and Sheryl for your
questions.
Operator: And ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to
register a question, please press the 1 followed by the 4 on your
telephone. You’ll hear a three-toned prompt to acknowledge your request.
If your question has been answered and you would like to withdraw your
registration, please press the 1 followed by the 3. And if you’re using
a speakerphone, please lift your handset before entering your request.
One moment please, for our first question.
And our first question comes from the line of Troy Rogers with
TheDeadbolt.com. Please proceed.
Troy Rogers: Hi, James. Hi, Sheryl.
Sheryl Lee: Hi.
James Roday: Hey, Troy.
Troy Rogers: Sheryl, I wanted to know, how did it feel when
you walked on set and saw a lot of your castmates from Twin Peaks?
Sheryl Lee: Well, I keep telling everyone it was s such an
incredible gift that James and everyone that’s a part Psych gave us,
because some of us hadn’t seen each other from Twin Peaks in years and
years. And it’s such a wonderful group of people and it’s such a
wonderful group of people at Psych as well that it was truly, truly a
gift to - it’s hard to believe that 20 years have gone by, but to be
able to see these people who have such a special place in my heart. It
was really wonderful.
Troy Rogers: Excellent. And James, we know you’re a huge
Twin Peaks fan, so what was it like to work with the real Laura Palmer?
James Roday: It was crazy. I was like - you know, I think
there are Twin Peaks like fan boys out there who actually go to sleep
and dream about what I got to do. It was remarkable. And like Sheryl
said, it was like three experiences in one. It was - you know, it was
them getting to see each other for the first time after all these years
and us getting to watch them. And they were getting emotional, which
made us emotional and then, you know, on top of everything it was the
closest I’ll ever come to being in an episode of my favorite show, so it
was ridiculous.
Only in our line of work do we get to do thing like this and call it
work.
Troy Rogers: And in addition to the Twin Peaks cast members,
you also landed Julee Cruise to perform the Psych theme song. How did
that come together?
James Roday: Well, we were sort of swinging for the fences
across the boards with this episode and luckily we’ve set precedent
with, you know, messing around with our theme song in previous episodes.
So, it was really easy to say, “Let’s go after Julee and hope that she
wants to get in on the fun,” and she did. And it’s probably my - it’s my
favorite of the different renditions we’ve done of our theme songs.
It’s pretty inspired. Props also goes through our composer, Adam Cohen
who we just sort of - we said, “Dude, come up with a Twin Peaks-inspired
slowed down synthesized version of our song. Thanks. Bye.” And he had to
do that and then Julee came in and just nailed the vocals. And yes,
we’re all pretty stoked about the theme song.
Troy Rogers: Excellent. I can’t wait to check out the
episodes. Thanks, guys.
Sheryl Lee: You’re welcome.
Operator: Thank you. And our next question comes from the
line of Jamie Steinberg with Starry Constellation Magazine. Please
proceed.
Jamie Steinberg: Hello. It’s a pleasure to speak with both
of you.
Sheryl
Lee: Hi.
Jamie Steinberg: I was up there with James. It must be a
little daunting to work with people you’ve worshiped for so long. How
did you select the individuals that would participate in the Twin Peaks
episode?
Hello?
Sheryl Lee: James? Brad?
Operator: Mr. Roday, we’re unable to hear you.
Brad Bernstein: I think we might have some technical
difficulties there. Do you mind, operator, calling out to James one more
time to see if we can maybe get him back?
Operator: Certainly. (Unintelligible), I’ll just step away.
James Roday: Wait, here I am.
Brad Bernstein: Oh, there he is. There he is.
Jamie Steinberg: James, I was saying it’s a little bit
daunting probably to work with people you’ve worshiped for so long, but
how did you select the individuals who you would have participate in
your Twin Peaks episode?
James Roday: Well, a lot of it was the story that we came up
with and then Dana Ashbrook is a very close friend of mine that I’ve
known for many, many years. So, the sort of seed was, you know, I wasn’t
going to give Dana a choice. He was going to have to be in no matter
what and then hopefully from there we could sort of spread the love and
build an ensemble.
I couldn’t imagine doing a Twin Peaks tribute without Sheryl and without
Sherilynn. I felt like those were sort of the two iconic faces that if
we didn’t have we might as well not even try. So, they were sort of
always on the board as musts. You’ve got to have Laura. You’ve got to
have Audrey.
We were lucky enough to have cast Ray Wise last season, so it was just a
matter of figuring out how to get his character involved in the action,
which we did. And then, it was sort of like who do match up for these
characters? And, you know, Lenny von Dohlen, I thought was a really
interesting way to go for the Sheriff and you know, Robyn Lively kind of
represented a second season of Twin Peaks all by herself.
So - and then we had always sort of planned on a cameo from Catherine
Coulson. So, we’d all sort of - again, it was - the planets really kind
of aligned for us on this and it came together really nicely.
Jamie Steinberg: How did you originally meet and become
friends with Dana?
James Roday: I moved from New York to L.A. to do a show on
Fox that lasted for about ten minutes, but inside that ten minutes I met
Dana. He was - he came on and did an episode and I basically stalked him
into becoming my friend. I’m not proud of it, but it was one of the
boldest things I’ve ever done.
I kind of - I just - I saw his name on a call sheet and I went over and
knocked his trailer door and I said, “Can I come in,” and he was like,
“Yes, I guess,” and I just laid it all out. I laid it on the line and
luckily he didn’t get scared. I think he was actually flattered. And a
couple weeks later he took me to the Playboy Mansion and the rest, as
they say, is history.
Jamie Steinberg: Sheryl, what was it like for you to - in
the commercial we see that there is a dead body wrapped in plastic, à la
your character Laura Palmer was. Was it sort of an out of body
experience maybe to see someone positioned in the way that you had
iconically been?
Sheryl Lee: Yes, that is the perfect way to describe it. I
actually did feel as if I was out of my body that whole day. It was a
very strange surreal feeling, mostly because, you know, I - it’s hard to
understand how that much time went by that quickly and I remember that
day, for me, as if it was yesterday.
There’s a lot of things in the past 20 years I don’t remember, but that
day 20 years ago laying on that beach in the freezing cold, I remember
as if it was yesterday. And so, it was very, very surreal and it was
more - it touched me deeper than I expected it to. It sort of snuck up
on me.
Jamie Steinberg: Thank you very much for both of your time.
James Roday: Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. And our next question comes from the
line of Joshua Maloney with Niagara Frontier Publications. Please
proceed.
Joshua Maloney: Hi, Sheryl. Hi, James. Thanks for your time
today.
Sheryl Lee: Hi.
James Roday: (Sure enough).
Joshua Maloney: So, Sheryl, a lot of people have told me
over the years that the Psych set is just really, really unique. It’s
just really fun that all of the cast members, the crew, that everyone’s
just very warm and inviting. Can you tell us a little bit more about the
experience of working with the Psych team?
Sheryl Lee: Oh, well, it is a fantastic group of people.
They are so blessed and the wonderful thing about them is that they know
how blessed they are to all get along so well and to have such beautiful
respect for each other and it’s one of the happiest crews that I’ve ever
seen.
They have so much care and respect for their actors because of the way
that their actors care and respect them - care for and respect them and
it’s an absolute delight. It’s a fun set. It’s - there’s no hidden angst
anywhere. It’s just an absolute delight. I’m so grateful to have gotten
to come, you know, play with them.
Joshua Maloney: And James, Season 5 has been, you know, I
think absolutely fantastic. Good job on that. Obviously, the show has
taken some pretty big steps I recent weeks, Shawn and Juliet being the
most notable one. What can you tell us about the rest of the season and
what we can expect?
James Roday: Well, we’re doing this Twin Peaks episode.
Well, thank you…
Joshua Maloney: No kidding?
James Roday: …for your kind words, first of all. And then
secondly, you know, it’s kind of compacted this little second half we
have, so you know, we’re just kind of - we’re blowing it out with Twin
Peaks, which for me is, you know, I hate to throw around profundities,
but I - it’s easily the most proud I’ve ever been of any of our
achievements on the show. So, it’s hard to even like sort of look past
that one. It’s just like, “This is it. This is what we’re doing.”
But in addition to that, we also have a holiday episode coming up that
we took a year off last year and didn't do a Christmas episode and we
came back with one this year and its pretty wild. It’s kind of like It’s
a Wonderful Life on acid. Shawn gets a glimpse into what everyone’s
lives would be like if he had never come back to Santa Barbara and we
did some pretty crazy stuff there.
Ralph Macchio swung in and did a very funny episode that was sort of us
ripping on Police Academy. And then, we close up shop with the finale of
the Yin Yang serial killer trilogy, which I thought came together pretty
nicely. Ally Sheedy’s back. Jimmi Simpson’s back, which is a testament
to our writing staff for being able to come up with a way to bring back
a character that’s dead. And Mena Suvari came up and she was fantastic
and all questions are answered and everything comes out in the wash.
So even though it’s a short season, I feel like it’s pretty packed with
goodness, with richness, stuff that smells of deep rich mahogany.
Joshua Maloney: Right. Right. And I guess speaking of smells
and the Twin Peaks, why a cinnamon festival?
James Roday: That’s a good question. We knew that - well, we
needed a way to get Shawn and Gus to this tiny little town and way back
and I think it goes all the way back to the pilot, there was a mention
of a cinnamon festival. And so, we kind of just - we piggybacked that
idea that Shawn and Gus go around d to cinnamon festivals and have never
missed one and here’s one that they never knew existed.
So of course they were going to go, no matter how far it was away or how
difficult it was to find, if there is a cinnamon festival out there to
be experienced they were going to go. And it also gave us sort of a
natural way to put our own spin on the cherry pie.
Joshua Maloney: All right. Well, I’m sure the episode will
be fantastic. Thanks to both of you.
Sheryl Lee: You’re welcome.
James Roday: Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. And our next question comes from the
line of Earl Dittman with Wireless Magazines. Please proceed.
Earl Dittman: Hi, guys. How are you all today?
Sheryl Lee: Good. Thank you.
James Roday: What’s up, Earl?
Earl Dittman: James, I have to say you must have been really
young when Twin Peaks came on. How - in your - 10, 11, 12, somewhere in
there?
James Roday: I was 13 and 14.
Earl Dittman: Thirteen and 14, so what was about it that
turned you on that just made you obsessed with such a great show? I
mean, a lot of people didn’t get it and a lot people did, what was it
about it that got you?
James Roday: Well, I was a strange, you know, dark little
dude. I fell in love with horror movies at a very early age. And somehow
as a first grader, was able to convince my parents to let me go see, you
know, stuff like American Werewolf in London, like in theaters.
So, I sort of had a - I was headed in that direction anyway and then I
remember one night I think my parents were out at a function of some
kind and I had just gotten cable in my room, it was a big deal and I saw
Blue Velvet on HBO, I think. And it blew my mind in a way that I don’t
think children’s minds are supposed to be blown, but they probably
shouldn’t be watching Blue Velvet.
But, from that moment on I was - you know, I was sort of obsessed with
David Lynch and then when, you know, he came to television there was no
way I wasn’t going to watch. And then of course, he delivered everything
that you would expect David Lynch to deliver and more. And - you know
and to me, like (The Great Koo), was that he was doing it in primetime
on network television.
Earl Dittman: Yes.
James Roday: And you just - even as a 14-year old, I just -
I wanted someone in the room with me that I could look over and say,
“Can you believe we’re watching this?” Like, “Can you believe that he’s
doing this? How is he doing this,” you know and I think it redefined
television.
As short of a period of time as they were actually on the air, I think
he’s influenced television in a way that, you know - I mean, I don’t
know if we have stuff, you know, like Deadwood and - you know and
Boardwalk Empire, you know, if Twin Peaks had never happened. Like, I
truly feel that way.
Earl Dittman: So, this really was a dream come true for you?
James Roday: Oh, absolutely and it was four years in the
making, so we actually had to kind of like be patient and plan and, yes,
it was really gratifying.
Earl Dittman: And Sheryl did - do - are you still surprised
that people have these feelings for a show, as you said, 20 years later
that they still love it as much as they did back when it first aired?
(And it continues, you even) have more fans. Does that surprise you?
Sheryl Lee: Well, you know, there’s two things that happen,
I think, when people experience something, whether it’s a song or a
television show or a film or a book, any piece of art that they’re
experiencing it for what it is. But then, it also connects them to a
certain part of their life and whatever was going on at that time in
their life.
So in that sense, no it doesn’t surprise me because I know for me, you
know, I can be driving around and all of a sudden hear a song on the
radio and boom, I’m back at that time in my life.
Earl Dittman: Yes.
Sheryl Lee: And so, the one thing that people tell me that
they experienced so often with Twin Peaks was that it brought people
together; that people start - were watching it together as a community
and talking about it together at work. So, I think when they think of
the show they’re also remembering that sense of community that they
shared this thing with.
Earl Dittman: Yes. Yes. So, it’s - it brings back great
memories and it - because it’s - it was such a fantastic show. I’m like
James, I’m as obsessed with it and will buy every edition of - it comes
out on DVD and Blue-ray.
One final question for James. James, you - now am I - I might be losing
my mind, but is there going to be another season?
James Roday: Say that again, sorry?
Earl Dittman: Is there going to be a Season 6?
James Roday: Yes, there is. We…
Earl Dittman: Okay. Okay. Because…
James Roday: …yes, we got our pickup a while back and…
Earl Dittman: All right. Great.
James Roday: …we’re pumped and we’ll take a little break
here and recharge the batteries and then we’ll figure out how to knock
16 more of these puppies.
Earl Dittman: Well, there - it sounds great. Thanks you both
and I can’t wait to see it.
Sheryl Lee: You’re welcome.
James Roday: You’re going to love it.
Earl Dittman: Oh, I hope so. I know so. Thank you.
James Roday: Thanks, man.
Sheryl Lee: Bye.
Operator: Thank you. And our next question comes from the
line of Sammi Turano with TV Grapevine. Please proceed.
Sammi Turano: Hi, good morning. How are you?
Sheryl Lee: Good. Thank you.
James Roday: Morning.
Sammi Turano: Good morning. Good to talk to you again,
James. And Sheryl, my sister wanted to say she loved you on One Tree
Hill; loved, loved you.
Sheryl Lee: Oh, thank you. Please tell her thank you so
much.
Sammi Turano: I will. It’s her favorite show, so she’s
psyched I’m talking to you.
Sheryl Lee: Oh.
Sammi Turano: Anyway, my first question is, what made you
decide to do a Twin Peaks reunion on Psych rather than just doing a
regular reunion show?
Sheryl Lee: Oh, is it - is that question for me…
Sammi Turano: For both of you.
Sheryl Lee: …or for James?
Sammi Turano: Both of you. You can both answer.
Sheryl Lee: Well, in regards to doing a reunion show for
Twin Peaks, that would not - that just would be on its own, that’s
probably up to David. So, this happened on Psych because James got it
together first to ask us first.
Sammi Turano: Oh, wow.
James Roday: I am…
Sammi Turano: And what (unintelligible)…
James Roday: …I as a fan and am holding out hope for the
real thing though. I know that there’s a - there is a hunger for it and
it would be wonderful to see all of those guys come back together again.
They’d have to figure out a third character for Sheryl, but I’m sure
David already has something in mind.
Sheryl Lee: Yes, there already was one if the show hadn’t
have been cancelled.
James Roday: So, see we’re good.
Sammi Turano: (Unintelligible). Okay. James, how much of an
honor is it for you to have this reunion happen on your show?
James Roday: Again, I - it’s the most sort of transcendent
experience that I have had on this show and that I suspect I will have
on this show. I mean, it - Twin Peaks was iconic. Again, I think it
changed the face of television and to be able to rub shoulders with this
cast. In even the tiniest of ways, feel like I, you know, got to
participate in some of that magic, you know, will not be topped, so
huge, huge honor and very, very grateful that it was able to come
together.
Sammi Turano: Okay, one more question for the both of you,
what’s the biggest most memorable moment in filming this episode?
James Roday: Well, for me it’s very easy and I’m not just
saying this because Sheryl is on the phone, but it was - you know, it
was the moment, the precise moment that - you know, that Sheryl’s
character opens the plastic and reveals the dead girl. The juxtaposition
of Laura Palmer looking at Laura Palmer, it was kind of mind-blowing.
A close second would be Sheryl’s character talking about the girl later
in her office, so that was it for me.
Sammi Turano: Okay, Sheryl, what was yours?
Sheryl Lee: That’s hard because there were so many moments
that I loved and they were just different colors. You know, they were
the moment on beach James is speaking of was an emotional moment for me
and a very surreal moment for me.
But then, there were other moments that were just so fun and delightful
and giggly and challenging and just to be with all of those people. The
cast of Psych is such an incredible group of people and then also all
these people from Twin Peaks just even being able to see them and work
with them again and sit around on the set and have a coffee with them.
It was just a wonderful, wonderful experience all around.
Sammi Turano: Oh, well, that’s wonderful to hear. Thank you
to both of you for doing this. And by the way, episode’s fabulous.
Sheryl Lee: Thank you.
James Roday: Oh, thanks.
Operator: Thank you. And our next question comes from the
line of Alice Chapman-Nugent with Times Courier Newspaper. Please
proceed.
Alice Chapman-Nugent: Hi, guys. Thanks so much for taking
the call.
Sheryl Lee: Hi.
Alice Chapman-Nugent: James, what is it about Psych that you
think draws such a large crowd and they keep coming back for more? I
mean, I love the show myself, but what’s your idea on the subject?
James Roday: Well, I think over the course of the first
couple seasons, we were able to kind of negotiate a tone on our show
that allowed us to really kind of stretch the parameters of what we may
have thought we were going to be after - you know, after the first
season. And in doing that, you know, we’ve kind of become this hybrid
show that can do almost anything we want and still put it in the box
that keeps (it) an episode of Psych.
So, I think we’re able to reach a much wider audience because, you know,
as long as we solve a case every week we can do stuff like a tribute to
Twin Peaks. We can - you know, we can do a Jaws episode. We can do a
musical, you know, we can do an entire episode dedicated to John Hughes.
It’s like (unintelligible).
Alice Chapman-Nugent: Hello? Are you there?
Sheryl Lee: I - Sheryl’s here. I’m here.
Alice Chapman-Nugent: Okay. Well Sheryl…
Operator: And I’m sorry, I’m showing the line has just
disconnected of Mr. Roday. He’ll be with us shortly.
Alice Chapman-Nugent: Okay. Well, Sheryl, I had some
questions for you too.
Sheryl Lee: Great.
Alice Chapman-Nugent: What - when did you realize that you
wanted to become an actress and was - and why? Was there a certain actor
that you admired or was it a show, or - and how did you…
Sheryl Lee: No.
Alice Chapman-Nugent: …get into acting?
Sheryl Lee: It was actually - I think it found me. I was in
high school and I had wanted to be a dancer or an artist and I tore my
knee up on a tobogganing accident in Colorado and ended up on crutches
for a while and was getting very antsy because I wasn’t dancing and I
was getting sort of ornery around the house, I think. And my mom said,
“Why don’t you try out for the school play?”
And I had always been painfully shy and I said, “Absolutely not. I
cannot speak in front of people. No way.” And then, my English teacher,
one of my teachers at school also said, “Why don’t you try out for the
play?” And so, I thought, “All right, I’ll just try,” and I ended up
getting it to play the mother in The Bad Seed. And…
Alice Chapman-Nugent: Oh, okay.
Sheryl Lee: And I will never forget the first day of
rehearsals. Auditioning was excruciating for me and it still is, but the
first day of rehearsals it was that moment where I went, “Oh, this is
it. This is what I’m supposed to.”
Alice Chapman-Nugent: And how old were you?
Sheryl Lee: Fifteen.
Alice Chapman-Nugent: You were 15?
Sheryl Lee: Yes.
Alice Chapman-Nugent: So, you still have issues with
shyness, or are you pretty much…
Sheryl Lee: Oh, I definitely still have issues with shyness
and auditioning.
Alice Chapman-Nugent: Oh. Well, do you have any upcoming
projects that you could tell us about?
Sheryl Lee: Well, I did a scene in Winter’s Bone, which I’m
very, very proud to be a part of that film that won the Sundance Award
this year and I have this episode of Psych and I have a film that I
think is coming out next year called The Fields with Sam Worthington and
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Directed by Amy Mann.
Alice Chapman-Nugent: Why you were filming this special
episode, was there anything funny or unusual that happened to you behind
the scenes that you could tell us about?
Sheryl Lee: Oh, gosh, let me think. I mean, I just remember,
you know, the whole thing as it was sort of - there were a lot of
giggles going on, you know, the whole time just because we were so happy
to see each other and it was so fun and, you know, some of the writing
is so funny and it was just - it was such a delight. I know I keep using
that word, but it’s - it just - it was, it was absolutely delightful.
Alice Chapman-Nugent: Oh, that’s great. It’s wonderful.
Well, thank you so much and good luck to you.
Sheryl Lee: You’re welcome. Thank you so much.
Operator: Thank you. And we have - Mr. Roday is back on the
line. And our next question comes from the line of David Martindale with
Crown Features. Please proceed.
David Martindale: Thank you. First for James, Dual Spires is
a great title, but I thought I saw a different title attached to it at
one time, which was A Damn Fine Tribute Episode, which is also good. Do
you have a preference and what’s the story there?
James Roday: I never heard A Damn Fine Tribute Episode.
David Martindale: (Good enough then).
James Roday: I think you can take credit for that.
David Martindale: Okay.
James Roday: Yes, you know, the only title we ever had was
Dual Spires and the lovely Maggie Lawson actually came up with that, so
credit goes to her.
David Martindale: Okay, cool. Well, I dreamed the A Damn
Fine Tribute Episode, but it is a damn fine title, isn’t it? Sheryl,
when you started up with Twin Peaks and Laura Palmer, what were your
expectations? Were you like, “Wow, this stuff is really weird and who’s
going to get this,” or did you have a feeling that it would make an
impact?
Sheryl Lee: You know, I had no expectations. At that time, I
was living in Seattle doing theater, wasn’t thinking at all about moving
back to L.A. or doing film or TV or anything. And I just got a call that
David had seen my headshot in a local casting office up there and had
thought that I was this dead girl in this thing that he was doing that
was all very secretive.
So, I was originally hired for just a few days worth of work as a corpse
with a couple of flashbacks and to - you know, to be wrapped in plastic
and thrown on the beach. And then - so that was for the pilot and -
which was shot up there in Washington, but then they all left and went
back down to Los Angeles. And I stayed up in Washington and, you know,
kept pursuing theater.
And it wasn’t until months later that David called and said, you know,
“Would you like to come back on the show and move to LA?” And then, that
was a - you know, then all of a sudden my life took a very different
quick turn. And I had no experience in TV and no experience with the
entertainment industry down here and so I had no expectations.
I wish I’d had a handbook at the time to know how to get through all
that craziness, but I didn’t. I was winging it.
David Martindale: Okay. And are there any challenges to
playing a dead girl wrapped in plastic, aside from just being still and,
you know, holding your breath?
Sheryl Lee: Yes, for me it was - it - I mean, this is going
to sound corny, but it really was an opportunity sort of meditate on
death and I don’t mean that in a morbid way, I mean that in an absolute
way. And, you know, I had studied a little bit of meditation at that
time and knew that there was a possibility of sort of slowing the body
down and slowing the breath down and slowing the mind down.
And so for me, that was what all those scenes were about, was an
exercise in that and an exploration of that. And also, just being able -
it was such a great opportunity because I had not been on a set before
and so to be able to able to just be on a set as a sponge and get to
soak all of that up was an incredible learning experience.
David Martindale: Okay. And is it creepy at all to ever look
at yourself as a dead person?
Sheryl Lee: I - it’s not something I would ever choose to do
on a regular basis, I’ll say that.
David Martindale: Okay.
Sheryl Lee: I think it’s much more disturbing for my family,
so…
David Martindale: Good point. (That)…
Sheryl Lee: Especially my mama.
David Martindale: …makes sense because they weren’t on the
set and they didn’t see and - you know. Yes. Okay. Thank you so much. A
pleasure. Looking forward to…
Sheryl Lee: You’re welcome.
David Martindale: …(the episode).
Operator: Thank you. And our next question comes from the
line of (Becca Shule) with PopCultureMadness.com. Please proceed.
Becca Shule: Hello. Thank you so much for taking the time
to speak with me today.
Sheryl Lee: You’re welcome.
James Roday: Hey, (Becca). What’s happening?
Becca Shule: Sheryl, I was wondering, were you a fan of
Psych before doing the episode?
Sheryl Lee: You know, I feel so bad saying this, I hadn’t
seen it before. Now, I’m a big huge fan. But also you must know, there’s
very few television shows that I do actually see, especially ones that
are on later than 9: 00 at night, but I am a fan now.
Becca Shule: It’s a great show.
Sheryl Lee: Yes.
Becca Shule: James, we know you had really high
expectations for the Twin Peaks episode, so after four years in the
making how well do you feel it lived up to expectation?
James Roday: I was really, really, really, really pleased. I
mean, the only thing I would - I wish I could do is - you know, is -
there’s about, I don’t know, seven or eight minutes worth of this
episode that you won’t be able to see unless you buy the Season 5 DVD.
Other than that, I - you know, I was pretty tickled.
I mean, we got the right director. You know, I was sort of - I really
struggled with - you know, with the idea of not directing this episode
because I knew I was going to be micro-managing and, you know, could I
possibly hand it off to somebody else?
But, Matt Shakman, as it turns out, is every bit the Twin Peaks fan boy
that I am. He even took it one step further by purchasing the secret
Laura Palmer diary that Jennifer Lynch wrote and I believe he still has
it in his possession. So, as soon as he told me that I knew we were
going to be fine. And again, you know, except for the fact it just -
there was too much good stuff and because we wanted it to breathe and
kind of feel pacing-wise like a Twin Peak episode, we just couldn’t keep
it all in. Other than that, I love it.
Becca Shule: And how do you both think that viewers will
react to the episode as either major fans or kind of sort of fans or
people that vaguely remember it?
James Roday: I would say the diehard Twin Peaks fans are in
for, you know, about 48 minutes of pure bliss. I don’t think any of the
winks or the tributes will be lost on them and I think it’ll be
wonderful. I think for people that were casual fans of Twin Peaks, you
know, some of the bigger sort of homages, I think will probably and.
But, it’s also just a really well-acted, you know, sort of well-crafted
episode of our show, so you know even for people that are just Psych
fans and may not know Twin Peaks at all, my hope is after watching this
episode they will go seek it out. They will go buy the DVDs. They will
find it online or all the different ways you can access material these
days and go have that experience for the first time.
Becca Shule: All right. Thank you so much. We loved the
episode in the office. We’ve just watched it recently. It was fantastic.
So…
James Roday: Thank you very much.
Becca Shule: …thanks for talking to us today, guys.
Sheryl Lee: Bye.
Becca Shule: Bye.
Operator: Thank you. And our next question comes from the
line of Gerri Miller with Mnn.com. Please proceed.
Gerri Miller: Good morning. James, can you tell me what you
love most about playing Shawn? Can you hear me? (Sorry).
James Roday: Sorry, I lost you there for a second.
Gerri Miller: Do you want me to repeat?
James Roday: Yes, please.
Gerri Miller: Okay. I ask you what you loved most about
playing Shawn.
James Roday: What I love most about playing Shawn? You know,
I guess the fact that the character really lends itself to, you know,
improvising and changing, you know, within the context of, you know,
he’s got to be the same guy each week.
Gerri Miller: Right.
James Roday: I think the fun of the character is that no
matter, you know, what they throw at us or what the world is or what the
case is, you know, he never really has a plan and it’s always sort of
jump first, ask questions later. And that’s a fun character to play
because most of us are not like that in life because we can’t afford to
be because there are consequences and ramifications and in the real
world it doesn’t always go your way like it can on a television show.
Gerri Miller: Right. Okay. And my outlet is a green Web
site, so I wanted to know what, if anything is done on the set to be
more ecofriendly and what both of you do offset to be more mindful of
the environment?
James Roday: Well onset I can tell you that about three
years ago we stopped with bottled water of any kind…
Gerri Miller: Okay.
James Roday: …and as a crew gift, gave everybody their own
little canteen thing and then they just bring it to set and refill it.
That was our big move.
Gerri Miller: Okay.
James Roday: And then this past season, for the first time
we started using sides that were double-sided, which…
Gerri Miller: Yes.
James Roday: …I can tell you it’s beyond confusing and I’m
not sure if it’s going to stick, but we gave it a shot.
Gerri Miller: Okay. By the way, a lot of sets are going to
iPad now instead of the printing on the double-sides to try to save
paper completely. They’ve gone to the iPad system, so you might want to
think about that too.
Sheryl Lee: This is a huge passion…
James Roday: Yes. We’ll get right on…
Sheryl Lee: Oh, go ahead. Go ahead.
James Roday: …that and see if we can get iPads issued to
everyone. Brad, are you taking notes?
Gerri Miller: Okay. And what do you do offset, both of you,
to be more mindful of being green?
Sheryl Lee: This is a huge passion of mine. You know, where
do we start? I mean, this is hours of conversation, but I will say…
Gerri Miller: Okay.
Sheryl Lee: …recycling first and women’s beauty products...
Gerri Miller: Yes.
Sheryl Lee: …are a huge problem. They are filled with
poisons and toxins and, you know, generate poisons and toxins in how
their made. There’s wonderful organic beauty products out there now for
women. I try to buy organic food, you know, before anything else.
The - you know, the constant signing of petitions online, whether it’s
for World Wildlife Fund or any, you know, organization that’s working
for the planet. You know, everyday you can take five minutes, ten
minutes and just sign petitions to stop the toxins, stop the pollutions,
help the endangered species; it’s a huge thing for me.
Gerri Miller: Yes, thank you. That sounds great. And
anything to add to that, James?
Sheryl Lee: Whether - we all - this is another thing. I’m
sorry, I’ve got to say this, but we all…
Gerri Miller: Go ahead. No, no. (Unintelligible)…
Sheryl Lee: …have two hands, we can pick up at least two
pieces of litter a day.
Gerri Miller: Yes. Absolutely.
Sheryl Lee: If everybody just picked up at least two pieces
a litter a day that they see on the side of the street that alone would
make such a difference in our world.
Gerri Miller: Excellent. Thank you. And James, do you have
any to add about what you do personally?
James Roday: I don’t own a car.
Gerri Miller: Ah, how do you get around?
James Roday: You know, I do travel in cars. I have been
known to get into other peoples’ cars…
Gerri Miller: Okay.
James Roday: …but I - you know, my last lease expired a
couple years ago and I just figured, “You know what, not getting a car
will challenge me to A, spend more time in New York and B, you know,
only drive when it’s absolutely necessary since it’s so awful for our
atmosphere. So, that’s it. That’s my tiny little contribution in the
world of Sheryl Lee.
Gerri Miller: Okay. Do you (unintelligible)…
Sheryl Lee: That’s a big contribution my friend.
Gerri Miller: Yes, that’s good. Do you…
Sheryl Lee: That’s huge.
Gerri Miller: …bicycle a lot or walk a lot, what do you find
yourself doing to get around most?
James Roday: I actually do a lot of walking. I think it’s -
I’ve always found it ironic that, you know, in New York, you know,
you’re going to try a new restaurant and it’s 22 blocks away and you
don’t even think twice about it. Like…
Gerri Miller: Right.
James Roday: …it’s nothing, 22 blocks is no problem. But in
Los Angeles, like we feel the need to drive around the corner to get our
coffee.
Gerri Miller: Yes. Yes, I know. You’re absolutely right.
James Roday: It’s ridiculous.
Gerri Miller: Yes, completely. Well, thank you so much…
James Roday: (Gee, I mean I’m lucky)…
Gerri Miller: …for both of your answers.
James Roday: You got it.
Sheryl Lee: You’re welcome.
Operator: Thank you. And our next question comes from the
line of Travis Tidmore with The CineManiac. Please proceed.
Travis Tidmore: Hey, guys. Thanks again for joining us
today.
James Roday: Sure, Trav.
Sheryl Lee: You’re welcome.
Travis Tidmore: I sat down yesterday to watch the episode
and made sure I had a piece of cherry pie and some coffee to drink while
I watched it and it was great getting to go back and recall those
episodes that I watched when I was nine and ten and then again when I
was in college. I was just wondering, what was your all - your favorite,
I guess, in joke and kind of reference to the show that you all had?
James Roday: It’s a good question because it’s overstuffed
with as many as I can think of. I guess - I mean, I guess there are some
really small ones that made it that I’m pretty happy about. I mean, the
big ones are kind of obviously, so I think they sort of speak
themselves.
But, I’m kind of tickled by the fact that the episode starts panning off
a chocolate bunny sitting on my desk. It’s really quick. You know, it’s
the first thing you see when the show starts, but one of the biggest
laughs I ever had watching Twin Peaks was, you know, Agent Cooper to
Diane, “I am now holding in my hand a box of chocolate bunnies.”
So, my little tribute to that opens the show and no one got it. No one -
like nobody understood why there was a bunny on my desk, but they kept
it in, so I’ll go there as a small one that makes me feel warm inside.
Travis Tidmore: Sheryl, what about you?
Sheryl Lee: Well, this is a tricky question for me because I
haven’t seen the series in 20 years, so a lot of the stuff like that I
don’t remember. You know, I remember my experience of working on the
show, but I don’t remember the show itself as much. But, when we were
working on Psych, there was something that Ray Wise said in a scene that
we all had and I just - I can’t remember what it was, but I just feel
giggle thinking about the - that moment.
I just love him so much and he’s such a talented actor and you know, I
was looking at him…
James Roday: And he had the white hair while he was saying
it.
Sheryl Lee: Exactly. And I’m looking at him and seeing, you
know, my dad from 20 years ago and it - that tickled me.
Travis Tidmore: Well and James, did you have to go back and
rewatch the series to get - stuff all those jokes in there, or is it
still that fresh in your mind?
James Roday: You know what, I did go back and watch - I
watched the first 15 again to make sure that there was nothing that I
was missing or there was no - there wasn’t anything subtle that I could
sort of use to kind of brushstroke the edges of the scene and stuff like
that, because I hadn’t watched it as a complete set, wow, probably since
I was about 23 or 24 years old.
But, it was a great excuse to go out and get the Gold box and, I don’t
know, it just - it’s like Sheryl mentioned earlier on the call, it’s
like I so clearly identify watching episodes of that show with a very
specific time in my life and it just takes you back there immediately.
It’s uncanny in the way that that works.
Travis Tidmore: Well, thank you, guys, both for - again and
I loved the episode.
James Roday: Thank you, man.
Sheryl Lee: All right. Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. And our next question comes from the
line of Lena Lamoray with LenaLamoray.com. Please proceed.
Lena Lamoray: Hi, James and Sheryl.
Sheryl Lee: Hi.
James Roday: Hey.
Lena Lamoray: James, you really created a masterpiece with
this Psych episode and such a beautiful homage to David Lynch, so I
would like to commend you on that.
James Roday: Oh, thank you for saying that. Thank you for
being affected that way by it.
Lena Lamoray: Okay, (unintelligible). Now, you really nailed
the Twin Peaks element with a special Psych flavor, so can you talk
about what it was like being able to bring the two together in some of
the most challenging scenes to film?
James Roday: Well, for me it was all about walking that fine
line of, you know, being Psych, but never for one second like mocking,
you know, Twin Peaks. I mean, it was a love letter, it was always meant
to be a love letter and it became - you know, it became that much more
sort of pressure-filled when we add seven, you know, original cast
members walking around.
It was like I found myself looking at them a lot like, “Is this all
right? Is this - does this feel right? Is this - are we doing it,” like
the scene on the beach is a great example of like, you know, I was kind
of quietly taking my queues from Sheryl because I figured if something
had been wrong or in any way we weren’t - you know, we weren’t nailing
the tone or we were being disrespectful, I was really hoping that, you
know, they would speak up and say, “You know what, this is no good.”
That was the big challenge for me, just sort of walking the line of
like, “Yes, we still have to be our show, but most importantly, you
know, we want to show how much we love this other show.” So, that was
basically me for the whole shoot. I was sort of tone police making sure
that we were accomplishing both of those things. Part of the…
Sheryl Lee: You did an incredible job with that, James.
James Roday: Thank you, Sheryl. It - I mean, you - and the
cast, I mean they all just knocked it out of the park. I mean, it was
like - it was almost like there was a discussion that probably should
have happened where we gathered everybody around and said, “Okay, this
is what we’re doing. You can all feel confident and comfortable that
we’re here for the right reason and this is just a giant love fest.”
But, we never actually - like we may - we never formalized that and yet
there seem to be sort of like an unspoken thing where everybody just
kind of got it and went for it, like boldly went for it. Like I remember
when Dana like approaches the body and loses it. Like, you know we said,
this is Leland at the funeral and he just jumped in, man. Like he just
went for it because he realized like it’s okay, we’re not - you know,
we’re not poking fun. We’re embracing this.
And I don’t know, as soon as that happened, I felt like we were probably
in pretty good shape.
Lena Lamoray: Now, Sheryl, how do you feel the Psych team
did in capturing the true essence of Twin Peaks?
Sheryl Lee: I thought they did an amazing job. Like James
was saying, you know, over the years there have been little things here
or there that I’ve been asked to do that were sort of, you know, I’m
going to - trying to think of the right word, but to - you know, that
we’re a little bit like stepping back into that Twin Peaks time and they
didn’t feel right to me. They didn’t feel like it would have been done
in a tone that felt authentic for me in that way and these guys at Psych
did an incredible job of making it, you know, exactly what he said.
You know, we can laugh about it, you know, we - those of us who were on
Twin Peaks, you know, we’re the - we can very easily make fun of it, but
you know, we’re - it’s - we get along really well and we have a playful
energy together and there’s sort of power in numbers. Like the more of
us that are there the more comfortable we all feel and the - you know,
we’ve worked together before, so we can get to those places really
quickly.
And at the same time, you know, we would be the first ones to say, “You
know, something about that doesn’t feel right,” and as far as I know,
none of us ever, ever had to say that. But you know, everybody at Psych
did such a wonderful job of walking that balance.
Lena Lamoray: Now, James and Sheryl, how well do you feel
Shawn and Gus handled themselves in this episode and feel free to give
some extra points for all the incredible screaming involved.
Sheryl Lee: Honey, I’m so sorry, I’m having a hard time
hearing the question.
Lena Lamoray: Okay. I said how well do you feel Shawn and
Gus handled themselves in this episode and feel free to give extra
points for all of the incredible screaming involved.
Sheryl Lee: Give extra points for what?
Lena Lamoray: Screaming involved.
Sheryl Lee: Oh, I’m so sorry. I cannot - I don’t know what’s
happened with the line. I can’t hear very well.
Lena Lamoray: Extra points for all of the - Shawn and Gus’s
screaming and yelling.
James Roday: Screaming and yelling. Oh, okay. We got it. We
got it. Well, you know, schematically the idea was sort of that Shawn
and Gus become Agent Cooper by coming to this town. They’re the
outsiders. So and of course combine their intelligence, it doesn’t come
anywhere close to Coop’s, so obviously it wasn’t quite as smooth.
But, you know, I think on a scale of one to ten you probably can’t go
much higher than a five because if it hadn’t been for Ray’s character,
Father Wesley, they would have burned in the library and the episode
would have ended about 20 minutes sooner.
I mean, you can’t give them too much credit. I - they needed to be fully
rescued in this episode.
Lena Lamoray: Good work. Thank you so much, guys.
James Roday: Thank you.
Sheryl Lee: Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. And our next question comes from the
line of Jennifer Decker with DigitalAirwaves.net. Please proceed.
Jennifer Decker: Hi, guys. Thank you so much for talking to
us today. There have been a lot of…
James Roday: Our pleasure.
((Crosstalk))
Jennifer Decker: …parodies/tributes done on Psych, like
Hitchcock and now Twin Peaks and It’s a Wonderful Life, are there any
other ones coming up in the future that we should be looking for and
what’s the status of the musical episode we keep hearing about?
James Roday: I think musical will happen next season. I
think we’ve dragged our feet enough and I think it’s time to sort of do
our business or get off the can with that one. So, I would say that it’s
- you can probably go ahead and put that one down in ink that you’ll get
the musical next season.
As far as other tributes go, we’ve been talking about doing a baseball
episode for a while. We’ve got Corbin Bernsen on our show, so I think it
would be a shame if we didn’t exploit that before it was all said and
done. And then, I think a vampire episode is in the works…
Sheryl Lee: Oh, I’m in that one.
James Roday: …and for us that’s - you know, that’s another
tricky one because like you said, there’s a lot of parody out there
already and vampires are a easy target. So, we’re going to have to come
up with something that’s better than that…
Jennifer Decker: To try to avoid the Twilight syndrome?
James Roday: …and make it worth everybody’s while. Yes, just
- you know, there’s a lot of stuff that’s easy to pick on and easy to
make fun of and you know, it’ll be a challenge. We did werewolves and
that was pretty fun and I think it’s a - I think vampires needs to
happen, it just needs to happen in the right way, so that one’s on the
books for next year too.
Jennifer Decker: Okay. Now, I have a couple questions about
the last couple of episodes. We’ve seen how Gus reacted at the last
episode after finding about - out about Shawn and Jules. Is that going
to change the dynamic between Shawn and Gus in the future?
James Roday: You know, not very drastically. I think we sort
of work towards like Shawn kind of over - or perhaps underestimating
Gus’s ability to deal with the situation and while there’s a little bit
of conflict, it’s - you know, it’s not a major thing. I mean, Shawn’s
had a girlfriend on the show before and, you know, Gus and Juliet get
along. So, I think it would be weird to - if all of a sudden (they just
did not function), so it’s not a major riff.
Jennifer Decker: Okay. Now, Shawn still hasn’t told Jules
the truth about really being psychic and in the last episode they ended
with some promising no more lies between them. Is she ever going to find
out?
James Roday: That’s a great question and I don’t have the
answer. I can tell you that it’s not going to happen any time soon. So
yes, he’s digging himself deeper and deeper with each passing week.
Jennifer Decker: Okay. And I have several friends who are
big fans and they all wanted me to ask if we’re ever going to see Ben
the Mouse again?
James Roday: Possibly. Possibly. I can tell you that he’s
safe and that he’s pretty happy and that he gets all the cheese that he
wants. But yes, maybe we can see him again. He’s good though. Make sure
you tell your friends that he’s doing well.
Jennifer Decker: I’ll let them know. Thank you very much.
James Roday: Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. And that concludes our
question-and-answer session for today. I’ll now turn the call back to
Brad Bernstein.
Brad Bernstein: Great. Thank you, everyone, for
participating today and thank you to James and Sheryl for taking the
time. Remember Dual Spires Episode of Psych airs December 1 on USA
Network at 10/9 Central and if there are any further questions, please
feel free to email me at Brad.Bernstein@NBCuni.com.
Thank you both, James and Sheryl.
Sheryl Lee: Thanks. Bye.
James Roday: Thank you, Sheryl.
Sheryl Lee: Thank you, James. Thank you so much. I look
forward to seeing you soon.
James Roday: See you in a couple weeks.
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