Shout Out / Psych

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• Season 5, Episode 6 (Viagra Falls) has a club called the Dollhouse. Yes, it has an asterisk logo as well.
• In Season 2, Episode 1 (American Duos), Tim Curry played a character named Nigel St. Nigel.
• Season 2, Episode 9 (Bounty Hunters!) Shawn and Gus are pitted against "Bird, the bounty Hunter" - A Punny Reference to Dog The Bounty Hunter
• Season 2, Episode 12, when Shawn is wearing a doctor's coat, it has the name 'Hauser'
• "Mr. Yin Presents ..." has many references to Alfred Hitchcock films, including the episode's title (for a complete list go here). It featured a Theme Serial Killer who modeled his murders after Hitchcock's films such as Psycho and Marnie, had a few Homage Shots, and even used some of the original props from the films. There's also a reference to Hitchcock's creator cameos, with a look-alike appearing in the background of one scene.
• Season 6, Episode 5 has Danny Glover remarking that he doesn't know how long he can keep up this charade. Shawn's answer is "All season."
• Season 5, Episode 15 has Shawn introduce Gus to Lauren (while she's filming them) as Radio Star, then says that he's "afraid your video will kill him". This is a reference to the song "Video Killed the Radio Star", a 1979 song by The Buggles.
• Season 6, Episode 9 has a criminal named Leeroy Jenkins, and you just KNOW that Shawn has to shout it out.
• "Indiana Shawn and the Temple of the Kinda Crappy, Rusty Old Dagger"
• "Heeeeere's Lassie" is full of them, from The Shining to Rosemary's Baby.
• Shawn sarcastically asks a Witness Protection agent attempting to cover up an accidental murder by not-accidentally murdering the witness - the witness he's supposed to protect if he can bend bullets.
• Shawn wonders where Desperaux get all those wonderful toys.
• When Shawn gets roped into helping the CIA to track a spy, he namedrops The Men Who Stare at Goats during a fake psychic episode.
• In the finale, Chief Vick says that the SFPD has their own consultant, who is alphabetizing the victim's kitchen.
• Near Christmas, Shawn does the Snoopy Dance when he solves a case. The "Psych-Out" at the end has Gus and O'Hara join in.
• In "The Head, The Tail, The Whole Damn Episode," Shawn asks Gus to warm up his Super Sniffer.
  • Gus' "Super Sniffer" has been referenced in other episodes as well.
• One Halloween episode had tons of Shout Outs to An American Werewolf in London, complete with David Naughton.
• In "Shawn (and Gus) of the Dead," Shawn realizes that Gus wasn't given credit for his help in finding the dinosaur skeleton on display at the museum. His response? "Oh man, Gus is gonna have an aneurysm when he finds out. And not the funny kind, either."
  • The title of the episode shouts out black comedy zombie flick Shaun of the Dead.
• In "Romeo and Juliet and Juliet" Shawn is fighting a martial artist (long story) and he tries to use the Crane Kick, along with the accompanying quote.
  Shawn: I do this right, you no. Can. Defend.
• The whole episode "Dual Spires" is made of shout-outs to Twin Peaks. A brief list: It features the Log Lady (one of the strange themes and original Framing Device of Twin Peaks) a murder victim named Paula Merral (an anagram of "Laura Palmer", the young woman whose murder touched off Twin Peaks' story) who was known to run wild and was found wrapped in plastic next to a body of water. The opening theme is redone to sound like Twin Peaks'. The town is so small it appears on maps in parentheses. And then there's the final scene, which is nothing but Twin Peaks moments performed by Psych actors.
  • Far more directly, the guest stars are largely cast members from Twin Peaks, including Dana Ashbrook (Bobby Briggs in the original, Bob Barker in the Psych episode), Sherilyn Fenn (Audrey Horne/Maudette Hornsby), Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer/Dr. Gooden), and Lenny von Dohlen (Harold Smith/Sheriff Jackson).
  • Even more directly, the opening scene of the episode has Shawn mentioning that a woman in Washington invented silent window shades, which was Nadine's ambition.
• Shawn himself can be taken as one big homage. Let's see: a smart mouthed guy named Spencer is too wild to be a cop but he's a great detective, so he and his best friend found a private detective agency where they take on cases that tend to become vastly more elaborate than they first seemed. I wonder where they got that idea.
• Shawn vs. The Red Phantom has a ton of fun with comic books and sci-fi. There are numerous veiled references to comic books analogues, like a movie ruined by nipples on the action suit. Three characters are called Talia, Dent, and Beatrix. George Takei guest stars.
  • Dent could be Harvey Dent. Additionally, there are background characters named Rob and Don, a shout out to Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again.
• In one episode, Shawn and Gus visit a psychiatrist's office while on a case. Shawn introduces himself to the receptionist as R.P. McMurphy and his partner Cheswick.
• Marina Sirtis in "Game, Set, Muuurder."
• In "The Breakup", Chief Vick mentions that the San Francisco Police Department had a consultant who was busy alphabetizing the kitchen of the victim's home.
• in "Disco Didn’t Die. It Was Murdered!" Shawn and Gus are dressed in 1970's psychedelic disco costumes, and reference the theme from Shaft:
  Shawn:Ooh! I'm getting some serious jive, and it is fly! ... Oo. Yeah. The field is strong. Oo! I am gettin’ it. And it is one bad mutha—
  Gus: Shut yo mouth!
  Shawn: I’m havin’ a vision.
  Gus: I can dig it.
• In "If You're So Smart, Then Why Are You Dead?" most characters associated with Meitner School (and the school it self) are named after scientists, mathematicians, or astronauts.
• In "Psych: The Musical," Shawn calls Santa Barbara "the murder capital of the world," a nod to The Lost Boys.
  • Fittingly, the episode is also chock full of musical references, from mainstream ones like the Phantom of the Opera to cult classics like Rocky Horror Picture Show.
• The high school reunion episode, "Murder ... Anyone ... Anyone ... Bueller?", has tons of references to 80s pop culture (including the title), which is quite puzzling, considering Shawn and Gus would have gone to high school in the 90s.
  • This is lampshaded at one point; Shawn says he deliberately chooses to make an overabundance of references from that era, making it an Invoked Trope.
• "This Episode Sucks" references a bunch of vampire-themed works and featured Casting Gags: Kristy Swanson of the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer film and Corey Feldman from The Lost Boys appear.
  • Similarly, "Shawn Interruppted" features Brad Dourif in a mental hospital with a character referencing The Chief from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• "A Nightmare on State Street" ends with three or four shout outs to Evil Dead in rapid succession. Bruce Campbell signs Gus's book with an evil laugh (possibly a reference to the "laughing scene" in Evil Dead 2) before saying "Come get some" as Gus is attacked by a zombie who looks like the deadite from the end of Army of Darkness. Shortly thereafter, Shawn says "Hail to the King."
  • The episode then ends like Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video
• The way the first victim of the Thornburg virus in "Death is in the Air" is staged and shot (black stuff moving around her eyes and then said liquid leaking down her face when she collapses) seems like a pretty clear shout out to the Black Oil virus on The X-Files

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