Psych Review and Q&A: Talking with Tears For Fear’s Curt Smith

If you tuned in to Psych on Wednesday night, you might have noticed something a little bit different with the theme song.

Alright, make that very different!

It’s not the first time Psych’s “I Know You Know” opening song has been changed to reflect the episode’s theme – it’s been translated into Hindi and Spanish and even sung a cappella by Boyz II Men! This time around, Curt Smith of Tears for Fears fame added his own smooth retro twist to the song as part of his special guest appearance on the show.

“I made it as retro as I possibly could with some humor,” said Curt. “It was a mixture of going back to very old synthesizers and adding some humor to that as well. It was actually a really enjoyable experience, I have to say.”

The real structure for the “Shawn 2.0″ episode, however, came from Nestor Carbonell’s character Declan Rand. Declan is a criminal profiler who basically one-ups Shawn (James Roday) at every occasion: asking Juliet out on a date, connecting multiple murders, and describing the suspect. It’s definitely one of Pysch’s better episodes and I’m glad Declan will be a recurring character!

Curt Smith comes into the frame when Shawn and Gus arrive at Declan’s house and find out he’s actually filthy rich and can afford to fly out rockstars to his home for private parties. Curt is playing “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” on his guitar by the pool when Declan, Shawn, and Gus walk by. It’s no big deal for Declan, but Shawn fanboys Curt in a way only he could.

In fact, maybe there wasn’t a lot of acting required from James Roday when he meets Curt Smith! The Tears for Fears singer was originally approached by James to appear on Psych after one of his shows at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.

“I was introduced to James backstage and then he said, ‘would you come and do a guest spot on the show?” explained Curt. “And I thought well why not? The show is amusing.”

Apart from appearing on Psych, Curt hasn’t had much acting experience. He says he enjoyed the experience of being on the show and would definitely consider returning were he asked. The tricky part of acting, he says, is properly delivering the lines.

“What’s hard is that you’re talking someone else’s lines. Someone else has written them for you. Luckily, in my case [playing myself] I can say, ‘do you mind if I say it the way I would actually say it because it will be easier for me?’” he said.

Season 5, Episode 8: Shawn 2.0 (originally aired September 1, 2010)

Wednesdays at 10/9c on USA.

For more on Psych, click here.

Photographs courtesy of USA Network.