Psych's Best Parody Episode Copied Jack Nicholson's 50-Year-Old Crime Classic With 98% On Rotten Tomatoes

Beloved investigative procedural comedy Psych was full of fast-paced jokes and pop culture references, so making full parody episodes was a natural next step. Psych's many parody episodes often played with genre, spoofing everything from The Wild West to Alfred Hitchcock. Of all the Psych episodes that pay homage to other shows and movies over eight seasons, Psych's best parody episode copied Jack Nicholson's crime classic, Chinatown.

Nicholson plays private detective J.J. Gittes trying to uncover a web of corruption in 1930s Los Angeles that builds to Chinatown's surprising ending. In the season 6 finale, the cast of Psych combines their unique humorous interplay with Chinatown's neo-noir tone to make Psych's best parody episode, "Santabarbaratown." A new body is connected to a decades-old unsolved murder, bringing a grittier tone to Santa Barbara while maintaining Psych's signature comedic style.

How Psych's "Santabarbaratown" Parodies Jack Nicholson's Chinatown

Psych Goes Neo-Noir In A Case That Is More Than What It Seems

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Nicholson's character P.I. Gittes is hired to investigate a wealthy man's infidelities and becomes embroiled in a decades-long scheme that involves fraud, murder, and incest. Psych uses the lens of retired detective Henry Spencer (Corbin Bernsen) and an unsolved case from his past, uncovering a similar web of moral ambiguity and systemic corruption. The normally bright world of Psych's Santa Barbara is suddenly filled with shadows to emulate Chinatown, one of the best film noir movies ever made.

While Nicholson's Gittes is suave and professional, Shawn and Gus are much more clumsy yet overconfident in their investigation, undercutting the tension with their constant banter and physical comedy.

"Santabarbaratown" borrows major plot points from Chinatown, like the reveal of a secret daughter hidden by an old established family. The episode is peppered with small references to Chinatown, like fish served whole with the head, though Nicholson's Gittes takes it in stride while Psych's Shawn Spencer (James Roday) and Burton "Gus" Guster react in disgust. The title "Santabarbaratown" is itself an homage to the title Chinatown, and Gus' line "Forget about it, Shawn. It's Santa Barbara" is copied from Chinatown's closing line: "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."

Other film noir references include a background character at The Blue Derby bar wearing a bandage similar to the one Nicholson wears in Chinatown. The wealthy family in the episode is named Towne after Chinatown’s writer, Robert Towne. Two characters in the episode, Veronica and Dahlia, are named after film noir actress Veronica Lake and her film The Blue Dahlia.

Of course, while Chinatown was the inspiration, the episode is still a parody, not losing the comedy at the heart of all of Pysch's best episodes. While Nicholson's Gittes is suave and professional, Shawn and Gus are much more clumsy yet overconfident in their investigation, undercutting the tension with their constant banter and physical comedy, like Shawn twice not understanding the definition of a Mexican standoff. One running gag is that Shawn keeps causing damage to Gus' car, culminating in accidentally blowing up his brand-new replacement vehicle.

Why "Santabarbaratown" Is The Best Of Psych's Parody Episodes

“Santabarbaratown” Has Emotional Stakes & A Cliffhanger Ending

"Santabarabratown" is the show's best parody episode across eight seasons of Psych because there is an intrinsic emotional meaning to Henry and therefore Shawn. A new body reopens an investigation of Henry's that has been cold for almost 20 years. Shawn and Gus revealing that many of the cops Henry trusted were corrupt deeply affects Henry. Chinatown is already rich material to draw from, with its suspense and twists, but giving Henry personal stakes in finding the truth heightens the viewers' emotional investment.

Psych made the bold choice to end the episode with a cliffhanger shooting. Just as Chinatown had a bleak ending with a fatal shooting, "Santabarbaratown" finishes with Henry getting shot in order to protect the cover-up, a powerful way to end a normally breezy comedy. By making the story its season 6 finale, Psych demonstrated its confidence in its Chinatown parody by making it a season-ending cliffhanger and beginning season 7 with "Santabarbaratown 2."