Psych – box set review

In sunny Santa Barbara, psychic Shawn Spencer uses his uncanny powers to help police solve baffling crimes. Except Shawn is a fraud. His flashes of psychic inspiration are simply Sherlock-style deductive leaps, the result of being raised by a strict cop father who drilled his observational skills. If the intention was to mould a methodical, serious-minded young man, it backfired spectacularly – since Shawn is a prattling, self-dramatising dilettante. When he turns up at a funeral in casual clothes, his best friend and reluctant partner Gus (played by The West Wing's Dulé Hill) wonders aloud what kind of man doesn't own a suit. "The Joker," answers Shawn immediately. "Colonel Sanders. Matthew McConaughey." They could all be touchstones for this man-child.

Once you acclimatise to James Roday's manic performance as Shawn, the comedic tone begins to feel like a welcome corrective to the grim police procedurals clogging up the schedules. Unfortunately, Psych has never gained much traction in the UK – after false starts on BBC2 and SyFy, its seventh season will air on the Universal Channel in early 2014 (the previous six are available on DVD).

Each episode begins with a flashback to Gus and Shawn's childhood, which helps explain their obsession with 1980s pop culture and endless store of in-jokes. The cases they work on with the Santa Barbara police are serious – murders, kidnappings, extortion – but the repartee is relentless, confusing police and criminals alike. After tackling a bank robber to the ground, Shawn announces to shocked bystanders: "Free hugs! Who's next?" It's a crime show that feels like 30 Rock.

The cartoonishness comes with considerable craft, not least in the acting. Former LA Law golden boy Corbin Bernsen glowers as Shawn's exasperated father; meanwhile, Timothy Omundson (Eli from Xena: Warrior Princess no less) injects some weird energy into what could have been a thankless role – the straight-as-an-arrow detective who feels undermined by Shawn's success. But the show's greatest weapon is its use of guest stars, with appearances by everyone from Lou Diamond Phillips to Molly Ringwald, Malcolm McDowell to George Takei. You could call it stunt casting, except these cameos feel like heartfelt, hand-crafted tributes to each guest's on-screen past. The Bourne Identity's Franka Potente turns up as a rogue spy. The great John Rhys-Davies from Raiders of the Lost Ark plays a booming museum curator. Even Curt Smith from Tears For Fears has a cameo, as a drunk version of himself.

The ultimate expression of Psych's obsession with pop culture was its 2010 episode Dual Spires. Shawn and Gus travel to the remote town of the title to solve the murder of Paula Merral (an anagram of Laura Palmer, the pivotal victim in Twin Peaks). The episode reunites various Twin Peaks veterans and almost every frame contains a reference to David Lynch's dreamy TV masterpiece. They even got Julee Cruise, singer of Falling, the theme tune to Twin Peaks, to record a special version of the goofy Psych credits song. The intensity of the homage is overwhelming, and may explain why Psych remains an acquired taste.

If the premise of a fake psychic helping the police sounds familiar, you may have caught Channel 5's Simon Baker-starring The Mentalist, which debuted in the US after Psych and was instantly successful. Psych seems to have taken it well. When trying to explain his job to an official, Shawn says: "You've seen The Mentalist right? It's like that." Gus adds: "Except that guy's a fake." Shawn nods and says: "That's right, because if I was also a fake psychic, it would be eerily similar."