Psych Explained

I'm still at Lake Powell, but I scheduled this post to publish before I left s0 as I promised, here are the explanations behind the pop culture references on the TV show, Psych.

Pop Culture Reference #1:
Shawn: We'll get another check.
Gus: And you wanna know what we're gonna do with it?
Shawn: Party like it's 1999?

Explanation:
"1999" is a popular song from musician Prince. It features the lyric "tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999."

Pop Culture Reference #2:
Shawn: It's a chance to go undercover in high school, à la 21 Jump Street. Obviously, I'm Johnny Depp. Sadly, you can only pass for Holly Robinson.
Gus: Why can't I be Richard Greico?
Shawn: Why would you wanna be Richard Greico?

Explanation:
21 Jump Street is a television show that centers around a group of young cops. Because the cops were young, they were often able to work undercover in high schools and colleges. Johnny Depp played Officer Tom Hanson, Jr. Holly Robinson played Detective Judy Hoffs. Richard Greico, who joined the cast in the third season, played Officer Dennis Booker.

Pop Culture Reference #3:
Shawn: (sniffs) Does it smell like teen spirit in here?

Explanation:
This is a reference to the early '90s song "Smells Like Teen Spirit," written and performed by Nirvana. It became the band's biggest hit and has been certified platinum by the RIAA.

Pop Culture Reference #4:
Shawn: (to Professor Hahn) I'm getting a feeling about you. Are you a Right Said Fred fan? Are you too sexy for your shirt?

Explanation:
Right Said Fred is a British pop band from the early '90s. The band's most well-known song is "I'm Too Sexy." It contains lyrics such as "I'm too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts."

Pop Culture Reference #5:
Shawn: (calling out to a couple of kids at the park) Perry! Luke! I'll be sitting right here!

Explanation:
The two kids' names make up the name Luke Perry, an actor most well-known for his role as Dylan McKay on the '90s television show Beverly Hills, 90210.

Pop Culture Reference #6:
Shawn: Hello, I am Dr. Howser. I am filling in today.

Explanation:
Dr. Douglas "Doogie" Howser, played by Neil Patrick Harris, is a character from the '90s television show Doogie Howser, M.D. In the show, Doogie Howser is a teenage genius who graduated from Princeton at age ten and became a doctor at age fourteen.

Pop Culture Reference #7:
Lassiter: Spencer, you missed something. We found prints.
Shawn: Was he in a little red corvette?
Gus: Under the cherry moon?
Lassiter: Fingerprints.

Explanation:
Shawn and Gus mistake the word "prints" for the well-known musician. Released in 1983, "Little Red Corvette" is one of Prince's most popular singles. In 1986, Prince directed and starred in the movie Under the Cherry Moon about two men who scam women for their money.

Pop Culture Reference #8:
Shawn: (about Emilina) She could be like Keyser Soze.

Explanation:
Keyser Soze is a character in the film The Usual Suspects. Kevin Spacey plays Roger "Verbal" Kint, a con artist and sole survivor of an explosion on a ship. He is brought in for questioning and proceeds to tell what happened the days before the explosion, the story getting more and more complex. Throughout the course of the movie, the audience and the characters wonder who Keyser Soze is. At the end, it's revealed that Kint is actually Soze.

Pop Culture Reference #9:
Shawn: Don't say Meredith Baxter Birney.
Gus: It's not M.B.B.
Shawn: This is unhealthy.
Gus: OK, you were in love with her, too.
Shawn: I loved her because she was Mrs. Keaton and she gave birth to A.P.K.

Explanation:
Meredith Baxter Birney played the mother, Elyse Keaton, on the '80s sitcom Family Ties. A.P.K stands for her son's name, Alex P. Keaton, played by Michael J. Fox.

Pop Culture Reference #10:
Shawn: (pretending to read Rory) Flowing stanzas, Bobby Frost. Are you a poet by chance?

Explanation:
"Bobby Frost" refers to Robert Frost, a distinguished poet. One of his most well-known poems is "The Road Not Taken."

Pop Culture Reference #11:
Gus: (about Rory) Do you see his eyeliner?
Shawn: That guy could be the drummer from The Cure.

Explanation:
The Cure is an influential rock band that gained most of its success in the '80s. Several band members wear make-up, including eyeliner.

Pop Culture Reference #12:
Shawn: The old Indian burial ground? You bought that? I got that from Poltergeist! Or Poltergeist II.

Explanation:
Poltergeist is an '80s film about a family who moves into a house that was built on top of a cemetery. The family begins to notice subtle things, such as their things getting moved around. However, the ghosts begin to get violent, ultimately capturing the family's daughter. In the second film, we find out that there was an ancient cult's burial ground beneath the cemetery over which their house in the first film was built.

Pop Culture Reference #13:
Shawn: (to the mountain lion) Simba, I am your father.
Gus: I don't think Mufasa said that.

Explanation:
This is a reference to The Lion King and Star Wars. Both Mufasa and Darth Vader, fathers of Simba and Luke Skywalker, respectively, were voiced by James Earl Jones.

Pop Culture Reference #14:
Shawn: I only need you for a minute, like when Kenickie needed Danny Zuko. And you get to be Travolta in the analogy.

Explanation:
Kenickie and Danny Zuko are characters from the film Grease, a musical love story of sorts. John Travolta plays the character Danny Zuko, and Jeff Conaway plays the character Kenickie. Before the big race, Kenickie becomes injured and Danny must fill in for him.

Pop Culture Reference #15:
Shawn: I just, I haven't been a high heel guy since Single White Female.

Explanation:
Single White Female is a '90s film starring Bridget Fonda as Allie and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Hedra. In the film, Allie places an ad in the newspaper to find a roommate. Hedra replies to the ad and begins to change things about herself to be more like Allie. In one gruesome scene, Hedra kills Allie's boyfriend by stabbing his face with the heel of her stiletto.

Pop Culture Reference #16:
Shawn: (observing Hornstock's appearance) Sideburns, check. Hair, bold. Strokes, Hives... I don't think that's the problem.

Explanation:
The Strokes and The Hives are two rock bands that originated in America and Sweden, respectively.

Pop Culture Reference #17:
Shawn: Yes, I worked on the mono-thio-huxtable drug.

Explanation:
Theo Huxtable is Bill Cosby's son on the '80s TV series The Cosby Show.

Pop Culture Reference #18:
Shawn: I could give you the details, but then I'd have to kill you, which I can't do because my license to kill has been revoked.

Explanation:
In the James Bond film Licence to Kill (spelled License to Kill in the United States), M says the following line when Bond is handing in his resignation: "Your licence to kill is revoked." The alternate title for this film was also Licence Revoked.


Pop Culture Reference #19:
Shawn: "Judgment Day"? It sounds bad. That's like, the day that you're judged.
Gus: In T2, it's the end of mankind.

Explanation:
"T2" refers to the sequel to the '80s film The Terminator. Commonly abbreviated "T2," its full title is Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

My Favorite - Pop Culture Reference #20:



Explanation:
There are several pop cultural phrases Shawn uses in the "secret handshake." Crouching Tiger refers to the 2003 movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. While The Zookeeper's Boy refers to the song by Mew, Hairdresser on Fire refers to the song by Morrissey, and Girlfriend in a Coma refers to the song by The Smiths.