Ready to ‘Psych’ you out in the end again

Where’s the pineapple? Longtime fans of the late, and very much missed USA show “Psych” will know exactly what that sentence means. If you don’t, you’ll get it when “Psych: The Movie” airs on the USA channel on Thursday, Dec. 7.

“Psych,” created by Steve Franks, was a show about a fake psychic, who maybe wasn’t all that fake, and his best friend and reluctant crime-solving partner. Shawn Spencer (James Roday) is a consultant to the Santa Barbara Police Department in the original series, which aired from 2006 to 2014, but in the film, Shawn; his longsuffering business partner, Burton “Gus” Guster (Dulé Hill); and Shawn’s longtime detective girlfriend, Juliet O’Hara (Maggie Lawson) have all relocated to San Francisco.

For part of the show’s life on USA, the running joke — well, one of them, anyway — was that “Psych” was the real fake-psychic show, as opposed to “The Mentalist.” Well, that show is history

and “Psych” is still missed, as the new film will prove.

The story ... wait, let me think a minute. Is there a story? Well, kind of, but it’s not all that relevant. It’s the holiday season in San Francisco, and a gang of thugs kidnaps someone. No biggie. It’s mostly just an excuse for the leading characters to go chasing around San Francisco a la Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal in “What’s Up, Doc?” Along the way, cast regulars make either extended or cameo appearances, including Kirsten Nelson as Karen Vick; Kurt Fuller as Woody Strode, named for the late actor in “Spartacus”; Ralph Macchio as Nick Conforth; and Corbin Bernsen as Shawn’s father. Guest villains include Zachary Levi as the Thin White Duke and Robert LaSardo as El Proveedor.

The fun of any “Psych” romp, whether it’s one of the episodes or a reunion movie, is that goofy dialogue, sly puns and the comic interplay between Roday, who co-wrote the script with Franks, and Hill. They really have that classic-comic-duo chemistry — an Abbott and Costello for our times.

In truth, the movie isn’t quite up there with some of the more memorable episodes from the show, but whether you’re a veteran pineapple-head or a newcomer to the silliness, “Psych: The Movie” is welcome comic relief.

Alan Zenuk / USA Network Dulé Hill (left) and James Roday return as Burton “Gus” Guster and Shawn Spencer in “Psych: The Movie” on USA.

Alan Zenuk / USA Network Jazmyn Simon (left) is Selene and Dulé Hill is Burton “Gus” Guster in “Psych: The Movie,” which has many cast members of the TV show set in Santa Barbara returning to solve a crime, this time in San Francisco.